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  • Re: John Hammond on Robert Johnson, 1937

    From DianeE@21:1/5 to BobRoman on Mon Sep 16 15:48:59 2024
    On 9/16/2024 11:18 AM, BobRoman wrote:
    "Before closing, we cannot help but call your attention to the greatest Negro blues singer who has popped up in recent years, Robert Johnson. Recording them in deepest Mississippi, Vocalion has certainly done right
    by us in the tunes 'Last Fair Deal Gone Down' and 'Terraplane Blues,' to mention only two of the four sides already released, sung to his own
    guitar accompaniment. Johnson makes Leadbelly sound like an accomplished poseur."
    John Hammond
    New Masses
    March 2, 1937
    ------------
    I thought they were recorded in Texas. In fact, I'm *sure* they were
    recorded in Texas.
    ------------
    I think the idea that is commonly promoted, that no one but a tiny
    community knew of Robert Johnson during his lifetime, is overstated.
    -------------------
    Maybe it's overstated--the last book on him I read said he traveled to
    Chicago and even to NYC (accompanied by Johnny Shines and Calvin
    Frazier). But it's also true that his best-selling record sold only
    about 10,000 copies.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Jim Colegrove@21:1/5 to DianeE on Mon Sep 16 22:07:14 2024
    On Mon, 16 Sep 2024 15:48:59 -0400, DianeE <[email protected]> wrote:

    On 9/16/2024 11:18 AM, BobRoman wrote:
    "Before closing, we cannot help but call your attention to the greatest Negro blues singer who has popped up in recent years, Robert Johnson. Recording them in deepest Mississippi, Vocalion has certainly done right
    by us in the tunes 'Last Fair Deal Gone Down' and 'Terraplane Blues,' to mention only two of the four sides already released, sung to his own
    guitar accompaniment. Johnson makes Leadbelly sound like an accomplished poseur."
    John Hammond
    New Masses
    March 2, 1937
    ------------
    I thought they were recorded in Texas. In fact, I'm *sure* they were >recorded in Texas.

    In 1936 at San Antonio's Gunter Hotel and in Dallas at 508 Park Avenue
    in 1937.


    ------------
    I think the idea that is commonly promoted, that no one but a tiny community knew of Robert Johnson during his lifetime, is overstated.
    -------------------
    Maybe it's overstated--the last book on him I read said he traveled to >Chicago and even to NYC (accompanied by Johnny Shines and Calvin
    Frazier). But it's also true that his best-selling record sold only
    about 10,000 copies.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From DianeE@21:1/5 to --the last book on him I read on Mon Sep 16 23:12:33 2024
    On 9/16/2024 3:48 PM, DianeE wrote:
    --the last book on him I read said he traveled to
    Chicago and even to NYC (accompanied by Johnny Shines and Calvin
    Frazier).
    -----------
    (That book was "Up Jumped The Devil" by Conforth & Wardlow, published in
    2019.)

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