I'm really enjoying this section of the class. I've always been fascinated by the emotion conveyed by the blues and the virtuoso of guitarists such as Robert Johnson. Likewise, I'm interested in the impact that bluesmen such as Johnson and Son House have had on more recent rock musicians, and I thought that the Hendrix video clips were a perfect demonstration of this- you have to love Jimi, both for his musical genius and his presence on stage- the man knew how to work an audience. But what I liked most on Hugh's log file were the numerous postings commenting upon the details surrounding the life and death of Robert Johnson. Admittedly, I don't know a lot about the Mississippi Delta region and so that aspect alone intrigues me, especially his association with other musicians such as Son House and Charlie Brown. But the myth surrounding Johnson's sudden emergence as a guitar genius, and the speculation (by his friends no less) that he sold his soul to the devil in exchange for the devil's tuning of his guitar is pretty incredible. I'm not sure what to think of it, but it is definitely provoking to read differing accounts of this event, specifically the take that one African American (I can't remember his name) provided concerning the divergence in opinion between black and white blues enthusiasts; his explanationof the way in which the "Devil" can be traced back to an African trickster is enlightening and useful when considering the origins of this myth- pretty cool stuff.
Posted by ruminj at January 24, 2005 08:47 PM