November 23: Unearthing the Music of Robert Johnson

Robert Johnson, probably the most influential blues musician of the 20th century, began five days of recording on this date in 1936 in San Antonio, Texas — the first of only two known periods in a recording studio during his short life (1911-1938). Fifty-five years later, Lawrence Cohn of Legend Records/Sony won a Grammy for his Robert Johnson: The Complete Recordings, which sold over a million copies in the U.S. within three years. Cohn is also editor of the lavishly illustrated anthology, Nothing But the Blues: The Music and the Musicians, and is a recipient of the W.C. Handy Award for his work retrieving Johnson’s work from obscurity. As the creator of “Hellhound on My Trail,” “Cross Road Blues,” “Love in Vain,” “Sweet Home Chicago,” “Come On in My Kitchen,” “I Believe I’ll Dust My Broom” and twenty-five or so foundational blues songs, Robert Johnson was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in its first induction ceremony in 1986 and was ranked fifth in Rolling Stone’s 2008 list of “100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time.”

“When the train left the station/there were two lights on behind/the blue light was my baby/the red light was my mind.” —Robert Johnson, “Love in Vain”