Try this: Google the phrase, "influenced by Robert Johnson" -- then see how long it takes you to work your way through the results. Johnson may not have invented the blues, but his guitar playing and singing have inspired generations of musicians.
Born in 1911, Johnson made just 41 recordings before he was poisoned and died in his late 20s. According to the story, he attracted the attentions of a woman who had come to see him play -- and also the attentions of her jealous paramour, who apparently slipped something fatal into an open bottle of whiskey.
"The Complete Recordings" is a two-disc set issued by Columbia that documents every recording Johnson made. To read the titles is to read a roll call of blues standards; Johnson's songs include "Sweet Home Chicago," "Terraplane Blues," "Walking Blues," "Hellhound on My Trail" and many more.
In the 1960s, English and American rock musicians alike began discovering Johnson and promptly recorded versions of his work. Eric Clapton covered "Cross Road Blues" while the Rolling Stones tackled "Love in Vain." The Allman Brothers recorded "Come On In My Kitchen" and Led Zeppelin did a mighty fine rendering of "Traveling Riverside Blues." Clapton was so taken with Johnson that he eventually recorded an entire CD of the latter's songs ("Me and Mr. Johnson").
But nobody does Robert Johnson like Robert Johnson. The recordings were made in 1936 and 1937, so the sound is very rough by modern standards. Even with all the hisses, pops and clicks, though, Johnson's tormented but soulful sound comes through. Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards recalls that when he first heard Johnson's songs, he thought there was a second guitarist playing with him.
Nope. It was one man, one voice, one guitar. And 99 years after Johnson was born, his blues have yet to die. Rock, soul, funk, rap, and obviously modern blues just wouldn't exist in the form they do had Johnson not picked up that guitar and started singing. Listen -- and be haunted.