Today marks the birthday of a MidSouth legend named Robert Johnson, often called the “King of the Delta Blues” and the “Grandfather of Rock & Roll.”
While born in Hazlehurst, Mississippi in 1911, Johnson spent much of his formative years in Memphis. For fans of the film “O Brother, Where Art Thou,” he (like the Blues guitarist Tommy Johnson) is said to have sold his soul to the Devil at a crossroads in exchange for his musical mastery, churning out such hits as “Dust My Broom” and “Cross Road Blues.”
Such is the effect Robert Johnson has had that his music would be rediscovered and taken up by such Rock & Roll legends as Eric Clapton, Bob Dylan, Led Zeppelin, and The Rolling Stones. Johnson would tragically pass away at the age of only 27 in 1938, purportedly poisoned under mysterious circumstances.
