Description
ROBERT JOHNSON (1911-1938) is a towering figure in the history of 20th century music. He was a master of early Mississippi Delta blues, but his influence extended into rock, jazz, folk, country, slide guitar, even punk. Eric Clapton called Johnson “the most important blues singer that ever lived.” And Bob Dylan said that after first hearing Johnson sing, “I immediately differentiated between him and anyone else I had ever heard.” Johnson’s life was turbulent, shadowy, and short.
Only two photos were known to exist of the music legend. In 2005, as chronicled by writer (and Drew Friedman fan) Frank DiGiacomo, a worn, three-by-four-inch sepia photo turned up on eBay purporting to depict a young, guitar-wielding B.B. King alongside a buddy. A blues guitar maven in New York examined it closely online and skeptically said to himself, “That’s not B. B. King. Because it’s Robert Johnson.” He won the auction for $2,200, still uncertain that the figure WAS Johnson–or that he could convince anyone else of that fact. After a decade of forensic analysis, the artifact has now been verified as the third existing picture of Robert Johnson.
Drew Friedman’s portrait of Johnson, based on the new photograph, places the blues master near a jalopy and a forlorn mailbox in a bleak, rural setting, with a backdrop of bare branches and ominous clouds. May 8 would have been Robert Johnson’s 104th birthday, but he only celebrated 27 before his life ended under mysterious circumstances.