American guitarist and
singer (1902-1947). Not much is known about Johnson's
life. He was born in
Pendleton, Texas, and was
blinded sometime between the ages of 3 and 7 when his
stepmother threw
lye into his
eyes because she was
angry at his
father. He earned a living by
singing on
street corners, and he became a
Baptist preacher. He married in 1927 and relocated to
Dallas, where he recorded for
Columbia. Johnson's
gruff voice was primarily employed for
gospel music, though he sometimes used the
blues to carry his
religious messages. He was also an
outstanding slide guitarist.
After relocating to
Beaumont, Texas, where he ran a
church called the
House of Prayer, Johnson's house caught
fire, he had
nowhere else to go, so he slept in the burned-out
ruins, caught
pneumonia, and died.
Johnson's best known
songs include "
Motherless Children Have a Hard Time," "
If I Had My Way," "
Let Your Light Shine on Me," "
You're Gonna Need Somebody on Your Bond," and "
Jesus Make Up My Dying Bed."
Addendum: m_turner reminds me that Johnson's song "
Dark Was the Night" was included, along with music by
Beethoven,
Bach, and
Mozart, on the
gold record that got sent into space on
Voyager I and
Voyager II. So, somewhere up there, some alien is drunk on good space-bourbon, grooving on some damn fine blues...