Robert Leroy Johnson was an American blues musician and songwriter. His landmark recordings in 1936 and 1937 display a combination of singing, guitar skills, and songwriting talent that has influenced later generations of musicians. Although his recording career spanned only seven months, he is recognized as a master of the blues, particularly the Delta blues style, and one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame describes him as perhaps "the first ever rock star".
Nehemiah Curtis "Skip" James was an American Delta blues singer, guitarist, pianist and songwriter. AllMusic stated: "Coupling an oddball guitar tuning set against eerie, falsetto vocals, James' early recordings could make the hair stand up on the back of your neck."
Willie Lee Brown was an American blues guitar player and vocalist. He performed and recorded with other blues musicians, including Son House and Charlie Patton, and influenced Robert Johnson and Muddy Waters. Brown is considered one of the pioneering musicians of the Delta blues genre.
Homesick James was an American blues musician known for his mastery of the slide guitar. He worked with his cousin, Elmore James, and with Sonny Boy Williamson II.
"Love in Vain" is a blues song written by American musician Robert Johnson. Johnson's performance – vocal accompanied by his finger-style acoustic guitar playing – has been described as "devastatingly bleak". He recorded the song in 1937 during his last recording session and in 1939 it was issued as the last of his original 78 rpm records.
Tommy Johnson was an American Delta blues musician who recorded in the late 1920s and was known for his eerie falsetto voice and intricate guitar playing.
William Bunch, known as Peetie Wheatstraw, was an American musician, an influential figure among 1930s blues singers.
The Mississippi Sheiks were a popular and influential American guitar and fiddle group of the 1930s. They were notable mostly for playing country blues but were adept at many styles of popular music of the time. They recorded around 70 tracks, primarily in the first half of the 1930s. In 2004, they were inducted into the Mississippi Musicians Hall of Fame.
ArmenterChatmon, known as Bo Carter, was an early American blues musician. He was a member of the Mississippi Sheiks in concerts and on a few of their recordings. He also managed that group, which included his brothers Lonnie Chatmon on fiddle and, occasionally, Sam Chatmon on bass, and their friend Walter Vinson on guitar and lead vocals.
Hudson Whittaker, known as Tampa Red, was an American Chicago blues musician.
"Cross Road Blues" is a song written by the American blues artist Robert Johnson. He performed it as a solo piece with his vocal and acoustic slide guitar in the Delta blues-style. The song has become part of the Robert Johnson mythology as referring to the place where he supposedly sold his soul to the Devil in exchange for his musical talent. This is based largely on folklore of the American South that identifies a crossroads as the site where such pacts are made, although the lyrics do not contain any references to Satan or a Faustian bargain.
"Sweet Home Chicago" is a blues standard first recorded by Robert Johnson in 1936. Although he is often credited as the songwriter, several songs have been identified as precedents. The song has become a popular anthem for the city of Chicago despite ambiguity in Johnson's original lyrics. Numerous artists have interpreted the song in a variety of styles.
"They're Red Hot" is a song written and performed by Delta blues musician Robert Johnson. The song was recorded on November 27, 1936, in an improvised studio in Gunter Hotel, San Antonio, Texas. Vocalion Records issued it on a 78 rpm record, with "Come On in My Kitchen" as the second side, in 1937.
Major "Big Maceo" Merriweather was an American pianist and blues singer. He was mainly active in Chicago through the 1940s.
"Rollin' and Tumblin'" is a blues standard first recorded by American singer-guitarist Hambone Willie Newbern in 1929. Called a "great Delta blues classic", it has been interpreted by hundreds of Delta and Chicago blues artists, including well-known recordings by Muddy Waters. Rock musicians usually follow Waters' versions, with the 1960s group Cream's rendition being perhaps the best known.
"Stop Breaking Down" or "Stop Breakin' Down Blues" is a Delta blues song recorded by Robert Johnson in 1937. An "upbeat boogie with a strong chorus line", the lyrics are partly based on Johnson's experience with certain women:
"Dust My Broom" is a blues song originally recorded as "I Believe I'll Dust My Broom" by American blues artist Robert Johnson in 1936. It is a solo performance in the Delta blues-style with Johnson's vocal accompanied by his acoustic guitar. As with many of his songs, it is based on earlier blues songs, the earliest of which has been identified as "I Believe I'll Make a Change", recorded by the Sparks brothers as "Pinetop and Lindberg" in 1932. Johnson's guitar work features an early use of a boogie rhythm pattern, which is seen as a major innovation, as well as a repeating triplets figure.
"Come On in My Kitchen" is a blues song by Robert Johnson. Music writer Elijah Wald has described it as "a hypnotic lament" and "his first unquestionable masterpiece".
"Hellhound on My Trail" is a blues song recorded by Mississippi Delta bluesman Robert Johnson in June 1937 and released as a 78 rpm single on Vocalion Records that September. It was inspired by earlier blues songs and blues historian Ted Gioia describes it as one of Johnson's "best known and most admired performances—many would say it is his greatest".
Merline Johnson was an American blues singer in the 1930s and 1940s, billed as The Yas Yas Girl. "Yas yas" was a euphemism for buttocks in hokum blues songs such as Blind Boy Fuller's "Get Yer Yas Yas Out" and James "Stump" Johnson's "The Duck's Yas-Yas-Yas".
