This Week's Show: February 18, 2011

Robert Johnson: "The Man, the Myth, the Music!"

When Michael decided to focus in on Robert Johnson this week, asserting in his email that "NO blues show, that's right NO blues show, can NOT do a show on Robert Johnson", I grinned, nodded enthusiastically, and immediately created a title for this week's web posting: Robert Johnson: "The Man, the Myth, the Music."--and set about to do "just a little bit" of research. I thought, "Heck,  I should  be able to shed a little light on the subject, separate the man from the myth, etc."

What was I thinking? 

The cast of characters involved in those early years of recorded blues in the late 1920's and early '30's, the legion of apocryphal stories surrounding the bluesmen who sometimes played and drank together; who sometimes collaborated, sometimes squabbled;  who sometimes borrowed, covered--or stole--one another's songs in those days includes other blues icons like
Charlie Patton, Willie Brown, Skip James, Johnny Temple and Son House, all of who lived in Mississippi at one point. It also includes others who lived and played elsewhere yet obviously heard--and were heard by-- Robert Johnson in his travels either in person, or through the new magic of vinyl recordings; musicians like Henry Thomas, Hambone Willie Newbern, Scrapper Blackwell, LeRoy Carr and the various members of groups like the Mississippi Shieks.  To make matters even more complicated, that cast of characters also includes the likes of Kid Bailey, Gittlefiddle Jim, and others who may have only existed as pseudonyms for musicians moonlighting on other labels;  it includes a number of famous bootleggers; and--if you believe some accounts--it includes the Devil himself! 

So, during this week's show,  Michael will spin a lot of great music--and we'll try to sort it out a bit.  You'll hear a wealth of Robert Johnson's blues, and the music of some of the other artists who influenced--and were themselves influenced by--this legendary bluesman in the early years of recorded blues.  Although on previous shows some of the music played on Spinning Tales may have been labeled "blues lite" by a few folks, this week there probably won't be any debate.  As Michael tells it, "this week we'll meet the Blues head-on!"

This Week's Stories

With events still unfolding in Egypt, will continue with Kendy's amazing tale of her travels at about 4:30. Hopefully you'll be able to can sit back comfortably on a wintery day and enjoy the warmth of her journey as she travels through Egypt.

At about 5:30 we'll hear the next story by Nancy Andry from her collection of traditional stories from Turtle Island.  This one a Lakota story called "Sisters Who Married Stars, Star Boy".

As always, we hope you enjoy the show AND would love to hear from you!