Search - Blind Willie Johnson :: Soul of a Man

Early prewar Gospel/Blues at its finest!

Brian Kerecz | PA, USA | 04/02/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

""Blind" Willie Johnson has a voice which will reach through the decades, grab you by the shirt and shake you, and most insistently dictate your rapt attention. The strong and gravelly voice of Johnson is comparable probably only to Son House's early Paramount recordings. And while some of the songs on this album can definitely be categorized in the blues genre, many fall much more into the gospel genre, if that is even of importance when discussing one of the great early names in pre-war blues and American music history.



Willie Johnson is not a well known name of a Robert Johnson....not even close. To his credit, Eric Clapton and others have brought new people into the blues genre because of their accolades of Robert Johnson; the downside of course, is that some great pre-war blues musicians are often overlooked......and Willie Johnson definitely falls into this category. I picked Willie Johnson up by chance at the store to add to my growing collection of prewar blues artists.....and was I ever surprised when I listened to it for the first time.



Johnson was blinded at an early age by his stepmother. His father had caught his stepmother cheating and gave her a beating, and instead of throwing lye at the young Willie's father, she threw it in the eyes of young Johnson, permanently blinding him. His story reads like a Shakespearean tragedy; being blinded at a young age by his stepmother, living most of his life penniless, and dying of pneumonia on a wet mattress after his house burned down because he was refused admittance at a hospital. And despite all of this, he remained steadfast to his religious beliefs, and would often travel to Houston to sing at gospel revivals. This man knew the blues all too well, and also had a deeper understanding of life through his experiences, and all of this comes through in his songs.



Many of Johnson's songs were performed and made famous by others, the most notable being "Nobody's Fault But Mine" by Led Zeppelin. Also, the traditional song of "John the Revelator" was magnificently performed a capella by Son House during his 1960's Columbia Sessions. One of my favorites is "Trouble Will Soon Be Over". And the song "Mother's Children Have A Hard Time" is most likely autobiographical in nature and displays the great love he had for his mother. But every song will grab the listener.....be forewarned.



Very few singers have made the interplanetary trip on NASA Voyager's Golden Record (other musicians and singers who are on it include Beethoven and Chuck Berry), and I think it could be said that sadly, Johnson is probably the least well known of any of them. The song "Dark Was the Night" is now traveling through space, a song which has only his plaintive moans coupled with a guitar, and which wordlessly evokes the pain of the crucifixion of Jesus (and perhaps all of us in this life).



In a word, brilliant."