Folklore: Robert Johnson/'devil' in picture?

Subject: RE: Folklore: Robert Johnson/'devil' in picture?
From: Bobert
Date: 07 Oct 12 - 07:49 AM

"Nobody seemed to know me
everybody passed me by"...

B~

Subject: RE: Folklore: Robert Johnson/'devil' in picture?
From: Jack the Sailor
Date: 07 Oct 12 - 03:49 AM

From wiki

The lyrics tell of the narrator's failed attempts to hitch a ride from an intersection as night approaches. The song had frequently been linked to stories of Johnson selling his soul to the devil for the ability to play music, although nothing in the actual lyrics speaks of these events.[3] Historian Leon Litwack and others state that the song refers to the common fear felt by blacks who were discovered out alone after dark; that Johnson was likely singing about the desperation of finding his way home from an unfamiliar place as quickly as possible because of a fear of lynching.[3][4] In addition, the lyrics could be allusion to the curfews that were then imposed on blacks in the South. The imagery of the singer falling to his knees and the mention of his failure to find a "sweet woman" suggests that the song is also about a deeper and more personal loneliness. [5]

Subject: RE: Folklore: Robert Johnson/'devil' in picture?
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 07 Oct 12 - 03:36 AM

People also used to say about the violinist Paganini, that they could see the devil standing behind him on stage, good imaginations all IMHO

Dave H

Subject: RE: Folklore: Robert Johnson/'devil' in picture?
From: GUEST,999
Date: 06 Oct 12 - 10:19 AM

I don't think Robert Johnson was all that good, so if he did sell his soul to you-know-who, he got ripped off in the deal. IMO

Subject: RE: Folklore: Robert Johnson/'devil' in picture?
From: Bobert
Date: 06 Oct 12 - 08:56 AM

Hey, if it had been Robert's buddy, Johnny Shines, who had been poisoned and Robert who lived a full life, I think we'd be having this same conversation about Johnny Shines...

BTW, IMHO, Johnny Shines played at least, if not better, than Robert played...

B~

Subject: RE: Folklore: Robert Johnson/'devil' in picture?
From: GUEST
Date: 06 Oct 12 - 05:29 AM

My other thought on this in agreement with one of the other post's which is that the image has been manipulated in photo shop. People are always messing with stuff nowadays that's why you have to keep an open mind and not become manipulated by all you see and hear on the net or in the media. If it hasn't been tampered with then that is to much of a coincidence for it to be some random face that is appearing from the light in the photographic session. Weird I'm outta here.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Robert Johnson/'devil' in picture?
From: GUEST
Date: 06 Oct 12 - 05:17 AM

The head behind Robert Johnson resembles an extraterrestrial being known as a " GREY". I am a massive fan of Robert Johnson and seeing that head in the back ground creeped me out a bit. Just because of some stuff I've come across on the net about grey aliens and how back in the day humans were more away of their presence here on earth among over species of extraterrestrial inter dimensional beings that have often been also labelled as Demons. I've heard of other types that are not a physical being but can manifest themselves as a parasitic force capable of existing in the mind of a human. Also referred to as a demonic possession by certain religious groups or mental illness or schizophrenia in medicine. Robert may very well have aquired his skills by one of these entities out on a lonely dark crossroads. There was probably not a lot out there in the countryside back in the 30's. If you research a little bit about this kind of stuff you'll know what is possible out there!
In saying that I've seen a couple of blues players that could play that style of guitar that Robert played. It is obtainable through dedication and hard work. You have to remember things were different back then and a musician had to fill out the sonic plane with just one instrument which is what Robert Johnson managed to achieve. But if you listen to him as s whole including the voice it does sound rather uncanny almost paranormal. Which is what makes him very mysterious. I believe he has some kind of super powers that he gained either through a demonic possession, coming across some form of extraterrestrials on the road at night. Or some African black voodoo magic as the head also looks like one of those African voodoo masks as well. It all just adds to the mystery of the man! Great stuff

Subject: RE: Folklore: Robert Johnson/'devil' in picture?
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 18 Oct 11 - 12:55 PM

Is this the pic?

formal portrait

If that blurry form in the drape behind him is the devil, where did the phrase 'handsome devil' come from? Because, while it seems to have two eyes, one darker than the other, it has no nose or mouth and is three times as big as Robert.

By the way, I think the chord he's playing is the first chord of the old tango "Jealousy."

Subject: RE: Folklore: Robert Johnson/'devil' in picture?
From: GUEST,kenya
Date: 17 Oct 11 - 05:31 PM

It does look like a devilish evil image on the curtain behind Robert Johnson.
Coincidence?   Likely not.
This evil image jumps right out at you.
It's the first thing I noticed when I looked at the photo.
Really creepy. It only adds to the folklore that he sold his soul to the devil.
Johnson clearly had an evil spirit following him.
And this evil entity got him in the end.
K.C.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Robert Johnson/'devil' in picture?
From: Bobert
Date: 28 Jan 11 - 04:39 PM

Dave is more than likely correct... Robert played alot of open tunings and if I had to guess he also had the 1st open making a full open G...

B~

Subject: RE: Folklore: Robert Johnson/'devil' in picture?
From: josepp
Date: 28 Jan 11 - 03:20 PM

I'll buy that for now.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Robert Johnson/'devil' in picture?
From: Dave MacKenzie
Date: 28 Jan 11 - 12:02 PM

I'd say he's not playing chords - he's using the open 5th and 6th strings for the bass, and just holding the A7 chord position to pick single string notes on the other strings.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Robert Johnson/'devil' in picture?
From: josepp
Date: 28 Jan 11 - 10:46 AM

He's not playing an A7, that's my point. If not covering the E doesn't make the chord sound that different (and it doesn't) then why leave it open since it's harder to play that way especially for long fingers like Johnson has? It doesn't make sense. He's not playing an A7.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Robert Johnson/'devil' in picture?
From: blinddrunkal
Date: 28 Jan 11 - 09:07 AM

I thought it was Father Christmas - but then I'm dyslexic - I went to the crossroads and sold my soul to Santa.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Robert Johnson/'devil' in picture?
From: Cluin
Date: 27 Jan 11 - 11:09 PM

Which E string? The low one?
Anyway, there is an E note in the A chord. Having the bass note be the fifth in the scale works fine.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Robert Johnson/'devil' in picture?
From: josepp
Date: 27 Jan 11 - 04:32 PM

One website said it was an A7 but it doesn't look like he's touching the E string.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Robert Johnson/'devil' in picture?
From: Cluin
Date: 27 Jan 11 - 03:56 PM

Looks like a barred A7 or maybe an A flatted 9th. (if it's in standard tuning)

Subject: RE: Folklore: Robert Johnson/'devil' in picture?
From: Bobert
Date: 27 Jan 11 - 03:06 PM

No, but I would guess that he was playing in an open G... If I find the pic I'll see if I can figure out what it is...

B~

Subject: RE: Folklore: Robert Johnson/'devil' in picture?
From: G-Force
Date: 27 Jan 11 - 11:18 AM

Apologies for thread drift ... but does anyone know what chord he's playing in that photo?

Subject: RE: Folklore: Robert Johnson/'devil' in picture?
From: Edthefolkie
Date: 26 Jan 11 - 08:10 PM

Oh my Gawd, just yesterday I threw an outer CD box with that picture into the recycling bin! He won't come for me will he? I'm gettin' stones in my passway just thinking about it. Robert, tell him I still got the CDs!!!

Subject: RE: Folklore: Robert Johnson/'devil' in picture?
From: SINSULL
Date: 26 Jan 11 - 07:05 PM

But what about the black cat walking across his strumming hand??????

Subject: RE: Folklore: Robert Johnson/'devil' in picture?
From: Don Firth
Date: 26 Jan 11 - 03:05 PM

I've always found the idea that a flaw in a plate glass window or a water stain on a concrete wall, which if you tilt your head to one side and squint, suddenly becomes an image of the Virgin Mary. What one sees in this blinky-eyed, neck-creaking position can be imagined as resembling a woman (or someone) with a shawl over her/his/its head. If one is imaginative enough, it appears to be a detail-less silhouette of the image of the Virgin Mary as depicted in a Renaissance painting.

But these Renaissance paintings are what the painter imagined the Virgin Mary might have looked like. Nobody, not even Leonardo di Vinci, actually knew what she looked like.

If she ever existed at all.

Don Firth

Subject: RE: Folklore: Robert Johnson/'devil' in picture?
From: Bobert
Date: 26 Jan 11 - 01:26 PM

I read that book a few years ago, Jerry... Very interesting stuff in there... BTW, Wald does a workshop at Blues Week at Davis & Elkins College in the summer...

B~

Subject: RE: Folklore: Robert Johnson/'devil' in picture?
From: GUEST,Neil D
Date: 26 Jan 11 - 01:15 PM

I've got a toasted cheese sandwich the image of Robert Johnson on it. Should I put it on Ebay.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Robert Johnson/'devil' in picture?
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 25 Jan 11 - 10:37 PM

It looks like a rubber ducky to me. I'm reading Elijah Wald's book on Robert Johnson. Seems like white suburban kids made Johnson into a mythical character in the '60's. I was a white small town kid, myself.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Robert Johnson/'devil' in picture?
From: josepp
Date: 25 Jan 11 - 06:26 PM

Actually, the crossroads story was not originally told about Robert Johnson, it was told about Tommy Johnson by his older brother Ledell. The first time anyone heard the story about Robert Johnson was when Son House told it in a 1966 interview. Robert wasn't even that well known until about 1961 duringthe blues revival. Prior to that he was known to other bluesmen but not to the general public. He had little impact on blues during his lifetime unlike, say, Muddy Waters or John Lee Hooker or B.B.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Robert Johnson/'devil' in picture?
From: GUEST,999
Date: 25 Jan 11 - 06:20 PM

meself can`t GO to his room. He has a curtain in it and . . . .

Subject: RE: Folklore: Robert Johnson/'devil' in picture?
From: Bobert
Date: 25 Jan 11 - 03:38 PM

Bad, meself... Go to yer room... lol...

Subject: RE: Folklore: Robert Johnson/'devil' in picture?
From: meself
Date: 25 Jan 11 - 01:21 PM

"But the story goes that if you were to go to the crossroads (Highway 61 and Highway ____) at midnight that a large balck man would come up from behind and if you didn't look at him but passed your guitar over your shoulder that he would play it in and pass it back to you ready for you to be able then to play anything you wanted and in exchange for..."

The way I heard the story, you pass your guitar over your shoulder, he takes it - and runs away with it to the nearest pawn shop ....

Subject: RE: Folklore: Robert Johnson/'devil' in picture?
From: josepp
Date: 25 Jan 11 - 01:15 PM

Where's Foolestruope with his dumb remarks about the Law of Fives when it finally actually applies? Missing the train again.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Robert Johnson/'devil' in picture?
From: Bobert
Date: 25 Jan 11 - 12:29 PM

According to blues historian and former FBI Top Ten Most Wanted, John Sinclair says that the story about the devil is attributed to another bluesman, Tommy Johnson (un-related)...

But the story goes that if you were to go to the crossroads (Highway 61 and Highway ____) at midnight that a large balck man would come up from behind and if you didn't look at him but passed your guitar over your shoulder that he would play it in and pass it back to you ready for you to be able then to play anything you wanted and in exchange for...

...your soul...

So it's interesting the folks see the devil over Robert's shoulder???

I never looked that hard but I know the picture because I've never seen any other picture of Robert so I'll check it out...

B~

Subject: RE: Folklore: Robert Johnson/'devil' in picture?
From: GUEST,schlimmerkerl
Date: 25 Jan 11 - 12:03 PM

There's a famous Canadian dollar where the devil is whispering in Queen Elizabeth's ear: www.collectibles-articles.com/antique/Canada-2-Devil-Face-Hairdo-1954-Coyne-Tower-Dollar-NR_390263211252.html

Subject: RE: Folklore: Robert Johnson/'devil' in picture?
From: BanjoRay
Date: 25 Jan 11 - 11:42 AM

You've only got to take a good look ar his fingers to see how many hours the guy put in on guitar.

Ray

Subject: RE: Folklore: Robert Johnson/'devil' in picture?
From: Roger the Skiffler
Date: 25 Jan 11 - 09:53 AM

I've got that image on a T-shirt but no-one has noticed anything strange: my belly must have distorted the image!

RtS

Subject: RE: Folklore: Robert Johnson/'devil' in picture?
From: GUEST,Alan Whittle
Date: 25 Jan 11 - 09:48 AM

As captain Mainwaring said, i think we're entering the realms of fantasy....

Subject: RE: Folklore: Robert Johnson/'devil' in picture?
From: Taconicus
Date: 24 Jan 11 - 11:44 PM

Humans have a face-recognition instinct that leads them to see faces in all kinds of patterns and objects.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Robert Johnson/'devil' in picture?
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 24 Jan 11 - 07:16 PM

Yeah and there's a bloke down the chip shop who thinks he's Elvis.

Dave H

Subject: RE: Folklore: Robert Johnson/'devil' in picture?
From: Dave MacKenzie
Date: 24 Jan 11 - 06:07 PM

I think I saw the devil on TV recently. There was this goat's head out at the far end of universe, I think in the Magellan Clouds.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Robert Johnson/'devil' in picture?
From: GUEST
Date: 24 Jan 11 - 06:00 PM

Subject: RE: Folklore: Robert Johnson/'devil' in picture?
From: GUEST,meself
Date: 21 Jun 07 - 10:47 PM

Especially if you practise your guitar at a crossroads at midnight, and a stranger appears, and ...

Subject: RE: Folklore: Robert Johnson/'devil' in picture?
From: GUEST,QM
Date: 21 Jun 07 - 10:15 PM

Amazing how the Robert Johnson myth just keeps going on in unending forms. Why won't anyone just believe that Robert Johnson simply practiced a lot and got a lot better from his practicing. That's the story he actually told Son House from what I understand and it is the only story that actually makes sense. Guess no one wants to believe practice actually improves one's guitar playing like...always.

QM

Subject: RE: Folklore: Robert Johnson/'devil' in picture?
From: Geordie-Peorgie
Date: 21 Jun 07 - 12:08 PM

Accordin' to Ron Trueman-Border on his song 'Peter Green'

"..... The Good Lord plays a Gibson. The Devil beats a tambourine"

Subject: RE: Folklore: Robert Johnson/'devil' in picture?
From: GUEST,reggie miles
Date: 21 Jun 07 - 11:13 AM

Nutz! I did it wrong. Marlene and Lloyd Loar's instrument case

Subject: RE: Folklore: Robert Johnson/'devil' in picture?
From: GUEST,reggie miles
Date: 21 Jun 07 - 11:07 AM

Nice lookin' Gibson he's posed with. Does that mean Gibson guitars are of the Devil? (cue scary music and wolf howling in background) Or do you simply have to sell your soul to the Devil to be able to afford one? Maybe the Dark Lord himself works for Gibson.

That Lloyd Loar character who worked for Gibson was kind of a strange fellow. And just how did he manage to tweak their instruments to make them sound better? Maybe he was infusing evil spirits directly into them and forcing them to enslave every owner of every Gibson instrument!

He was a saw player too! Here's an picture of his personal instrument case. See his saw in the lid? Lloyd Loar's musical saw
That seals it for me. Anyone that wields the eerie timbre of the unruly blade betwixt their knees to create that kind of spooky sound is either the Devil himself or one of his evil minions. Just take a look at the blank, lifeless, haunted expression on the poor face of Marlene Dietrich Yup, you know she's been possessed by the same terrible demonic saw spirit as Lyoyd.

More findings to support this...if you add up all of the numbers of the numerical positions of the letters in the name Gibson as they fall in the alphabet G-7, I-9, B-2, S-19, O-15, N-14, 7+9+2+19+15+14 it equals 66 I think we're onto something here. (cue scary music, wolf howling in background, lightning flashing, and thunder claps crashing).

I suppose their new catch phrase might be, "Get Possessed! Get Gibson!" Or, "Can thousands of possessed souls be wrong? Buy Gibson!" How about, "Want to play like the Devil? Need a Hellhound on your trail? Pros know the Devil's in the detail! Why settle for anything less than full demonic possession? Every Gibson guitar purchase is fully guaranteed to include your very own personal demon or hellhound. Make your mark on the enclosed contract and return it promptly."

Subject: RE: Folklore: Robert Johnson/'devil' in picture?
From: frogprince
Date: 21 Jun 07 - 10:47 AM

Definitely a supernatural manifestation : )
My question would be, did Schott see this photo and then do the drawing, or did someone see Schott's drawing and then mess with the old photo in photoshop. The head just above the guitar is very werewolf-ish. He's licking the guitar, with his long tongue. In the very upper right there is another demon of more lizard-ish persuasion. Reminds me of Heironyus (sp.)Whatsisname, the medieval painter.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Robert Johnson/'devil' in picture?
From: GUEST,meself
Date: 21 Jun 07 - 09:29 AM

Here's the scary photo.

Looks a lot like that face they found on Mars. Coincidence?

Subject: RE: Folklore: Robert Johnson/'devil' in picture?
From: GUEST,meself
Date: 21 Jun 07 - 09:22 AM

I'm convinced!

Subject: RE: Folklore: Robert Johnson/'devil' in picture?
From: masato sakurai
Date: 21 Jun 07 - 05:46 AM

See this drawing by Heinrich Schott.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Robert Johnson/'devil' in picture?
From: Brian Hoskin
Date: 21 Jun 07 - 05:35 AM

"Whats more, it appears that this skull is biting off the end of Robert's guitar."

. . . and he would have gotten away with it if it wasn't for those meddling kids!

Subject: RE: Folklore: Robert Johnson/'devil' in picture?
From: Splott Man
Date: 21 Jun 07 - 03:54 AM

Belle Vue Manchester?

Subject: RE: Folklore: Robert Johnson/'devil' in picture?
From: BuckMulligan
Date: 20 Jun 07 - 04:10 PM

Y'mean it ain't the BVM???

Subject: RE: Folklore: Robert Johnson/'devil' in picture?
From: GUEST,meself
Date: 20 Jun 07 - 04:02 PM

I've noticed the same thing in my bedroom curtains. Spooks me out. And I didn't even sell my soul to the devil. Far as I can remember, anyway. If I did, I should be a heck of a lot better on guitar ...

Subject: RE: Folklore: Robert Johnson/'devil' in picture?
From: WFDU - Ron Olesko
Date: 20 Jun 07 - 03:47 PM

It looks more like an alien. Maybe it was an early visit before Rosewell?

Subject: Folklore: Robert Johnson/'devil' in picture?
From: GUEST,Irene
Date: 20 Jun 07 - 03:41 PM

I was looking at this Robert Johnson photo yesterday (hopefully it shows up), but its the one of him sitting in a chair wearing the suit.

It struck me that..wow, the curtain behind him on the upper right of the photo looks distinctly like a evil-looking face. It looks like a skull almose, with large sockets for eyes, a bony nose, and little sharp teeth. Whats more, it appears that this skull is biting off the end of Robert's guitar.

Has anyone else noticed this?