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Blind Willie Johnson

Columbia Records session photograph, Dallas, 1927 — the only known photograph of Johnson; photographer unrecorded (Wikimedia Commons, public domain)

Delta

Blind Willie Johnson

This artist is no longer with us.

Born: January 25, 1897, Pendleton, Texas · Died: September 18, 1945, Beaumont, Texas (pneumonia/malarial fever after his house burned down; death certificate also cites syphilis and blindness as contributing factors)• United States

Gospel BluesCountry Blues

Of all the artists on this site, Blind Willie Johnson is the only one whose voice has actually left the solar system. In 1977, NASA consultant Timothy Ferris chose his 1927 instrumental "Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground" for the Voyager Golden Record — the disc bolted to the outside of Voyager 1 and 2, meant to represent Earth to whatever finds it — explaining simply that the song "concerns a situation he faced many times: nightfall with no place to sleep" (Kilde: Wikipedia). He was born on January 25, 1897, in Pendleton, Texas, to sharecropper Dock Johnson and Mary King, who died when Willie was four (Kilde: Wikipedia). At around age five his father gave him a cigar-box guitar, and he found an early model in a blind musician and preacher named Madkin Butler, whose powerful vocal delivery shaped Johnson's own singing style for the rest of his life (Kilde: Wikipedia). He was blinded at around age seven — according to his widow Angeline's account, his stepmother threw caustic lye water at his father during an argument over her infidelity, and it struck Willie instead, permanently taking his sight (Kilde: Wikipedia). Columbia Records talent scout Frank Buckley Walker recorded him across five sessions between 1927 and 1930: Dallas in December 1927 and December 1928, New Orleans in December 1929, and Atlanta in April 1930. His first release sold roughly 9,400 copies — more, at the time, than the latest release from one of Columbia's biggest stars, Bessie Smith (Kilde: Wikipedia). On the 1930 Atlanta session he was accompanied by a woman identified as Willie B. Harris, sometimes described as his first wife, who sang the responsive vocal parts on "John the Revelator" (Kilde: Wikipedia). He recorded around 30 sides in total — "Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground," "It's Nobody's Fault but Mine," "John the Revelator," "Keep Your Lamp Trimmed and Burning," "Jesus Make Up My Dying Bed" — all sacred material, sung and moaned over a self-taught bottleneck slide guitar technique that critics and later guitarists alike have never quite been able to reverse-engineer (Kilde: Wikipedia). He married Angeline Johnson (recorded as "Anna" on his death certificate) in September 1941, and the two settled in Beaumont, Texas. In 1945, his house burned down; with nowhere else to go, he reportedly kept living in its wreckage among the wet, charred ruins, and contracted malarial fever or pneumonia as a result. Accounts differ on whether he was refused hospital admission because of his race or his blindness, or simply never sought treatment — either way, he died on September 18, 1945, at 48 years old, with his death certificate citing "syphilis and blindness" as contributing factors (Kilde: Wikipedia). He was buried in what was then Blanchette Cemetery in Beaumont; the exact location of his grave was lost, and a cenotaph was finally placed there in 2010 (Kilde: Wikipedia). He never lived to know that, three decades later, his voice would be the first sound of American gospel blues to leave the solar system.

Musical Influence

Johnson's slide guitar work and unearthly moaning vocal on "Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground" have been covered, sampled or cited as a direct influence by Eric Clapton, Ry Cooder, Led Zeppelin (whose "In My Time of Dying" draws on Johnson's arrangement), Bob Dylan, the White Stripes and Nick Cave, among many others. A 2016 tribute album, "God Don't Never Change: The Songs of Blind Willie Johnson," brought together Tom Waits, Lucinda Williams, the Cowboy Junkies and Sinéad O'Connor to record his catalogue. And of course there's the Voyager Golden Record — meaning that, whatever else can be said about Johnson's influence on earthly musicians, his is also the only blues guitar currently drifting through interstellar space (Kilde: Wikipedia).

Influences

Madkin Butler

Family and personal life

Father

Sharecropper.

Mother

Died when Willie was around 4 years old.

Wife

Angeline Johnson

Married September 1941; recorded as "Anna" on his death certificate. Her account is the source for the lye-water blinding story.

Musical partner

Willie B. Harris

Accompanied him on several recordings, including sung responses on "John the Revelator"; sometimes described as an earlier wife.

Formative experiences

•c. 1902 (age ~5): Given a cigar-box guitar by his father. (Kilde: Wikipedia)
•c. 1904 (age ~7): Blinded when his stepmother threw lye water at his father during an argument and it struck him instead. (Kilde: Wikipedia)
•December 1927–April 1930: Recorded across five Columbia Records sessions in Dallas, New Orleans and Atlanta. (Kilde: Wikipedia)
•1945: His house burned down; he lived among the ruins afterward and fell fatally ill. (Kilde: Wikipedia)
•1977: "Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground" selected for the Voyager Golden Record. (Kilde: Wikipedia)

Stories & Anecdotes

"In 1977, his 1927 recording became one of only 27 pieces of music included on the Voyager Golden Record, launched aboard NASA's Voyager probes to represent Earth to any intelligence that might one day find them. (Kilde: Wikipedia)"

"His first release reportedly outsold the latest record by Columbia's biggest star of the era, Bessie Smith. (Kilde: Wikipedia)"

"His exact grave site in Beaumont was lost to time; a cenotaph marking his memory wasn't placed until 2010, 65 years after his death. (Kilde: Wikipedia)"

Collaborators

Willie B. Harris

Sang responsive vocal parts on several recordings including "John the Revelator" (1930).

Blind musician and preacher whose powerful vocal delivery shaped young Johnson's own singing style.

Watch & Listen

Featured

Blind Willie Johnson — Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground (innspilt 1927)

Selected by NASA for the Voyager Golden Record in 1977 to represent Earth to any intelligence that finds it.

Blind Willie Johnson - Topic

Blind Willie Johnson - John The Revelator

Blind Willie Johnson - John The Revelator

Blind Willie Johnson - It's Nobody's Fault but Mine [1927]

Blind Willie Johnson - It's Nobody's Fault but Mine [1927]

Watch & Listen

Henter videoer fra YouTube…

Discography

Year	Title	Producer	Studio	Label	Chart	Sales	Musicians	YouTube	Notes
1927	First Columbia session, Dallas (Deep Ellum)	Frank Buckley Walker	—	Columbia Records	—	—	—		December 3, 1927 — six songs across 13 takes, including "Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground" and "It's Nobody's Fault but Mine."
1929	New Orleans session (Werlein's Music Store)	Frank Buckley Walker	—	Columbia Records	—	—	—		December 10–11, 1929 — ten sides across 16 takes.
1930	Final Columbia session, Atlanta	Frank Buckley Walker	—	Columbia Records	—	—	Willie B. Harris (Vocals)		April 20, 1930 — ten selections, including "John the Revelator" with Willie B. Harris on responsive vocals.

Famous songs

01Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground

02It's Nobody's Fault but Mine

03John the Revelator

04Keep Your Lamp Trimmed and Burning

External links

YouTube Music Wikipedia

Sources

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