Because blues music is so old and dates back even before vinyl records and other recording means, there remains a significant amount of mystery regarding its early years. Born in the American South ...

Arguably the most influential blues guitarist ever, Robert Johnson’s legend was born when he died at age 27 under mysterious circumstances in 1938. About two years earlier he recorded 16 tracks at San ...

This may be the best tribute disc I have ever heard. Why, might you ask? Because we are fortunate to have performing on this disc, perhaps the last of the practicing bluesmen that actually knew Robert ...

This is FRESH AIR. Our rock critic Ken Tucker has been reading two unusual books about music history. Robert "Mack" McCormick's "Biography Of A Phantom: A Robert Johnson Blues Odyssey" is a ...

A scholarly work that required extensive research on the part of the author, Escaping the Delta makes an excellent reference. This isn't just some casual easy reading. Elijah Wald has included ...

Very little was once known about the king of the Delta blues. Many of these gaps have gradually been filled in. Robert Johnson was born in 1911 in Hazlehurst, Mississippi. He rose like a phoenix in ...

The first published novel by Kalamu ya Salaam is cause for celebration. “Walkin’ Blues,” a speculative account of the life of Mississippi blues legend Robert Johnson — one of the most lauded and ...

In the popular press, almost no music writing is about music. Instead, it’s about the musician, and for good reason: knowing about Mozart’s early death, Beethoven’s deafness or Dylan’s motorcycle ...