Blind Willie Johnson
PLAY STATIONTop Songs See All »
-
John The Revelator
on Dark Was The Night (Mojo Workin'- Blues For The Next Generation) -
Dark Was The Night, Cold Was The...
on It's Nobody's Fault But Mine - The Best Of -
It's Nobody's Fault But Mine
on It's Nobody's Fault But Mine - The Best Of -
Let Your Light Shine On Me
on Dark Was The Night (Mojo Workin'- Blues For The Next Generation) -
If I Had My Way I'd Tear The Bui...
on Dark Was The Night (Mojo Workin'- Blues For The Next Generation)
Bio Full Biography »
Seminal gospel-blues artist Blind Willie Johnson is regarded as one of the greatest bottleneck slide guitarists. Yet the Texas street-corner evangelist is known as much for the his powerful and fervent gruff voice as he is for his ability as a guitarist. He most often sang in a rough, bass voice (only occasionally delivering in his natural tenor) with a volume meant to be heard over the sounds of the streets. Johnson recorded a total of 30 songs during a three-year period and many of these became classics of the gospel-blues, including "Jesus Make up My Dying Bed," "God Don't Never Change," and his most famous, "Dark Was the Night -- Cold Was the Ground." It is generally agreed that Johnson was born in a small town just South of Waco near Temple, TX, around 1902. His mother died while he was still a baby, and his father eventually remarried. When Johnson was about seven years old, his father and stepmother fought and the stepmother threw lye water, apparently at the father, but the ly...