Blind Willie Johnson
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Blind Willie Johnson (Willie Johnson, Brenham, Texas, January 22, 1897 – Beaumont, Texas, September 18, 1945) was an American singer and guitarist whose music straddled the border between blues and spirituals.
While the lyrics of all of his songs were religious, his music drew from both sacred and blues traditions. Among musicians, he is considered one of the greatest slide or bottleneck guitarists, as well as one of the most revered figures of depression-era gospel music. His music is distinguished by his powerful bass thumb-picking and gravelly false-bass voice, with occasional use of a tenor voice.
Blind Willie Johnson was born in 1897 near Brenham, Texas (before the discovery of his death certificate, Temple, Texas had been suggested as his birthplace). When he was five, he told his father he wanted to be a preacher, and then made himself a cigar box guitar. His mother died when he was young and his father remarried soon after her death.
Johnson was not born blind, and, although it is not known how he lost his sight, Angeline Johnson provided the following account to Samuel Charters. She said when Willie was seven his father beat his stepmother after catching her going out with another man. The stepmother then picked up a handful of lye and threw it, not at Willie’s father, but into the face of young Willie.
It is thought that Johnson was married twice, first to a woman with the same first name, Willie B Harris, and later to a young singer named Angeline, who was the sister of blues guitarist L.C. Robinson. No marriage certificates have yet been discovered.
While the lyrics of all of his songs were religious, his music drew from both sacred and blues traditions. Among musicians, he is considered one of the greatest slide or bottleneck guitarists, as well as one of the most revered figures of depression-era gospel music. His music is distinguished by his powerful bass thumb-picking and gravelly false-bass voice, with occasional use of a tenor voice.
Blind Willie Johnson was born in 1897 near Brenham, Texas (before the discovery of his death certificate, Temple, Texas had been suggested as his birthplace). When he was five, he told his father he wanted to be a preacher, and then made himself a cigar box guitar. His mother died when he was young and his father remarried soon after her death.
Johnson was not born blind, and, although it is not known how he lost his sight, Angeline Johnson provided the following account to Samuel Charters. She said when Willie was seven his father beat his stepmother after catching her going out with another man. The stepmother then picked up a handful of lye and threw it, not at Willie’s father, but into the face of young Willie.
It is thought that Johnson was married twice, first to a woman with the same first name, Willie B Harris, and later to a young singer named Angeline, who was the sister of blues guitarist L.C. Robinson. No marriage certificates have yet been discovered.
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Dark Was the Night
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The Complete Blind Willie Johnson
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Sweeter as the Years Go By
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The Soul of a Man
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Shoutbox
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Dezibelchen wrote:
Now I know from whom Tom Waits borrowed his voice.
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VK1990 wrote:
John the Revelator
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samthethe wrote:
Yes he does sound like someone "slashed his throat", but his voice is still 1000x better to listen to than the crap on the X factor - the contrast with his wife's voice on "John The Revelator" creates something special which modern pop/chart can't achieve in the slightest.
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hape60 wrote:
emo? why not... at least a comment with a original thought. not that stupid web-"awsome" thing. for me he's not emo, too raw. maybe skip james is emo. maybe :-))
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naattorri wrote:
Really amazing guitar player.
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gripofdelusion wrote:
great, raw sound. too bad he was a jebus-creeper.
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aannette wrote:
my favorite amongst the blind willies
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ivanmon wrote:
heheheh
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ivanmon wrote:
you just don't understand it...
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ivanmon wrote:
this is emo
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franciscoross wrote:
É pau viola...
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MarinaBertucci wrote:
Emo, wtf
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memristor wrote:
TAKE YOUR BURDEN TO THE LORD AND LEAVE IT THERE
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postyman86 wrote:
and that last comment put a smile on my face :D
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rabbeaton wrote:
That last comment is the height of retardation.
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snatchwhiz wrote:
this guy is the godfather of emo.
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flamengulfing wrote:
God bless him.
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Echos_Myron wrote:
Blind Willi Johnson sounds like someone slashed his throat and he is spewing blood from where his vocal chords once were, but he still can't stop singing the blues.
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Daniel_Green wrote:
Amazing!
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memristor wrote:
752,616 plays (108,379 listeners) < weak plays to listeners ratio
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* Let Your Light Shine On Me *
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Recent Activity
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StinkyBass, RichardGobbler, alexroarsatlyon and 41 other people added Blind Willie Johnson to their libraries. yesterday afternoon
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moonmadness- tagged Blind Willie Johnson with ‘pure blues’. last month
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mojopin22 tagged Blind Willie Johnson with ‘texas artists’. last month
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Bwatty tagged Blind Willie Johnson with 1920s, gospel, delta blues and one other tag. last month
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CINSE7EN tagged Blind Willie Johnson with blues and delta blues. December 2011
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andomck wrote about Blind Willie Johnson – Dark Was the Night in a deleted journal. April 2010
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