Blind Willie Johnson was one of the greatest slide guitarists ever. Musicians from Bob Dylan to Eric Clapton have taken cues from Johnson’s music. Despite his influence, little is known about the man who spent his life roaming Texas, making music on the streets.
TEXAS MONTHLY senior editor Michael Hall spent months trying to answer a simple question: Who was Blind Willie Johnson?
Read the article here: www.texasmonthly.com/2010-12-01/feature3.php
Note: catch this article in the first couple of days after this posting and you can read the entire piece for free!
Here’s a video of Austin musician Steve James playing the slide guitar and discussing the incomparable Blind Willie Johnson (this will be available for free all the time):
www.texasmonthly.com/multimedia/video/home/15304
Illustration from Texas Monthly by Marc Burckhardt
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Written by : Bob Marovich
Bob Marovich is a gospel music historian, author, and radio host. Founder of Journal of Gospel Music blog (formally The Black Gospel Blog) and producer of the Gospel Memories Radio Show.
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Hey Bob, nice to see some Texas connections on your blog! I’m going to have to post this to my blog too.
Chicago loves Texas!
And, Texas loves Chi-town!