Tommy Johnson

Tommy Johnson (1896 – November 1 1956) was an influential delta blues musician. He was born in Terry, Mississippi, and lived most of his life in Crystal Springs, Mississippi. Tommy Johnson was known to tell a story about how he had sold his soul to the devil in exchange for his mastery of blues guitar. This story closely resembles the same legend of Robert Johnson. Robert Johnson, however, was never known to tell this story and it was most likely a rumor started by Son House in the 1960s, long after both Johnsons were dead.

A well known song by Tommy Johnson was "Canned Heat Blues".

Tommy Johnson was influenced by Charlie Patton. Johnson was accompanied by Papa Charlie McCoy. Johnson's "Big Road Blues" inspired Canned Heat's song, "On The Road Again".

In fiction

In the 2000 movie O Brother, Where Art Thou? there is a character named Tommy Johnson (played by Chris Thomas King) who sold his soul to the devil to play guitar. He plays the background for the Soggy Bottom Boys (a band that the main characters in the movie are in) on "Man of Constant Sorrow". It is debated whether the character was based on Tommy or Robert Johnson.

Media

See also

*Sterno

External links

*MP3 Audio file of "Canned Heat Blues" on The Internet Archive