Artwork by Julian Allen from MUSICIAN
MAGAZINE - January 1991
WHAT
MUSICIANS SAY ABOUT
ROBERT JOHNSON...
...to the magnificent Woody Guthrie
and Robert Johnson
who sparked it off. BOB DYLAN
Robert Johnson to me is the most important blues musician
who ever
lived. His music remains the most powerful cry that I think you
can
find in the human voice, really. The only parallel in modern
times is Jimi Hendrix. ERIC CLAPTON
Somebody is going to get my record collection, whether
it's
my daughter or my son or both -- and they better know what
they've got, 'cause Johnson is part of why their dad is what he
is. ROBERT PLANT
Robert Johnson showed us how really weighty subjects
like
DEATH,
and
the DEVIL,
can be expressed in a very
interesting way in rock 'n' roll. KEITH RICHARDS
Robert Johnson's among the highlight people in American
music, without a shadow of a doubt. RY COODER
He is the most important artist in the blues.....
all blues seem to revolve around Robert Johnson KEB' MO'
...everything he did, the creative person that he was...
For me, I'd put people in categories, and the
main category was "Originators. The Real Item."
And this guy was an Inventor. ROBBIE ROBERTSON
Robert Johnson was able to play guitar like nobody
else
has been able to. Nobody can figure it out. All that stuff about
him making a deal with the devil may be true,
because nobody can play that way. JOHN MELLENCAMP
Robert Johnson's music sent me reeling. I couldn't
even
imagine how someone could play the guitar the way he did and
sing at the same time. I learned a lot from that experience. BONNIE RAITT
When I first heard Robert Johnson I thought
he was from outer space. ROBERT CRAY
...Ravi Shankar and Robert Johnson are the only guitar
players I listen to. GEORGE HARRISON
I became really mesmerized by his technique and his
songs
and the way he played...it changed my life. JOHN HAMMOND
When I heard Robert Johnson it all sort of connected
up. DION DiMUCCI
You can go to any blues club in the world and hear
a song
Robert Johnson wrote 60 years ago. JIM O'NEAL - Music Critic
