Up Jumped the Devil

May 1, 2019

Conforth (African American Folksong and American Cultural Politics) and Wardlow (Chasin' That Devil Music) have spent decades studying the life of the enigmatic and groundbreaking blues musician Robert Johnson (1911-38). This book aims to be the most comprehensive, accurate, and fully researched look at his life and music as well as the environment where he grew up, lived, and created his lasting art. The authors use interviews, vital records, census data, and other sources to document the roots and experience of a man who has been shrouded in legend and mystery for almost a century. Johnson's work and loves and the historic sessions that make up his recorded output are thoroughly and richly traced through narrative and the words of contemporaries and those who knew him, along with images of documents and many photographs. Conforth and Wardlow demystify some of the lore about Johnson, painting a human portrait of a talented musician and restless soul whose influential achievements rippled through blues, folk, and rock music in the decades following his death. VERDICT Essential for blues enthusiasts and Johnson fans, this biography will also appeal to those interested in 20th-century popular culture and music.--James Collins, Morristown-Morris Twp. P.L., NJ

Copyright 2019 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 15, 2019
Fifty years in the making, a comprehensive biography of the legendary Delta blues singer. Conforth (African American Folksong and American Cultural Politics: The Lawrence Gellert Story, 2013, etc.), the founding curator of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and blues historian Wardlow (Chasin' that Devil Music: Searching for the Blues, 1998) waste little time taking on the myths and rumors previous books have promulgated about Robert Johnson (1911-1938). The authors seek to "return him to his human particulars" and reveal the "real story." In order to do so, they have unearthed a massive amount of primary source materials, much of it reproduced here, and numerous "first-person accounts of who he really was." They do a fine job of thoughtfully weaving the biographical essentials with portraits of the harsh and impoverished sharecropper's world of the South in the 1920s and '30s. Johnson was born in a tiny, ramshackle house near Hazlehurst, Mississippi, "the illegitimate son of two unmarried parents." He hated farming, preferring to play harmonica and guitar. He grew up hearing cotton-field blues and embraced the music "like a boll weevil did a growing cotton ball." He lived an itinerant existence, playing in jukes, roadhouses, family homes, and on the streets. He could read and write and drink--a lot--and womanize along the way, all the while perfecting his musical skills and learning from other musicians, like Willie Moore and Son House. Guitar fans will enjoy the detail the authors provide about Johnson's unique style of playing and their in-depth discussions of his songs as well as their fascinating account of his historic 1936 recording sessions in Texas. The authors also refute the famous myths--e.g., that Johnson sold his soul to the devil at the crossroads and that he was poisoned. He had an ulcer and suffered from "esophageal varices," which hemorrhaged. Although the prose is occasionally dry, this in-depth portrait of Johnson's life and times will be mighty hard to improve upon.

COPYRIGHT(2019) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

May 1, 2019
With this title, one might expect a rehash of the myth of the bluesman who goes to the crossroads to sell his soul to the devil in exchange for awesome guitar skills. And while there is some discussion of hoodoo and the devil's music, blues historians Conforth and Wardlow provide a sober, well-researched and -documented account of the life and times of the Delta-born Robert Johnson, whose 29 sides, recorded in the 1930s, still resonate today. Using marriage licenses, census reports, and death certificates along with hours of first-hand accounts from friends and contemporary musicians (including Robert Junior Lockwood, Honeyboy Edwards, and Johnny Shines), the authors paint a picture of the itinerant musician's ramblin' ways. Rather than selling his soul, Johnson was mentored by Ike Zimmerman, who taught him the bottleneck slide technique. Johnson's talents lie in the way he adapted existing melodies and made them his own, as well as his unusual tunings and his ability to carry the bass, the melody, and the tempo. The foreboding imagery in Hellhound on My Trail and death by poisoning from a jealous husband further perpetuate the legend of Robert Johnson.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)