Blind Willie Johnson

Blind Willie Johnson

I´M GONNA GET RELIGION"

To say that life was hard for poor people and especially African Americans in the United States at this time is a huge understatement.

Imagine, then, how much worse it was for somebody who was disabled.

One day in 1897 a young boy by the name of Willie Johnson was playing in his home when his father and stepmother began to argue. They became more and more violent and suddenly the woman threw a jar of cleaning fluid across the room. The liquid contained ammonia and some of it went into the young boy's eyes. He was blinded.

From then on Willie spent his dark days practising the guitar and thinking about the mysterious ways of God. Johnson became a Baptist preacher and played and preached in the streets to earn his living.

His music was blues but his message was always the same: follow the word of God and you will be saved for eternity. Blind Willie Johnson recorded many records between 1928 and the mid-30´s and went on to be one of the most distinctive sounding blues players of all times. He was also one of the few to make a reasonable living from his music.

He performed his music in the streets of Texas towns and his thunderous voice was said to frighten people to repent their sins. He lived a fairly comfortable life with the profits from his music and finally settled with his wife in the town of Dallas. One cold day in 1949, the Johnson house caught fire and burnt down. The couple had nowhere to go after and had to return to sleep in the wet ruins. Willie Johnson caught pneumonia and died a few days later.

Willie Johnson's singing has been described as "dark and terrifying" and his incredible control of the guitar impressed many of our modern guitar heroes. His songs have been recorded but such stars as Eric Clapton, Led Zeppelin, Ry Cooder and many more. He was the inspiration for a generation of folk-rockers.

Nobody's Fault But Mine . Blind Willie Johnson

Nobody's fault but mine, nobody's fault but mine

If I don't read my soul be lost. Nobody's fault but mine.

I have a bible in my home, I have a bible in my home

If I don't read my soul be lost. Nobody's fault but mine.

My father taught me how to read, my father taught me how to read

If I don't read my soul be lost. Nobody's fault but mine.

My mother taught me how to read, my mother taught me how to read

If I don't read my soul be lost. Nobody's fault but mine.

Preacher taught me how to pray, preacher taught me how to pray

If I don't pray my soul be lost. Nobody's fault but mine.

Blind Willie got by the best he could and tried to warn us about the way we live. He lived in a time before science had addressed many of our cosmological questions, but his message is still appropriate: educate yourself; don't blame others for your problems.

Perhaps his lyrics need a little updating.

Nobody's fault but mine, nobody's fault but mine,

If I don't read, it'll all be lost, nobody's fault but mine.

I have good books at home, I have good books at home,

If I don't read it'll all be lost, nobody's fauly but mine.

Plato taught me how to think, Plato taught me how to think,
If i don't think, it'll all be lost, nobody's fault but mine.


Hume taught me how to think, Hume taught me how to think,

If I don't think, it'll all be lost, nobody's fault but mine.


Philosophy taught me how to think, Science taught me how to think,

If I don't think, it'll all be lost, nobody's fault but mine.

Blind Willie Johnson had many secular songs in his repertoire, but this was not the case with all the preaching blues men.

Reverend Gary Davis, from South Carolina, was ordained in 1937 when he was forty-one. From this time, until he died from a heart attack in 1972, it was very difficult to persuade him to sing anything but religious songs.

Davis, blind from the age of two, began singing and playing when he was a child, in his local Baptist church. At the age of fifteen he started travelling around North and South Carolina playing his music.

He moved to New York to make his first recordings and stayed there, making a poor living for many years teaching guitar and evangelising on the street. In the 50´s he began recording regularly and could live comfortably from his performances, but he continued working in the church until he died.

Davis was one of the finest blues pickers of all times. He used his fingers of his right hand to play the guitar in the same way as classical guitarists do. He also mixed blues music with ragtime music, a fast, syncopated style of music popularised by the pianist composer Scott Joplin.