For other people named Robert Johnson, see Robert Johnson (disambiguation).
Robert Leroy Johnson ( May 8, 1909/ 1912 – August 16, 1938) can arguably be considered as the most famous Delta blues singer and guitarist in history, even though he didn't live to see his thirtieth birthday and didn't start recording until three years before his death. Despite having such little time in the music industry, Robert Johnson has become widely acclaimed and popular, and has profoundly influenced a wide spectrum of musicians, some of whom view him as a near demi-god. Among his more well-known fanbase are Led Zeppelin, Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones, and most famously Eric Clapton and Cream.
Johnson was born in Hazlehurst, Mississippi. The commonly accepted birth year of 1911 is almost certainly in error. School and marriage records, and his death certificate, suggest various dates including 1909 and 1912.
Robert Johnson recorded only 29 songs on a total of 42 tracks in two recording sessions in San Antonio, Texas in November 1936 and Dallas, Texas in June 1937. Thirteen of the songs were recorded twice. Notable among these tracks were "Come on in My Kitchen", " Love in Vain", "Sweet Home Chicago", "Cross Road Blues", "Terraplane Blues", and "I Believe I'll Dust My Broom", all frequently remade and imitated by other artists.
Many people think that the lyrics "Back to the land of California, to my sweet home Chicago", in "Sweet Home Chicago" are rather strange. There have been two theories proposed for this wording: When Johnson wrote this, he was not well travelled (he would later go to Chicago), and may have not understood geography of other parts of the country, or " California" was not meant literally, but was meant as a metaphor for a land of great riches, which Chicago was at the time for a Blues musician.
