Robert Johnson has haunted my life for a long time. The first
blues I heard, real blues that is, was Muddy Waters' The Real Folk Blues
album. Vinyl. Black'n'white picture of Muddy on the front. I was drinking
coffee (which I never drank) at a friend's apartment, and I responded so strongly
to this music that he gave me the record. From there it was a short jump to
Howlin' Wolf, Bukka White, Skip James and Robert Johnson.
The mysterious Robert Johnson. Sold his soul to the devil down at the crossroads.
Last month we looked at a new book
about this whole mythology and today a film (now out on DVD) addresses the
same issues.
Combining eyewitness interviews and skillfully edited re-enactments, director
Peter Meyer has created an almost definitive portrait of the essential blues
singer. Johnson is portrayed in a series of black and white film clips by
modern bluesman Keb Mo', who is absolutely convincing in the role. Danny Glover
narrates the film, and contemporary bluesmen Honeyboy Edwards, Johnny Shines,
Robert Junior Lockwood and Henry Townshend share their remembrances. Shines
actually travelled with Johnson back in the early thirties. Perhaps of more
interest are interviews with a local sharecropper and a woman who dated Johnson.
They remember him fondly. Don Law II recalls tales passed on by his father
(who produced the original sessions) of recording Johnson in hotel rooms,
and bailing him out of jail.
The DVD doesn't include much in the way of bonuses, but for the real blues
afficionado it doesn't need them. The story and the music is enough. The facts
are familiar, but are filled out by the visuals. You see the land where this
story took place. The people who lived and worked there. You understand the
juke-joints, the lifestyle. It's fascinating.
The "sold his soul to the devil" myth is discussed, and left for
the viewer to ponder. The film dwells on the person of Robert Johnson, his
travels, his songs, his influence. Keith Richards and Eric Clapton are interviewed
and talk about how listening to the first King of the Delta Blues LP
changed their lives. As the years pass the layers of mystery surrounding Robert
Johnson are being stripped away, but still there remains an extraordinary
body of work.
Can't You Hear the Wind Howl is a brief but exhilarating glimpse of
a brief and important life. Skillfully made, and a delight to watch.
Robert Johnson also features prominently in
one of Charles de Lint's
finest books, Spirits
in the Wires
