Man, if it wasn't for Him, I wouldn't never be up on the stage. And I use mine the right way. At 57, he is trying to establish himself as a blues star. And like many of the successful blues artists before him, he has left his native Mississippi to do it. It's where all the blues is.
People hear 'em all the time, and they take it for granted.
That's why everybody go north when they learn how to play. People appreciate these blues up north. Johnson's family still lives in Clarksdale, Miss., but the former oil truck driver now calls Philadelphia home. It's easier that way, he says. He's always on the road, anyway, playing 340 nights a year with his band, usually in cities along the East Coast or in Europe.