At left is the second known photograph of Robert Johnson. This is a studio portrait taken by Hooks Bros. The assumption is that the photo was to be used for publicity purposes for his records.
During his lifetime Johnson was a rather minor figure, known primarily to a small group of musicians who frequented the Mississippi juke-joint scene. Between his death in and , Johnson was probably known only to a very small group of blues musicologists and collectors.
One of his most famous songs is called Crossroads Blues. It is thought to describe a classic confrontation between a traveling musician meets a mysterious stranger, quite probably the Devil.
In return for his soul, the artist is awarded brilliant musical gifts. Southern blues musician Son House remarked that early in his career, Johnson appeared to be a musician with mediocre talent, and deficient guitar playing technique. However, after being away for a while, upon his return Johnson had made remarkable strides in his music. In , on the urging of the great popular music entrepreneur John Hammond, Jr. That album was a real bombshell. In , an artist who had been a relatively minor figure in the Delta music scene during his lifetime, and who had died at age 27, was suddenly celebrated as a supremely talented songwriter and musician.
In this post we will include covers by both the Stones and by Eric Clapton. In the song became the final one of his songs to be released as a 78 rpm record. At left is the record issued on the Vocalion label. The song describes the heartbreak of a man following the end of a love affair. He uses the metaphor of a departing train to describe his sense of loss. I followed her to the station with a suitcase in my hand And I followed her to the station with a suitcase in my hand. When the train rolled up to the station, I looked her in the eye When the train rolled up to the station, and I looked her in the eye.
Well I was lonesome I felt so lonesome, and I could not help but cry.
In Love In Vain , Bramhall produces some lovely slide guitar licks, and he chimes in on electric guitar in Crossroads. Learn how your comment data is processed. Initially the Stones played almost exclusively covers, becoming leaders in an American blues revival movement in London. Retrieved August 16, Eric Clapton was a musical child prodigy. Never has Johnson's guitar been so subtle, so much in the background — the song's success is from the artist's longing vocal, and as such it's devastatingly bleak.
The train it left the station, was two lights on behind When the train it left the station, was two lights on behind Well the blue light was my blues and the red light was my mind. Also, the lyrics in the final verse of this song are similar to those in the song Flying Crow Blues by a duo called the Shreveport Home Wreckers. Of course, there are no videos of Robert Johnson performing. Here is the audio of the two takes he recorded of Love in Vain Blues. This song presents a heartbreaking tale of loss and sorrow. Today, Robert Johnson is considered a giant in the blues genre, and one of the great precursors to rock and roll.
Finally , In Spin magazine rated him first in its 35 Guitar Gods listing. The British rock band The Rolling Stones is one of our favorite groups. They have featured in a number of our earlier blog posts. The Rolling Stones were initially leaders in a British blues revival movement. Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, classmates and friends from primary school, met up when they were both in college.
Upon realizing that they shared an obsession with the blues, they set about assembling a band. After a few early personnel changes, the group settled on a quintet. They are shown below in a publicity photo for their June, album Satisfaction. Amazingly enough, the Stones are still going strong and even touring 50 years later. Furthermore, they have experienced a surprisingly small number of personnel changes over the years. Bassist Bill Wyman, the oldest member of the Stones, left the group in The original bandleader and founder of the group was Brian Jones.
Initially the Stones played almost exclusively covers, becoming leaders in an American blues revival movement in London. However, Brian Jones became marginalized as Keith and Mick began writing rock songs for the group. His drug use also became a serious issue for the band, and degraded his performance as a musician.
The Stones sacked Jones in summer , and tragically he was found dead in the swimming pool in his home just a month later. Unfortunately, Taylor left the Stones in , after just five years with the group. Until , Hootenanny had been a popular TV show that featured folk music.
However, the British Invasion had basically gutted the folk music scene, so Hootenanny was jettisoned and Shindig! During its two-year run, Shindig! One of the things I enjoyed about Shindig! Later, a number of these West Coast session musicians became known as the Wrecking Crew for their work with literally hundreds of artists in the fields of rock, pop and jazz.
In May, , the Rolling Stones were invited to be the headliners on Shindig! In making this demand, the Stones were reminding their audience of their early incarnation as a blues cover band. I have to think that for many of the teeny-boppers who watched Shindig! However, I find his performance electrifying. The pianist who appears in foreground at the beginning of the song was Shin-Digger Billy Preston. Note that the Stones are seated reverentially behind Mr. Like so many blues aficionados, the Stones also had been impressed with the release of the Robert Johnson catalogue.
Following the release of King of the Delta Blues Singers in , bootleg copies of additional Johnson songs were issued during the period to This made an immediate impact on the Rolling Stones. Love in Vain was such a beautiful song. Mick and I both loved it. Here are the Rolling Stones in a live performance of Love in Vain. This took place in a concert in Texas in To my mind, this is an absolutely spectacular version of this song, one of my favorite Stones performances of all time.
First off, Mick is in terrific form. His intonation and raw power are simply stunning in this tune. The guitar work is also amazing. Mick Taylor crafts a beautiful slide guitar part, which is complemented by Keith on electric guitar. The result is a powerful, haunting and desolate tune. They included additional chords and subtly converted it to a blues-country hybrid.
As explained by Keith Richards, I started searching around for a different way to present it, because … there was no point in trying to copy the Robert Johnson style … We took it a little bit more country, a little bit more formalized, and Mick felt comfortable with that.
Live versions of the song also appear on two albums: In , the court ruled that the Estate of Robert Johnson had title to the rights for his songs. Eric Clapton is one of the greatest blues-rock guitarists of all time.
He has appeared in several earlier blog posts. For a time we thought the songs that were on that first album [ King of the Delta Blues ] were the only recordings Robert Johnson had made, and then suddenly around '67 or '68 up comes this second bootleg collection that included Love in Vain. Love in Vain was such a beautiful song. Mick and I both loved it, and at the time I was working and playing around with Gram Parsons, and I started searching around for a different way to present it, because if we were going to record it there was no point in trying to copy the Robert Johnson style or ways and styles.
We took it a little bit more country, a little bit more formalized, and Mick felt comfortable with that. We changed the arrangement quite a lot from Robert Johnson's. We put in extra chords that aren't there on the Robert Johnson version. Made it more country. And that's another strange song, because it's very poignant.
Robert Johnson was a wonderful lyric writer, and his songs are quite often about love, but they're desolate. In , the court held that the songs were not in the public domain and that legal title belonged to the Estate of Robert Johnson and its successors.
Eric Clapton recorded the song for Me and Mr. Johnson , his album devoted to Johnson's songs. Clapton quotes one of Johnson's verses for the Derek and the Dominos ' song " Layla ": Jazz singer Madeleine Peyroux adapted it for her album Standing on the Rooftop. In it, he explores both the known facts and the myth surrounding Johnson. Take my word for it. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
This article is about the Robert Johnson song. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Archived from the original on March 25, Retrieved August 16, Love in Vain — Robert Johnson Vocalion, ". Retrieved November 23, Love in Vain — Review". King of the Delta Blues Singers — Review".