The Problem of Robert Johnson and the Blues: A Bibliography
When one can't come to terms with teenaged disappointment...
In 1975, I began waiting for blues researcher Mack McCormick’s Biography of a Phantom, the story of blues singer Robert Johnson. Fifty years later, while still waiting on the masterpiece, myself and the blues community received a dirt sandwich entitled, Biography of a Phantom: A Robert Johnson Blues Odyssey from John Troutman, curator of music and musical instruments at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History in Washington, DC. This was a disappointment to me. So, now I plan to vent my spleen, naming names and calling those names bad names. Since the day the singer drew his last breath, cultural assassins have marketed the story of Robert Johnson and the blues as some rarefied vintage of sparkling fuckery, making us drink the same naphtha-tainted libation Johnson did while playing at the Three Forks juke joint, located outside of Greenwood, Mississippi.
Dr. Patricia R. Schroeder, in her book, Robert Johnson, Mythmaking, and Contemporary American Culture (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2004) expresses the theory of Johnson’s and his music’s appeal as a cultural artifact. The conversion of a professional, Depression-era musician into a tragic figure shows how media industries and consumer audiences reconstruct history to satisfy contemporary demands for authenticity. The entire myth surrounding Johnson and the blues was little more than because white music critics and rock-and-roll fans in the 1960s desperately wanted an "authentic, romanticized, tragic hero," and Johnson's mystery allowed them to invent one.
Here is my starting bibliography for this future article about holding the myths of Johnson and the blues at gunpoint and interrogating them closely, under a feverish light.
Abbott, Lynn, and Doug Seroff. The Original Blues: The Emergence of the Blues in African American Vaudeville. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2017.
Review: Bailey, C Michael. “The Original Blues: The Emergence of the Blues in African American Vaudeville by Lynn Abbott and Doug Seroff.” All About Jazz, July 30, 2017. [1]
Anderson, Annye C., and Preston Lauterbach. Brother Robert: Growing Up with Robert Johnson. New York: Hachette Books, 2020.
Review: Bailey, C Michael. “Brother Robert: Growing Up with Robert Johnson.” All About Jazz, July 18, 2020. [1]
Beaumont, Daniel. Preachin’ the Blues: The Life and Times of Son House. Oxford University Press, 2011.
Bailey, C Michael. “Daniel Beaumont: Preachin’ the Blues - The Life and Times of Son House.” All About Jazz. Allaboutjazz.com, August 27, 2011. [1]
Burnett, Gary W. The Gospel According to the Blues. Eugene: Cascade Books, 2014.
Review: Bailey, C Michael. “The Gospel According to the Blues by Gary W. Burnett.” All About Jazz, June 13, 2015. [1]
Charters, Samuel. The Country Blues. New York: Rinehart & Co., 1959.
Review: Bailey, C Michael. “The Country Blues by Samuel B. Charters.” All About Jazz, May 5, 2019. [1]
Conforth, Bruce, and Gayle Dean Wardlow. Up Jumped the Devil: The Real Life of Robert Johnson. Chicago: Chicago Review Press, 2019.
Review: Bailey, C Michael. “Up Jumped the Devil: The Real Life of Robert Johnson by Bruce Conforth & Gayle Dean Wardlow.” All About Jazz, June 29, 2019. [1]
Cushing, Steve. Pioneers of the Blues Revival. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2014.
Review: Bailey, C Michael. “Steve Cushing: Pioneers of the Blues Revival.” All About Jazz, August 9, 2014. [1]
Govenar, Alan B., compiler, and Kip Lornell, contributor. Blues Come to Texas: Paul Oliver and Mack McCormick’s Unfinished Book. College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 2019.
Review: Bailey, C Michael. “Blues Come to Texas: Paul Oliver and Mack McCormick’s Unfinished Book.” All About Jazz, July 12, 2020. [1]
Graves, Tom. Crossroads: The Life and Afterlife of Blues Legend Robert Johnson. Memphis: King of the Road Press, 2011.
Review: Bailey, C Michael. “Robert Johnson’s Persistent Ghost.” All About Jazz, November 6, 2011. [1]
Hamilton, Marybeth. In Search of the Blues. New York: Basic Books, 2010.
Review: Bailey, C Michael. “In Search of the Blues.” All About Jazz, April 3, 2010. [1]
Lauterbach, Preston. The Chitlin’ Circuit and the Road to Rock ‘n’ Roll. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2012.
Review: Bailey, C Michael. “Preston Lauterbach: The Chitlin’ Circuit and the Road to Rock ‘n’ Roll.” All About Jazz, October 21, 2012. [1]
McNally, Dennis. On Highway 61: Music, Race, and the Evolution of Cultural Freedom. Berkeley: Counterpoint, 2014.
Review: Bailey, C Michael. “On Highway 61: Music, Race, and the Evolution of Cultural Freedom By Dennis McNally.” All About Jazz, March 8, 2015. [1]
Komara, Edward, and Greg Johnson. 100 Books Every Blues Fan Should Own. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2014.
Review: Bailey, C Michael. “100 Books Every Blues Fan Should Own by Edward Komara & Greg Johnson.” All About Jazz, February 7, 2015. [1]
Palmer, Robert. Deep Blues: A Musical and Cultural History of the Mississippi Delta. New York: Viking Press, 1982.
Review: Bailey, C Michael. “Deep Blues: A Musical and Cultural History of the Mississippi Delta.” All About Jazz, March 8, 2004. [1]
Pearson, Barry, and Bill McCulloch. Robert Johnson: Lost and Found. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2003.
Review: Bailey, C Michael. “Robert Johnson: Lost and Found.” All About Jazz, November 23, 2019. [1]
Petrusich, Amanda. Do Not Sell At Any Price: The Wild, Obsessive Hunt for the World’s Rarest 78 Rpm Records. New York: Scribner, 2014.
Review: Bailey, C Michael. “Amanda Petrusich – Do Not Sell at Any Price: The Wild, Obsessive Hunt for the World’s Rarest 78 Rpm Records.” All About Jazz, July 24, 2014. [1]
Schein, Zeke, and Poppy Z. Brite. Portrait of a Phantom: The Story of Robert Johnson’s Lost Photograph. Gretna: Pelican Publishing Company, 2017.
Review: Bailey, C Michael. “Portrait of a Phantom: The Story of Robert Johnson’s Lost Photograph by Zeke Schein with Poppy Z. Bright.” All About Jazz, August 3, 2018. [1]
Schroeder, Patricia R. Robert Johnson, Mythmaking, and Contemporary American Culture. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2004.
(In press).
Wald, Elijah. Escaping the Delta: Robert Johnson and the Invention of the Blues. New York: Amistad Press, 2004.
Review: Bailey, C Michael. “Escaping the Delta: Robert Johnson and the Invention of the Blues.” All About Jazz, February 9, 2005. [1]
Ward, Brian, and Patrick Huber. A&R Pioneers: Architects of American Roots Music on Record. Nashville: Country Music Foundation Press, 2018.
Review: Bailey, C Michael. “A&R Pioneers: Architects of American Roots Music on Record by Brian Ward & Patrick Huber.” All About Jazz, July 20, 2019. [1]
Wynne, Ben. In Tune: Charley Patton, Jimmie Rodgers, and the Roots of American Music. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 2014.
Review: Bailey, C Michael. “In Tune: Charley Patton, Jimmie Rodgers, and the Roots of American Music by Ben Wynne.” All About Jazz, August 19, 2017. [1]
There will be more to come.