reswati Posted February 28, 2009 Share Posted February 28, 2009 I missed this. Some are claiming to have found a "new" photo of RJ. Only 2 photos of RJ have surfaced, though supposedly his family has a few more. I'm not convinced though the man in the photo has long ass fingers like the RJ photos that have been previously published. New Photo Uhh, what are long ass fingers???? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ninelives Posted February 28, 2009 Share Posted February 28, 2009 Uhh, what are long ass fingers???? Fingers that are really long Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swede Posted March 3, 2009 Share Posted March 3, 2009 I've read about the "third" photo of RJ. I suppose there are other photo's of Shines, so if they could confirm that he's on that pic, it will hardly be ANY doubt it's the photo of him and RJ that Shines used to talk about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AMAZONIC Posted March 8, 2009 Share Posted March 8, 2009 Thanks for your wonderful post, Danelectro! I didn't know much about Robert Johnson until I went to a tribute concert here in Sydney a few weeks ago. It was an awesome gig with different guitarists taking in turns and play all RJ's tunes. They dedicated two nights to this amazing bluesman. There also was a narrator telling Robert's story and legend of his meeting with the "devil" at the crossroads. I just loved the performance these players put up and I still remember how the following day my ears were still ringing from the heavy blues riffs played. Just magical. Of course they were not Robert, but still an awesome concert. Among them, Jeff Lang a talented Aussie guitarist who played for Jeff Beck a few times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bring Them On Back Posted March 8, 2009 Share Posted March 8, 2009 maybe they were slowed down but who knows, he had huge influence and he was one of the first, so maybe we would be listening to something way different now if the records hadn't been sped up. sort of like one of those time travel movies where someone steps on a fly back in time and ruins everything.. the speed's only a small difference but it mightve added up Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danelectro Posted March 12, 2009 Author Share Posted March 12, 2009 Forgot to mention I received my slowed down RJ cd and it's not as exagerated as the examples on the site but definitely sounds "period correct". Put me down for being in with the belief the commercial RJ's are too fast, hearing most of his 29 sides pitch corrected made me a believer. BTW that guy ships the discs quick, I paid just over $5 USD to have it at my door in 5 days from the UK. It had to have cost him clse to that to get it to me, this guy just wants to spread the news. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Footsteps of Dawn Posted March 12, 2009 Share Posted March 12, 2009 I just wanted to say that this is the best, most informative flippin' thread I have ever read here, so thanks, guys! I love this kind of "uncovering history" stuff. danelectro - it's only $5 for the CDs? I'll definitely have to check that out. I've got the "King of the Delta Blues" CD, and it always sounded a little funny to me, but I couldn't put my finger on why. I'd definitely love to see if the speed was the problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danelectro Posted March 12, 2009 Author Share Posted March 12, 2009 yeah it's $5 for the cd and shipping. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Footsteps of Dawn Posted March 12, 2009 Share Posted March 12, 2009 Awesome. I'll put that on my "To Do" list, for sure. And if that guy in the picture isn't Robert Johnson, it must be his twin brother or something because it sure looks like him to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ninelives Posted March 12, 2009 Share Posted March 12, 2009 Forgot to mention I received my slowed down RJ cd and it's not as exagerated as the examples on the site but definitely sounds "period correct". Put me down for being in with the belief the commercial RJ's are too fast, hearing most of his 29 sides pitch corrected made me a believer. BTW that guy ships the discs quick, I paid just over $5 USD to have it at my door in 5 days from the UK. It had to have cost him clse to that to get it to me, this guy just wants to spread the news. That's great it was so cheap! Do you feel the cd sounds better than what was played on the site? I wonder if he exaggerated it to illustrate the point. I'd imagine the cd sounds more "realistic" if you will. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danelectro Posted March 12, 2009 Author Share Posted March 12, 2009 That's great it was so cheap! Do you feel the cd sounds better than what was played on the site? I wonder if he exaggerated it to illustrate the point. I'd imagine the cd sounds more "realistic" if you will. The cd is definitely not as exaggerated, I don't know if it's intentional or because the streaming songs drag, either way it's better sounding. Hearing the cd makes what others have said make sense, RJ sounds like his influences. I think some have a hard time getting their heads around it thinkning it diminishes what he did, there's always someone who thinks playing fast means it's more difficult or more technical. It had the opposite affect on me, the licks are more prounced and deliberate. I've never been a huge RJ fan, far too many people think early blues starts and ends with him when the reality was he was one of the very last who played in that style. It was just a few years after he died when musicians started playing electric instruments in band settings and never looked back. No big deal, being first or last rarely has anything to do with the quality of the music but I feel there were far better pre-war blues musicians than RJ, especially if you know who his influences were. I recently read a study where someone put together a list of songs, lyrics and melodies that are the basis of RJ's catalog, everything he did was gleaned from someone else. He was one of the least original country blues musicians, which makes sense since he recorded at the very end. However what we don't know is if he had any influence on others of his time before he recorded, it's now known he was playing around the delta as early as 1930. The peak of delta blues was from about '28-'34, it's likely he crossed paths with many others. After reading interviews with Ishmon Bracey it shed light on how the musicians networked and knew each other. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ninelives Posted March 12, 2009 Share Posted March 12, 2009 The cd is definitely not as exaggerated, I don't know if it's intentional or because the streaming songs drag, either way it's better sounding. Hearing the cd makes what others have said make sense, RJ sounds like his influences. I think some have a hard time getting their heads around it thinkning it diminishes what he did, there's always someone who thinks playing fast means it's more difficult or more technical. It had the opposite affect on me, the licks are more prounced and deliberate. I've never been a huge RJ fan, far too many people think early blues starts and ends with him when the reality was he was one of the very last who played in that style. It was just a few years after he died when musicians started playing electric instruments in band settings and never looked back. No big deal, being first or last rarely has anything to do with the quality of the music but I feel there were far better pre-war blues musicians than RJ, especially if you know who his influences were. I recently read a study where someone put together a list of songs, lyrics and melodies that are the basis of RJ's catalog, everything he did was gleaned from someone else. He was one of the least original country blues musicians, which makes sense since he recorded at the very end. However what we don't know is if he had any influence on others of his time before he recorded, it's now known he was playing around the delta as early as 1930. The peak of delta blues was from about '28-'34, it's likely he crossed paths with many others. After reading interviews with Ishmon Bracey it shed light on how the musicians networked and knew each other. Maybe it could be what you said about the links on the site being more exaggerated are what people base their feelings on about it diminishing what he did. Sounds like the cd is more authentic, for lack of a better word. Johnson I like a lot but no, he's definitely not my favorite musician and I do agree with what you said about him - I've read similar stuff that has said he certainly wasn't the first to play that style. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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