Blind Willie Johnson straddled that spooky border between blues and spirituals. 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. Covered by everyone from Peter, Paul and Mary to Led Zeppelin to Fairport Convention to Bob Dylan to Beck to The White Stripes, he is one of those almost secret figures who seemingly influence everything. Ry Cooder's soundtrack to Paris, Texas was conceived as a distillation of his work and spirit. Willie Johnson's life in itself reads like an early blues, blinded at age seven by his own mother in a fight with his errant father, living as an itinerant preacher and singer, having to live in the burnt out ruin of his ramshackle house after a fire, on a wet mattress, which eventually helped kill him, pneumonia, malarial fever and syphilis being a powerful combo. A major figure in the eerie voiced blues genre typified by Robert Johnson, Skip James and others, that sense-of dread hellhound on my trail atmosphere which makes great movies. Here is a collection of Blind Willie Johnson's finest, with his slashing 12 strings and scary slide all over them, beautifully re-mastered in Rev Ola sonic sound! ...adapted by Led Zeppelin, covered by The White Stripes...surely you have to check out Willie's scary world of black cat bones and revelators and cold, cold graves!
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