Reciting an ancient incantation, he called upon the Devil to make his deal.
According to the myth, the young bluesman desperately longed for fame and fortune.Īt the stroke of midnight, he walked down to the windswept crossroads at the junction of Highways 61 and 49 in Clarksdale, Mississippi. More often than not, his legend has obscured the few grains of truth that can be discerned.
Undisputed facts about Johnson’s life are few and far between. Some people said that Robert’s deal with the devil came due and as evidence gave the fact that they had seen him on all fours, howling at the moon the night he died…… His mysterious death at the age of 27 added to the legend: He died in 1938, falling ill after playing a party and dying four days later. In 1936-37 he recorded at least 29 songs in Texas (San Antonio and Dallas), then returned to Mississippi to play and sing in clubs and bars. Part of the crossroads story comes from a report that he dropped out of sight for a while in the early 1930s and returned a much-improved guitarist. His wife and child died in childbirth around 1930 and he is said to have devoted himself to the guitar. Robert Johnson was a Mississippi blues singer and songwriter, who according to legend, sold his soul to Satan “at the crossroads” in exchange for his remarkable talent on the guitar.īorn and raised in Mississippi, Robert Johnson started playing blues guitar in the late 1920s. They said that Robert Johnson must have waited by the crossroads and gotten his guitar fine-tuned. In the delta of the Mississippi River, where Robert Johnson was born, they said that if an aspiring bluesman waited by the side of a deserted crossroads in the dark of a moonless night, then the Devil himself might come and tune his guitar, sealing a pact for the bluesman’s soul and guaranteeing a lifetime of easy money, women, and fame. So far, takes have been seen of the twosome performing Margo Price’s 2020 single “Twinkle Twinkle,” Rateliff’s 2017 hit “Say It Louder,” and a digital-only preview of the tandem covering Creedence Clearwater Revival’s 1969-released favorite ”Wrote A Song for Everyone.The story of the bluesman, the Devil, and the deal at the crossroads, as retold in Stephen Davis’ Hammer of the Gods. Through the show, these artists have entertained and found the unifying tie that bonds all genres to country’s essence. Pairings have included Bon Jovi and Sugarland, Kelly Clarkson and Reba McEntire, Def Leppard and Taylor Swift, as well as, Alicia Keys and Maren Morris. For the past two decades, different sets of stars have played together, swapping stories and sharing their common love of music. The critically-acclaimed artists have six global chart-topping albums between them in the past five years and have shared stages - besides Crossroads - at Farm Aids, The Outlaw Fest, Newport Folk, and more.ĬMT Crossroads celebrates country music’s diverse roots by pairing country artists with musicians from other genres.
#SEE YOU AT THE CROSSROADS SONG SERIES#
Soulful, roots-flavored takes on country music are the order of the evening tonight at 10pm/9 CT for the return of CMT’s iconic Crossroads series featuring Margo Price and Nathaniel Rateliff.