"Blind
Willie Johnson" [Jan. 22,
1897 – Sep. 18, 1945] was an
American
singer and
guitarist
whose music straddled the border
between
blues and
spirituals.
While the lyrics of all of his songs
were religious, his music drew from
both sacred and blues traditions.
Among musicians, he is considered
one of the greatest
slide or
bottleneck
guitarists,
as well as one of the most revered
figures of
depression-era
gospel
music. His music is distinguished by
his powerful bass thumb-picking and
gravelly false-bass voice, with
occasional use of a tenor voice.
Johnson
remained poor until the end of his
life, preaching and singing in the
streets of
Beaumont, Texas
to anyone who would listen. A city
directory shows that in 1944, Rev.
W. J. Johnson, undoubtedly Blind
Willie, operated the House of Prayer
at 1440 Forrest Street, Beaumont,
Texas.
This is the same address listed on
Blind Willie's death certificate. In
1945, his home burned to the ground.
With nowhere else to go, Johnson
lived in the burned ruins of his
home, sleeping on a wet bed. He
lived like this until he contracted
pneumonia
two weeks later, and died.
His records
have kept his music tremendously
influential and his songs have been
covered by several popular artists,
including
Led Zeppelin
[who included his photograph on
their
second album],
Bob Dylan,
The 77s,
Beck,
Phil Keaggy
and
The White Stripes
[who have covered "John the
Revelator", as well as covering
"Motherless Children Have A Hard
Time" and "Lord, I Just Can't Keep
From Cryin'" live]. "John the
Revelator" was also recorded by
delta blues musician
Son House,
and "Keep Your Lamp Trimmed and
Burning" was recorded by another
delta blues musician,
Fred McDowell.
In 1968, British group
Fairport Convention
recorded a cover of "Dark Was The
Night, Cold Was The Ground" under
the title "The Lord is in this
Place...How Dreadful Is This Place".
