Rock N Roll Librarian

Up Jumped the Devil: The Real Life of Robert Johnson


Listen Later

This episode Rock N Roll Librarian Shelley Sorenson and Rock N Roll Archaeologist Christian Swain go down the big muddy river and deep into the delta to discuss Bruce Conforth and Gayle Dean Wardlow’s new book ‘Up Jumped the Devil: The Real Life of Robert Johnson’.  This time, while on our Mississippi adventure, we will play many of the few Robert Johnson recordings and couple that with samples from famous acolytes throughout the rock n roll era to show just how influential this guy was to the latter music.

Robert Johnson’s recordings, made in 1936 and 1937, have profoundly influenced generations of singers, guitarists, and songwriters. Yet until now, his short life—he was murdered at the age of 27—has been poorly documented. Gayle Dean Wardlow has been interviewing people who knew Johnson since the early 1960s, and he was the person who discovered Johnson’s death certificate in 1967. Bruce Conforth began his study of Johnson’s life and music in 1970 and made it his mission to fill in what was still unknown about him. In this definitive biography, the two authors relied on every interview, resource, and document, much of it material no one has seen before. This is the first book about Johnson that documents his lifelong relationship with family and friends in Memphis, details his trip to New York, uncovers where and when his wife Virginia died and the impact this had on him, fully portrays the other women Johnson was involved with, and tells exactly how and why he died and who gave him the poison that killed him. Up Jumped the Devil will astonish blues fans worldwide by painting a living, breathing portrait of a man who was heretofore little more than a legend.

https://www.amazon.com/Up-Jumped-Devil-Robert-Johnson/dp/1641600942

Diggers, you can support the show by wearing cool rock n roll gear from TeePublic: https://www.teepublic.com/stores/rocknroll?utm_campaign=rocknroll&utm_medium=4904&utm_source=affiliate

Call us at 650-822-ROCK or email at: [email protected]

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

Rock N Roll LibrarianBy Pantheon

  • 4
  • 4
  • 4
  • 4
  • 4

4

49 ratings


More shows like Rock N Roll Librarian

View all
Criminal by Vox Media Podcast Network

Criminal

37,220 Listeners

Those Conspiracy Guys by Gordon Rochford

Those Conspiracy Guys

2,705 Listeners

The Best of Coast to Coast AM by iHeartPodcasts and Coast to Coast AM

The Best of Coast to Coast AM

2,565 Listeners

The Rewatchables by The Ringer

The Rewatchables

13,661 Listeners

Political Beats by National Review

Political Beats

528 Listeners

Let It Roll by Pantheon Media

Let It Roll

102 Listeners

Necronomipod by Cool Down Media

Necronomipod

3,278 Listeners

History Uncovered by All That's Interesting

History Uncovered

243 Listeners

Rock N Roll Story Guys by Gamut Podcast Network

Rock N Roll Story Guys

103 Listeners

27 Club by iHeartPodcasts and Double Elvis

27 Club

1,586 Listeners

Serialously with Annie Elise by 10 to LIFE & Audioboom Studios

Serialously with Annie Elise

8,992 Listeners

Death of a Rock Star by Crowd Network

Death of a Rock Star

76 Listeners

One Song by Hartbeat

One Song

972 Listeners