The Man at the Crossroads: The Legend of Robert Johnson

Fabled bluesman Robert Leroy Johnson was born on or around May 8, 1911, in Hazlehurst, Mississippi. 

During his short life, he was not well-known outside of the Mississippi Delta music circuit, and his 7-month recording career yielded just 29 songs. Still, Johnson's singular guitar virtuosity and rolling stone lifestyle continue to fascinate. He is considered a master of the Delta blues, though his skill transcended genres, and his work incorporated styles such as Chicago and St. Louis blues, country slide guitar, jazz, swing, and ragtime.  

A compilation album, King of the Delta Blues, released in 1961 by Columbia Records, proved massively influential. This was especially true for the burgeoning British blues movement, and Johnson’s musicianship was idolized by the likes of Eric Clapton, Robert Plant, and Keith Richards.

Johnson’s life is not well-documented, which has left plenty of space for legends and rumors to fill in the gaps. The most famous piece of folklore surrounding him is that a young Johnson sold his soul at a crossroads (sometimes said to be near Dockery Plantation) in exchange for his uncanny guitar skills. He is said to have met a large, black man (the Devil) there, who took his guitar and tuned it. The man then played a few songs and handed the guitar back to Johnson. 

Several locations, including Beauregard, MS, and Hazlehurst, lay claim as the location of the crossroads in question. Tourist spots in Clarksdale, MS, and Memphis also purport to be “The Crossroads.” The story of the otherworldly meeting was reportedly given credence by contemporary Son House, who had marveled at Johnson’s rapid improvement on the instrument. At age 18, Johnson married 14-year-old Virginia Travis, who died soon after in childbirth. Surviving relatives of Travis claimed that her death was punishment for Johnson choosing to play secular music, known as “selling one’s soul.”

The crossroads legend seems to be largely a product of white audiences rediscovering his music decades later and attaching their own interpretations of Black and Southern culture and folklore. Robert Johnson himself coyly stoked the flames, with song titles such as “Cross Roads Blues,” "Me and the Devil Blues,” and “Hellhound On My Trail.”

In reality, Johnson honed his craft under musician Isaiah “Ike” Zimmerman, who himself was rumored to have acquired his skill via supernatural means. This was due to his tendency to practice in graveyards around Beauregard at night, because it was quiet and he could play undisturbed. During the year in which Johnson lived and studied under Zimmerman, the two men would practice together in local cemeteries. It’s unclear how the legend came to be attached to Johnson, but some have suggested that it originated with the story of another (unrelated) bluesman, Tommy Johnson. 

Robert Johnson’s death near Greenwood, MS, was just as mysterious as his life, and there are multiple accounts as to what led up to it. A popular story states that Johnson was poisoned after flirting with a woman at a country dance at which he was performing. He is said to have met his fate at the hands of the woman's jealous husband via a bottle of tainted whiskey. The woman handed Johnson a bottle, which was quickly knocked out of his hands by fellow musician Sonny Boy Williams, who told him never to drink from a bottle he hadn’t opened. After which, Johnson told the other man to never again knock a bottle from his hand. He then accepted another bottle of the poisoned liquor from the woman and drank it. He fell ill that night and reportedly had to be helped to his room in the early morning hours. Robert Johnson died 3 days later, on August 16, 1938, convulsing and in pain.

Johnson’s birth certificate was discovered in 1968, and the document listed no cause of death, as his body had been examined, but not autopsied. In the years since, the consensus has been that congenital syphilis likely contributed to his untimely death. 

Adding to his legend, Johnson died at age 27, putting him in the notorious 27 Club, along with the likes of Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, Janis Joplin, and Kurt Cobain.