“Ike Zimmerman: The X in Robert Johnson’s Crossroads” Living Blues 2008

2009

Eugene Martone, his Fender Telecaster slung around his shoulder, walks tentatively onto the stage. He is here to play for the soul of his friend, bluesman Willie Brown, a harmonica player who in his youth made a deal with the devil in return for musical virtuosity. to represent his interests, Old scratch has chosen Jack Butler, the archetypal heavy metal guitarist: brooding, long-haired with leather pants and a bad attitude. Butler carelessly lugs a heavy metal axe onto the stage and the contest begins.

Robert Johnson Cross Road Blues lyrics By Robert Johnson Recording of November 27, 1936 San Antonio, Texas I went to the crossroad, fell down on my knees I went to the crossroad, fell down on my knees Asked the lord above "Have mercy, save poor Bob, if you please" Mmmmm, standin' at the crossroad, i tried to flag a ride Standin' at the crossroad, i tried to flag a ride Didn't nobody semm to know me, everybody pass me by Mmmm, the sun goin' down, boy, dark gon' catch me here Oooo, eeee, boy, dark gon' catch me here I haven't got no lovin' sweet woman that love and feel my care You can run, you can run, tell my friend-boy Willie Brown You can run, tell my friend-boy Willie Brown Lord i'm standin' at the crossroad, babe, i believe i'm sinkin' down

Popular Music and Society, 2019

Robert Johnson’s “Terraplane Blues” was a modest hit for the newly recorded bluesman. Notable musically for its elaborate intertwining rhythms and disjointed sections, interpretations of the song have revolved around its lyrical double entendres, which equate a woman to a car to discuss her infidelity and the narrator’s resultant inability to arouse or satisfy his partner sexually. Although the car in the title has been identified as a Hudson model, scant attention has been paid to the sociocultural significance of cars in the Mississippi Delta in the late 1930s.

Chronicle of Higher Education, 2002

This Ph D thesis is a comparative social history of acculturated sub-Saharan African popular entertainment. It is divided into two sections. Part One concerns two linked syncretic or trans-cultural Ghanaian popular performing art-forms, the concert party (comic opera) and highlife music, the information primarily being obtained from the author's work in Ghana since 1969 as a practicing musician, music journalist, record engineer/producer and archivist. Focusing largely on one particular group (the Jaguar Jokers or J.J.'s concert party). Part One looks at the actual performance of the group, the band's daily life and organisation, reflections on the concert party profession by members and the changes the J.J.'s and similar ensembles have undergone over the years. Part One also includes synopses of 12 concert party plays and a full transcription of the Jaguar Jokers musical play ‘Onipa Hia Mmoa’ (Man Needs Help) Ghanaian popular entertainment stands at an intersection, nexus or `cross-roads' of multiple socio-cultural, historical and aesthetic realms and the author has grouped these into twelve themes that provide the basis for Part Two of the thesis. They are explored with the aid of documented evidence and comparative information from the popular performing arts of other areas of sub-Saharan Africa. The first theme addressed is the continuity between the traditional and modern performing arts (music and drama), both traditional retentions in contemporary genres and the way the modern ones have become retrospectively indigenised. The impact of western contact since the colonial times on local performing arts in terms of syncretic compatability/incompatability and ‘glocalisation’ is then discussed – as is the role of the intermediate African classes and urban masses in the formation of popular music. The enormous influence on Africa of black diasporic popular performance from the New World is then treated in some detail in terms of a `Black Trans-Atlantic cultural feedback' to Africa phenomenon. Next comes an examination of African popular entertainment's relevance to urbanisation and class stratification, followed by a study of its articulating/mediating role in generational and gender matters. The final chapter deals with the anti-hegemonic nature of African popular performance in terms of both its role in the anti-colonial struggle and in present day social protest. NB THIS VERSION ON WWW.ACADEMIA.EDU IS TEXT ONLY – THE FULL VERSION WITH ACCOMPANYING ILLUSTRATIONS IS AVAILABLE FROM Customer Service for Dissertations, University Microfilms Inc. 300 North Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48106-1346. Tel (313) 761-4700. The Ghanaian Concert Party: African Popular Entertainment at the Crossroads by E J Collins. Publication Number 95-09102 www.UMIDissertations.com

Robert Johnson e il Diavolo Blues: Un'analisi dei brani diabolici, 2017

Robert Johnson è una delle figure più misteriose del panorama blues di inizio Novecento. Spesso il suo nome è stato associato al faustiano patto col Diavolo a causa di scarsi dati biografici e leggende basate sui testi delle sue canzoni. Nei prossimi capitoli verranno analizzati quattro dei ventinove brani di Johnson per tentare di smentire queste credenze. Per comprendere fino in fondo i testi e la musica di Johnson è fondamentale analizzare innanzitutto il retroterra culturale di cui era forgiato. Da un lato ci sono le tradizioni africane e dall’altro le concezioni moderne del Nuovo Mondo americano. Due visioni opposte che hanno dato vita a questo particolare tipo di musica, ricca di credenze popolari e nuove paure. È indispensabile esaminare il cammino intrapreso dallo schiavo per giungere alla “cittadinanza”: questa è la base per comprendere ciò di cui è formato il blues, la musica di questo cittadino schiavo. Smentire le numerose credenze secondo cui Robert Johnson abbia venduto l’anima al Diavolo è lo scopo di questo lavoro. Analizzando le tradizioni religiose dell’Africa occidentale, il periodo storico e il canzoniere Johnsoniano si ricostruirà una visione di Robert Johnson che di demoniaco ha ben poco.

Recopilación de artículos de Wikipedia relativos al Rythm and Blues.

Classic Harmonica Blues , 2012