King of the Delta Blues Singers?

The first time I knew of Robert Johnson was from the cover of Bringing It All Back Home by Bob Dylan the picture on which showed several record sleeves one of which was King of the Delta Blues Singers. Being a big Dylan fan, I thought to investigate and went out and bought it. I put the needle onto track one side one and BAM! a revelation. This was something I had never heard before. The high tenor voice, the anguished lyrics the whine of the slide guitar. Man, this was something else! I was not alone in this. People such as Eric Clapton, Mick Jagger, Keef and a host of others had also had the same revelation.
Clapton, of course, went on to perform many Johnson songs as did the Stones. None of them did justice to the, however. How could they? White middle class English boys had no idea of what the blues was really about.
Johnson's songs have been analysed and pulled apart ever since the first of his albums was issued. There have been many books about him and millions of words written. The influence on popular music of an uneducated black man who died at the age of 27 in 1938 cannot be overestimated. If he were alive today he wouldn't be able to imagine the power he has had on rock and other music. I would imagine that no one who reads this blog would not have heard of him. If not, why not?
As to the title of King of the Delta Blues Singers, this may not be correct either Son House or Charley Patton probably deserve that honour but even so, he is  a contender.

A Little Light Reading

When I first got into the blues fifty years ago ( that shows my age!) you could count the books written about the blues on one hand and still have fingers left over.
Since that time, however, hundreds of books have been published on the subject and, for a newcomer,  it can be confusing as to where to start.
Luckily 100 Books Every Blues Fan Should Own sorts out the wheat from the chaff to provide a guide as to which ones are worth reading. Obviously a book of this nature cannot encompass all of the worthwhile volumes but it does give a very good start. A word of warning; some of the books recommended may be a bit heavy going especially for a reader new to the subject. However, in the long run, you will find that your knowledge of the blues has increased dramatically after you have read them. Happy reading!