Can't You Hear the Wind Howl? The Life and Music of Robert Johnson

When the train left the station, it had two lights on behind. The blue light was my baby, and the red light was my mind. Robert Johnson, Love in Vain Blues

Have you ever come across a film that just made you lick your lips in anticipation? Well, that's how I felt when I came across Can't You Hear the Wind Howl? - the story of the Life and Music of Robert Johnson. I found this at the local public library and eagerly brought it home and popped it into the player.

For those who don''t know about Robert Johnson, let me simply say that he was the foremost country (Delta) blues player of his era, perhaps of all time. He certainly has a very great and loyal following among guitar players. The interesting thing about it is, is that although he has one of the most recognizable guitar styles in music, very few players have followed in his footsteps; Johnson's style is just flat too hard to play.

Let me describe it for you in words if I can. An unschooled musician, in fact the grandson of slaves, born in the heart of Mississippi in 1911, Robert did not show early promise as a guitarist, in fact, to hear legendary Delta Bluesman Son House tell it, as a young man Robert just made a lot of racket when he played the guitar, at least at first. People would privately come to him and fellow bluesman Willie Brown and ask them to get rid of Robert; his playing was taking away from the dance music by the REAL artists!

Anyway, Robert took the hint and disappeared into Arkansas for about six or eight months, incidentally setting a pattern that itinerant bluesmen have since trodden. When Robert returned to Robinsonville, Mississippi the people said Oh no! Him again! Robert asked Son House if he could play a number. Son reluctantly agreed and Robert put on a virtuoso performance that amazed everybody. They had heard the Blues before, but never like Robert played it! Immediately, suspicion turned to that old blues myth: The Crossroads.

The Crossroads, as the story went, was a place where you went alone at midnight if you wanted to become a Bluesman. The Devil would come, tune your guitar for you, and if you accepted it back you would be able to play anything you could think of. The catch was, the Devil now owned your soul. Robert had always been fascinated by the sound of the boogie-woogie piano played at the juke joints around the rural south, and that is the style of music he played. Walking bass lines, rhythm chords, and lead notes along with bottleneck slide guitar - often all at the same time! This was around 1930 or 31...

Rather than work in the fields like most of his peers, the footloose Johnson set off for parts unknown and played on every street corner throughout the south and headed up to the big cities up north. Memphis, St. Louis, Chicago, Detroit, and even New York; Robert Johnson visited them all, earning his living playing the blues all the way across the country.

Like a troubadour of old, Robert Johnson sang for his supper and won the hearts and minds of people wherever he played. He often traveled with fellow bluesmen Johnny Shines and Willie Brown. According to Shines, Johnson's approach to playing was thus: If we play together and make 25 cents, we split it 12 ½ cents apiece. If, on the other hand, you play on that street corner and I play on this street corner and we each make a quarter, we come out ahead. So Robert usually played alone.

And his music often reflected the worrisome thought that he was a hunted man; Crossroads Blues was one.

I went to the crossroads
fell down on my knees

I went to the crossroads
fell down on my knees

Asked the Lord above "Have mercy, now
save poor Bob, if you please.

AND

You can't run, you can't run;
Tell my friend poor Willie Brown.

You can't run, you can't run;
Tell my friend poor Willie Brown.

That I'm standin at the Crossroads;
Believe Im sinkin down.

Hellhound on My Trail was another song that indicated that Robert's life just might not be his own -

And the days keeps on worryin' me
there's a hellhound on my trail,
hellhound on my trail.

Other songs, too, alluded to the troublous inner turmoil that seemed to haunt poor Bob.

Twice during his short career, Robert Johnson was recorded. The result of these two sessions were twenty-nine original songs, which, including alternate takes totaled 41 cuts in all -- the discography of Robert Johnson.

The rest of the time Robert traveled from town to town, drinking whiskey and barrel housin, biscuit rollin and ridin -- slang terms for sexual intercourse; yes, poor Bob was quite a hit with the ladies also. Like Samson in the bible, a woman became poor Bob's downfall, too.

At a little place called Three Forks Bob was given poisoned whiskey to drink after playing around with a married woman. The details, like everything surrounding Bob's story, are sketchy but the story is generally agreed on that a woman gave him the drink. The controversy revolves around the fact of whether or not she was a friend of the jealous husband or the lesbian lover of Bob's paramour. We'll never know for sure. The date was 1938 and poor Bob was only 27 years old.

An interesting postscript: Bob took three agonizing days to die. Before he did, it is reported he crawled around on all fours barking and howling like a dog as the poison slowly sapped the life from his body. When he had finally passed on they found a note on the nightstand of his hotel room. It read something like the following:

Jesus of Nazareth, King of Jerusalem: I know that my redeemer liveth and that he will call me from the grave. [signed] Robert Johnson

Lest there is any doubt as to Robert Johnson's place in music history, he was one of the original inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, along side such luminaries as Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly, Chuck Berry, and Little Richard.

The docudrama is hosted by Danny Glover and contains interviews with Son House, Johnny Shines, Robert Jr. Lockwood (the only one Robert taught anything to) and friends of the famous bluesman. Eric Clapton and Keith Richard give small homages to Robert Johnson. There are many sparkling anecdotes about poor Bob that contribute to the myth of the blues like no other player has. Interestingly, although nobody save perhaps Jimi Hendrix has followed in Bob's unique musical footsteps, Johnson's twenty-nine song repertoire has been fruitfully mined by rock artists who have done covers of most of the works. Led Zeppelin, the Rolling Stones, and Cream have made Johnson's songs world famous.

Robert Johnson is played by Keb Mo (Kevin Moore) who appears in grainy black and white clips that look like they came out of the 1930s. All in all Can't You Hear the Wind Howl? is a compelling viewing experience and well worth the watching, especially for guitar players, other music fans, and aspiring bluesmen.

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Good for a Rainy Day