The recordings left behind by Robert Johnson are extraordinary. A wonderful guitar technique, combining with his powerful haunting vocal performances. Although the reason that Robert Johnson is still remembered so fondly is because of the musical legacy he left behind, legend and myth, in part generated by the lyrical content of some of his songs, play a part in keeping his memory alive. Cross Roads Blues' have helped propagate the story that Johnson sold his soul to the devil in return for his musical powers. The devil was a recurrent theme, in songs like 'Hell hound On My Trail' and 'Me and the devil', but there are lots of topics covered in his canon of songs.
Sex is never very far away.
The story goes that it was indeed a jealous husband who poisoned Johnson, while he was performing at Three Forks, outside Greenwood, Mississippi, that resulted in his death. The fact that soon after his death, John Hammond was still seeking him out to represent country blues at a Carnegie Hall concert, in what would have been a big break, only went to fuel the rumours that he had been claimed by the devil before he could achieve real success. We don't really know how much the recorded work has in common with the material Robert Johnson performed live. Come On Into My Kitchen' live. What we do know however, is the influence that Robert Johnson has had on successive generations of musicians, with an influence stretching far beyond the Mississippi Delta, or even Chicago, Illinois.