Searching for Robert Johnson

ROBERT JOHNSON, while probably the most in?uential of all blues singers, has remained one of the most historically obscure. Chief in?uence upon Muddy Waters and inspiration for Eric Clapton, the Rolling Stones, and a whole generation of rock ’n’ roll, Johnson is known for the ferocity and originality of his work, and for the tormented sensibility that lay behind it. Poisoned by a jealous husband in 1938—at the age of 27—his myth has at times overshadowed his music, giving rise to numerous attempts at elucidation in the form of short stories, tall tales, screenplays, the movie Crossroads, and countless homages over the years. His Faustian bargain with the devil is at the heart of the blues myth. Peter Guralnicks extended essay about the life and legend of Robert ]ohnson—and the time and place that produced both—illuminates much of the obscurity around the man Without forfeiting any of the mystery.