Blind Willie Johnson - His life and music

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Blind Willie Johnson: His Life and Music

A singing street-corner evangelist, Blind Willie Johnson created some of the most intensely moving records of the 20th century. Void of frivolity or uncertainty, his 78s from the 1920s and ’30s are clearly the work of a pained believer seeking redemption. A slide guitarist nonpareil, Johnson had an exquisite sense of timing and tone, using a pocketknife or ring slider to duplicate his vocal inflections or to produce an unforgettable phrase from a single strike of a string. Eric Clapton cites his “It’s Nobody’s Fault But Mine” as “probably the finest slide guitar playing you’ll ever hear,” and Ry Cooder calls “Dark Was the Night – Cold Was the Ground” the “most transcendent piece in all American music.”

“Blind Willie Johnson had great dexterity,” Ry Cooder described, “because he could play all of these sparking little melody lines. He had fabulous syncopation; he could keep his thumb going really strong. He’s so good – I mean, he’s just so good! Beyond being a guitar player, I think the guy is one of these interplanetary world musicians, the kind of person they talk about in that Nada Brahma book, where the world is sound and everything is resonating. He’s one of those guys. There’s only a few. Blind Willie Johnson is in the ether somewhere. He’s up there in the zone.”

The Early Years

As great a player as Blind Willie Johnson was, precious few historic documents connect directly to him. The most important is his death certificate, filed on September 21, 1945, in Beaumont, Texas. The name “Angelina Johnson” appears in the “signature” area of the document, so presumably his widow, Angeline, provided the information. According to this document, Willie Johnson, Jr., was born on January 22, 1897, in Independence, Texas. His parents are listed as Willie Johnson, Sr., of Mississippi, and Mary Fields of Moody, Texas. The document further reveals Johnson had lived at 1440 Forest in Beaumont for “30 years” and worked as a minister.

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Complete article at:

Jas Obrecht Music Archive

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