Blind Willie Johnson

2.1. Early Life and Family

Willie Johnson was born on January 25, 1897, in Pendleton, Texas, a small, unincorporated community near Temple, Texas. His father was Dock Johnson, a sharecropper, also known as George Johnson or Willie Johnson Sr. His mother was Mary King, who passed away in 1901. According to blues historian Stephen Calt, his family, which included at least one younger brother named Carl, later moved to Marlin, Texas, an agriculturally prosperous community where Johnson spent most of his childhood. In Marlin, the Johnson family regularly attended church, likely the Marlin Missionary Baptist Church, every Sunday. This consistent exposure to religious life deeply impacted Johnson, fostering his desire to be ordained as a Baptist minister. When Johnson was five years old, his father gave him his first instrument, a cigar box guitar, marking the beginning of his musical journey.

2.2. Blindness

Johnson was not born blind, but he lost his sight at a young age, a circumstance that profoundly affected his life and artistic path. The exact cause of his blindness remains uncertain, but most biographers agree that he was blinded by his stepmother when he was seven years old. This claim was first made by Angeline Johnson, who stated she was his widow. According to her recollection, Johnson's father had a violent confrontation with his stepmother over her infidelity. During the heated argument, she allegedly splashed Willie with a caustic solution of lye water, permanently blinding him. Other theories suggest that Johnson may have damaged his eyes by improperly viewing a solar eclipse on August 30, 1905, in Texas, or that he lost his sight due to wearing incorrect eyeglasses.

2.3. Early Musical and Religious Development

Johnson's introduction to music began with the cigar box guitar given to him by his father. At some point during his childhood, he encountered another blind musician, Madkin Butler, whose powerful singing and preaching style significantly influenced Johnson's own vocal delivery and repertoire. Adam Booker, a blind minister interviewed by Samuel Charters in the 1950s, recalled seeing Johnson perform religious songs on street corners while visiting his father in Hearne, Texas. Johnson would often have a tin cup tied to the neck of his Stella guitar to collect money from passersby. Occasionally, Johnson would perform on the same street as Blind Lemon Jefferson, though the extent of their interaction is unknown. These early experiences performing on the streets and his deep involvement with the church laid the foundation for his dual career as a musician and evangelist.

2.4. Marriages and Children

Details about Johnson's marital relationships are somewhat unclear, reflecting the poorly documented nature of his life. In 1926 or early 1927, Johnson began an unregistered marriage with Willis B. Harris. Harris occasionally sang with him on the street and accompanied him on piano at benefit events for the Marlin Church of God in Christ. They had a daughter, Sam Faye Johnson Kelly, born in 1931. The blues guitarist L. C. Robinson also stated that his sister, Anne, claimed to have been married to Johnson in the late 1920s. Later, in the early 1930s, Johnson allegedly remarried to Angeline Johnson, though this union, like his previous one, was likely unregistered.

3.1. Recording Sessions (1927-1930)

By the time Blind Willie Johnson began his professional recording career, he was already a well-known evangelist, possessing a "remarkable technique and a wide range of songs," as noted by blues historian Paul Oliver. His recording journey commenced on December 3, 1927, when he, along with Billiken Johnson and Coley Jones, gathered at a temporary studio in the Deep Ellum neighborhood of Dallas, Texas. This studio was set up by talent scout Frank Buckley Walker for Columbia Records. During this session, Johnson recorded six songs, totaling 13 takes. Among the songs laid down that day were Jesus Make Up My Dying Bed, It's Nobody's Fault but Mine, Mother's Children Have a Hard Time, Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground, and If I Had My Way I'd Tear the Building Down. He received 50 USD per usable side, a substantial sum for the era, plus a bonus in exchange for forfeiting royalties from his record sales.

His initial releases, I Know His Blood Can Make Me Whole and Jesus Make Up My Dying Bed, appeared on Columbia's popular 14000 Race series and were a significant success. The debut pressing consisted of 9,400 copies, surpassing the latest release by one of Columbia's most established stars, Bessie Smith, and was followed by an additional pressing of 6,000 copies. His fifth recorded song, Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground, which served as the B-side of his second release, is considered a prime example of his slide guitar playing in open D tuning. For this session, Johnson reportedly used a knife or penknife as a slide and, according to Willis B. Harris, played with a thumb pick. The melancholic humming that accompanies the guitar part in this song creates an impression of unison moaning, a style of singing hymns common in southern African-American church groups. In 1928, blues critic Edward Abbe Niles praised Johnson in his column for The Bookman, highlighting his "violent, tortured, and abysmal shouts and groans, and his inspired guitar playing."

Johnson and Harris returned to Dallas on December 5, 1928, to record I'm Gonna Run to the City of Refuge, Jesus Is Coming Soon, Lord I Just Can't Keep From Crying, and Keep Your Lamp Trimmed and Burning. He also recorded two unreleased and untitled tracks under the pseudonym "Blind Texas Marlin," but these recordings were never recovered. Another year passed before Johnson recorded again, on December 10 and 11, 1929. These were the longest sessions of his career, during which he completed ten sides in 16 takes at Werlein's Music Store in New Orleans. He also recorded some duets with an unknown female singer, believed to have been a member of Reverend J. M. Gates's congregation. The blind street performer Dave Ross reported hearing Johnson perform on the street in New Orleans in December 1929. Jazz historian Richard Allen recalled a story that Johnson was arrested while performing in front of the Custom House on Canal Street for allegedly attempting to incite a riot with his impassioned rendition of If I Had My Way I'd Tear the Building Down.

For his fifth and final recording session, Johnson traveled to Atlanta, Georgia, accompanied by Harris, who added vocal harmonies. They completed ten selections on April 20, 1930. Columbia chose Everybody Ought to Treat a Stranger Right paired with Go with Me to That Land as the first record released from this session. However, the onset of the Great Depression had impoverished much of Johnson's audience, leading to only 800 copies being pressed. While some of his songs were re-released by Vocalion Records in 1932, Johnson never recorded again.

3.2. Musical Style

Blind Willie Johnson is widely regarded as one of the masters of blues singing and guitar playing, particularly within the gospel blues style. Similar to his contemporary Blind Lemon Jefferson, Johnson channeled the expressive qualities of the blues into his religious messages, drawing inspiration from hymnbooks. Samuel Charters, in the liner notes for the compilation album The Complete Blind Willie Johnson, noted that Johnson was not a bluesman in the traditional sense. However, Charters also observed a strong similarity between Johnson's relentless guitar rhythms and his harsh, insistent voice, and the fierce intensities of blues singers, suggesting they were reflections of each other within the society that produced them.

A crucial aspect of Johnson's recordings was his mastery of bottleneck slide guitar technique, which significantly influenced later musicians such as Robert Johnson and Howlin' Wolf. He punctuated his playing with precise tonal control and an acute sense of timing, often using the guitar to provide harmony and fill in musical lines, as notably heard on Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground. Accounts vary regarding his slide implement; most, including one by the reputable blues guitarist Blind Willie McTell, state he used a knife, while others by Harris and bluesman Thom Shaw suggest he used a thumb pick or a brass ring during his recordings. Music historian Steve Calt described Johnson's style, stating that "opposed to other bottleneck artists he varies the speed of his vibrato drastically, often speeding up as he slides into a note. He is also one of the few bottleneck artists with the ability to consistently sound three or four discreet melody notes upon striking a string once, a skill that reflects uncanny left-handed strength, accuracy and agility."

Johnson's vocal delivery was distinctive, characterized by a gravelly, falsetto bass voice that was powerful enough to be heard by passersby on the streets. His vocal interplay with his guitar was described by blues writer Mark Makin as "fierce" and "not unlike the 'Hell and Damnation' of a Baptist preacher such as a fired-up Reverend A. W. Nix". On some recordings, Johnson also utilized his natural tenor voice. The only known direct influence on Johnson's singing style is the blind musician Madkin Butler, who, like Johnson, delivered his religious message through song on the streets of Texas cities. Johnson's ability to alternate between major-key melodies using the pentatonic scale and equally impressive minor-key compositions, coupled with his deep, raspy voice that occasionally shifted to a pleasant mid-range, defined his unique sound. His live performances sometimes featured a female vocalist, but he typically performed solo, blending bass-string focused finger-picking with accurate slide playing for his backing.

3.3. Notable Recordings

Blind Willie Johnson's artistic output, though limited to approximately 90 minutes of recorded material, primarily from the late 1920s, is highly influential. His most significant and influential songs include:

• Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground: This song is widely considered his signature piece, showcasing his masterful slide guitar technique and unique vocal humming. It was selected for the Voyager Golden Record.
• Jesus Make Up My Dying Bed
• It's Nobody's Fault but Mine
• John the Revelator
• Mother's Children Have a Hard Time
• If I Had My Way I'd Tear the Building Down
• I Know His Blood Can Make Me Whole
• I'm Gonna Run to the City of Refuge
• Jesus Is Coming Soon
• Lord I Just Can't Keep From Crying
• Keep Your Lamp Trimmed and Burning
• Everybody Ought to Treat a Stranger Right
• Go with Me to That Land

5.1. Final Years

After his final recording session in 1930 and throughout the Great Depression and the 1940s, Johnson continued to perform in various cities and towns across Texas, including Beaumont, Texas. He remained active as a street performer and spiritual leader. A city directory from 1945 confirms that a Reverend W. J. Johnson, widely believed to be Blind Willie, operated the House of Prayer at 1440 Forrest Street in Beaumont, indicating his sustained commitment to his evangelist activities.

5.2. Illness and Death

In 1945, a fire tragically destroyed Johnson's home. With nowhere else to go, he continued to live amidst the ruins, enduring cold and damp conditions. The following day, while standing outside in the winter winds, singing to earn a meager living, Johnson fell ill. Within a few days, he was dying of pneumonia. He also contracted malarial fever. Despite his severe condition, no hospital would admit him, either due to his visual impairment or, as his alleged widow Angeline Johnson stated in an interview with Samuel Charters, because he was Black. Over the course of the year, his health steadily worsened until he passed away on September 18, 1945. His death certificate listed syphilis and blindness as contributing factors to his demise.

5.3. Burial and Memorial

According to his death certificate, Blind Willie Johnson was buried in Blanchette Cemetery in Beaumont, Texas. The exact location of the cemetery had been forgotten for many years until it was rediscovered in 2009. Although his specific grave site within the cemetery remains unknown, researchers who identified the cemetery erected a monument in his honor there in 2010, ensuring his resting place is recognized.

6.1. Musical Influence

Johnson's music experienced a significant revival in the 1960s. A key factor was Harry Everett Smith's inclusion of Johnson's version of John the Revelator in the second volume of his Anthology of American Folk Music, titled Social Music. This revival was further propelled by Samuel Charters' three blues collections for Folkways Records: The Country Blues, Rural Blues, and Blind Willie Johnson: His Story. Additionally, blues guitarist Reverend Gary Davis, a highly respected figure in New York's folk music scene, recorded his rendition of Samson and Delilah, which was subsequently covered or reinterpreted by prominent groups such as The Soul Stirrers, The Staple Singers, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Fairport Convention, and Peter, Paul and Mary.

In November 1962, Bob Dylan recorded a version of Jesus Make Up My Dying Bed, retitled In My Time of Dying, for his self-titled debut album. Throughout the 1970s, various rock music bands and artists, including Led Zeppelin, John Sebastian, and Eric Clapton, also covered Johnson's songs, further cementing his influence across genres. In 2016, Alligator Records released the tribute album God Don't Never Change: The Songs of Blind Willie Johnson, produced by Jeffrey Gaskill. This album featured covers by a diverse array of artists, including Tom Waits, Lucinda Williams, Sinéad O'Connor, Derek Trucks, and Susan Tedeschi. The album received two Grammy Award nominations: Best Roots Gospel Album and Best American Roots Performance for the Blind Boys of Alabama's recording of Mother's Children Have a Hard Time.

All of Johnson's released material has become readily available through compilation albums such as Blind Willie Johnson 1927-1930 and The Complete Blind Willie Johnson. Samuel Charters was the first major blues historian to undertake extensive research into Johnson's life, first documenting him in his 1959 book The Country Blues. In 1993, Charters corrected some factual inaccuracies in Johnson's biography within the liner notes for The Complete Blind Willie Johnson. Other books related to Johnson include Shine a Light: My Year with Blind Willie Johnson and Revelation The Blind Willie Johnson Biography.

6.2. Cultural Recognition

Blind Willie Johnson's work has achieved significant cultural recognition over the decades. In 1977, Carl Sagan and a research team, tasked with creating a representation of human experience for the Voyager probe, selected 27 songs for the Voyager Golden Record. Among these, NASA consultant Timothy Ferris chose Johnson's Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground. Ferris explained his choice, stating that "Johnson's song concerns a situation he faced many times: nightfall with no place to sleep. Since humans first appeared on Earth, the shroud of night has yet to fall without touching a man or woman in the same plight."

In 2010, the Library of Congress further honored Johnson's work by selecting the recording of Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground for inclusion in the National Recording Registry. This registry annually selects recordings deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."

In 2017, the story of Blind Willie Johnson's inclusion on the Voyager probe was featured in the multi-award-winning documentary series American Epic, directed by Bernard MacMahon. A companion compilation album, American Epic: The Best of Blind Willie Johnson, was released alongside the film, featuring radically improved restorations of sixteen of Johnson's original recordings.

7.1. Artistic and Musical Achievements

Johnson is critically acclaimed for his innovative musical style, technical skill, and the profound emotional depth conveyed in his recordings. He is considered a pioneer of gospel blues, masterfully blending the raw expressiveness of the blues with deeply religious themes. His distinctive slide guitar technique, often utilizing a knife or penknife, and his powerful, gravelly vocal delivery, which could shift from a falsetto bass to a natural tenor, set him apart. Critics have praised his ability to vary vibrato speed and consistently produce multiple distinct melody notes with a single string strike, showcasing extraordinary strength and agility. The enduring appreciation for his work is evident in its continued influence on generations of musicians across blues, gospel, folk, and rock genres, solidifying his place as a pivotal figure in American music history.

7.2. Societal Challenges and Recognition

Despite his immense artistic talent and the commercial success of his early recordings, Blind Willie Johnson faced significant socio-economic hardships and systemic discrimination throughout his lifetime. As a Black, blind street performer and evangelist in the early to mid-20th century American South, he endured poverty and lacked access to adequate medical care, as tragically demonstrated by his death from pneumonia and malarial fever after being denied hospital admission due to his race and disability. His life stands in stark contrast to his posthumous recognition and cultural significance. While he lived with little wealth and his life was poorly documented, his music has since been rediscovered, analyzed, and celebrated globally. The inclusion of his work on the Voyager Golden Record and the National Recording Registry highlights a profound shift in societal appreciation, underscoring the universal power of his music to transcend the barriers of time, race, and physical challenge. His story serves as a powerful reflection on the broader societal context of his era and the enduring impact of art created in the face of adversity.