“I went to the crossroads, fell down on my knees… asked the Lord above have mercy, save poor Bob if you please.”
These chilling lyrics to “Cross Road Blues” were first recorded nearly 85 years ago in San Antonio, Texas on November 27, 1936 by a young rambler named Robert Johnson. Even today, for anyone remotely familiar with the song, it evokes certain feelings of eeriness and despair. While no one at the time could foresee just how important Robert Johnson would eventually become to so many, there were at least a chosen few with the foresight to recognize the immense talent that lay within Mr. Johnson. One of these people was a talent scout and producer named Ernie Oertle. Oertle learned of Robert Johnson‘s singing and guitar playing abilities through H.C. Speir in Jackson, Mississippi and made arrangements to meet with Johnson in order to put together a recording session with engineer Don Law. With preparations made, Johnson went on to record “Cross Road Blues” along with others in the November 1936 session and was subsequently brought in for another session in 1937. But it was “Cross Road Blues” that has cemented Johnson, long after his death, into a blues God.
What is it about this song that is so alluring? Maybe the magic rests within the talent of the performer himself. There is no doubt that Robert Johnson was a great artist. When one listens to any number of his recordings, you would swear there were two guitarists playing on the track. His bottleneck technique is exceptional and clean, and his timing and rhythm unwavering and his chords are creative and intricate. Then there is his voice: one minute low and growling like a lustful beast, the next filled with high falsettos like a soaring songbird. His lyrics create an imagery that is like a lucid dream, your mind‘s eye able to picture every impression with clarity and precision.
Many have heard the stories of Robert Johnson selling his soul to the Devil for such musical prowess. The tale has made its way into modern lore and urban myth… even a bad Ralph Macchio movie. However, this account actually comes from rumours told of another blues player named Tommy Johnson (no relation) by Tommy‘s brother Liddell. This legend has been told and re-told so many times in so many ways that uncovering any merit would prove a futile exercise… many have tried. Suffice it to say that the confusion over the two Johnsons, mixed together over 75+ years, makes for an interesting story and sells a lot of records and books. Nowhere in any of the lyrics of “Cross Road Blues” does Robert make mention of a deal or a Devil. Sure, the imagery suggests feelings of desperation, darkness and despair, but no demons, except his personal ones, and maybe that‘s where some of the appeal comes from. We can all relate to feelings of loneliness and isolation. Robert sings of the “sun going down, dark gonna catch me here”, and “I‘m standin‘ at the crossroads, I believe I‘m sinkin‘ down…”
It‘s the timelessness of the song that adds to its overall appeal. It never becomes dated like so many other recordings, with its scenes and images creating more of a feeling than a time or place. Its content spans so many points in history and its subject matter bridges so my generations that every decade has seen at least one or two artists or groups cover this song… often without changing one single word in its lyrics. In the 1950s, a blues singer and guitarist named Elmore James re-recorded the tune and kept all the lines, only changing the tempo. Cream‘s Eric Clapton made it a huge breakout hit for them in the sixties while, again, maintaining the words and rearranging only the tempo and guitar phrasing. The ’70s and ’80s saw The Allman Brothers and Journey each cover it respectively and in the 90‘s Jimmy Page and Robert Plant dusted it off for the reunion tour supporting their No Quarter album. In 2004, Rush experimented with it and in 2006 Dion, in his Bronx In Blue masterpiece put “Crossroads” to task, all with great success. In the 2010s a member of the new generation of young bluesmen resurrected “Crossroads” once again. Much in the vein of the guitar slinging, rock god qualities of Clapton, Hendrix and Stevie Ray Vaughan, John Mayer has his stamp on the immortal tune. His album Battle Studies features the song and I witnessed first-hand his live performance in concert. Again, the lyrics, imagery and illustrations remain.
I guess there‘s a link across time for all of these performers, and so many others, that keep them coming back to this wonderful, brilliant yet anguished song. A bridge, if you will… a bridge over the crossroads. Note: if you wish to hear excellent versions of this and other Robert Johnson songs, check out Elmore James’ Trumpet recordings or Eric Clapton‘s early work with Cream or Derek and the Dominoes as well as his 2004 album Me and Mr. Johnson.
