In 1936, San Antonio was a significant location for Delta blues music history as bluesman Robert Johnson recorded his first tracks at the Gunter Hotel. While Johnson was not the most well-known artist in the Mississippi Delta blues scene during WWII, his recordings from the Depression era became legendary.
Johnson’s unique lyricism and exceptional guitar skills contributed to the creation of a mystical aura around him, particularly after his mysterious death two years later. Despite not being familiar with his songs, many people are aware of the myth surrounding Johnson, including the tale of him selling his soul to the Devil at the crossroads.
Before the legend grew, Johnson was a young guitarist from Mississippi who found himself in a San Antonio hotel room, striving to create a successful record. The recording sessions were organized by Englishman Don Law for Vocalion Records, typical of the open-call sessions held by record companies in the South during the Great Depression.
During the San Antonio sessions, Johnson recorded tracks such as “Sweet Home Chicago,” “Rambling on My Mind,” and “Cross Road Blues.” Although these singles did not gain immediate popularity, the car song “Terraplane Blues” achieved some success. This led to Johnson returning for a second session in Dallas the following year, producing hits like “Hellhound on My Trail” and “Me and the Devil Blues.”
Following Johnson’s death in 1938, Mississippi artists like Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf migrated north and modernized Delta blues for the electric age. It was during the 1960s that British musicians like Keith Richards, Eric Clapton, and Jimmy Page discovered Johnson’s rare records, recognizing him as a foundational figure in the birth of rock and roll.
Although Johnson’s roots were in Mississippi, his influence extended globally to cities like Chicago and London. It is essential to remember that every Robert Johnson record you listen to was crafted in Texas, highlighting the significance of San Antonio in the history of blues music.
Sources:
– Alan Govenar, ed. The Blues Come to Texas: Mack McCormick and Paul Oliver’s Unfinished Book. College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 2019.
– Robert “Mack” McCormick with John Troutman, ed. Biography of a Phantom: A Robert Johnson Blues Odyssey. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Books, 2023.
– Elijah Wald. Escaping the Delta: Robert Johnson and the Invention of the Blues. New York: HarperCollins, 2004.
If you appreciate the information provided above, please consider making a donation to support further research and reporting on music history. Your contribution helps sustain platforms like texasstandard.org and KUTX.org. Thank you for supporting this valuable work.
