Robert Johnson - my grandad the legend.

[lordz11]

@dragns I never try to feed the trolls, but you're a fucking disgrace. Have you ever even met Steven or calud? Been to the Johnson museum? If you had, then you would realize that steven does in fact play. Has a small and humble place where people can come and support his family legacy. You are the epitome if ignorance. And you're also telling me that if you were in his position, you wouldn't do the same thing? Get fucking real.

[dragns]

Maybe that fat nigger should get off his ass, learn to play in his own right, and stop trying to live off his grandfather's name and legacy.

[Mr1963chevy]

there's a song called PK BLUES,preacher kid blues.check it out .dont know who wrote it or anyone who sang it,but i have hear it

[schclum]

This guy is fucking legit

[schclum]

Thre are still black musicians! Holy shit! I thought they were all rappers

[kickalion]

his sperm must cost about 1 000 000 $

[orgasmtron1]

When house said records he could have meant money, cause the grandparents did take money when he offered. Perhaps he offered records but they refused for that reason

[kathyuk28]

The Robert Johnson Foundation cannot even use these pictures unless they want to pay this individual thousands of dollars for COPIES of the original pictures he does not even have the proper rights to. There are other pictures that are owned that have never been published as he didn't get his hands on those and they are locked up in a vault.

[kathyuk28]

Two of the pictures owned by Robert Johnson's sister were copied by an individual who promised to split the proceeds of Mr. Johnson's image used commercially and never paid the family members who owned them any compensation despite a contract. Since the family did not hear from this man and was never paid, the family rescinded the contract and this man continues to use COPIES of the originals on record covers, posters, and media, He was never heard from again by the family, What a theif.

[kathyuk28]

I am very surprised at the Foundation for treating Mr,. Harris the way that they do, seeing he is recognised by a United States court that he is a blood relative of Robert Johnson. Somebody needs to step up and give that man his due. The truth shall set people free.

[kathyuk28]

The Johnson family should be embracing Mr, Harris as kin. The gentleman who copied the original pictures Mr, Harris owns has a lot of explaining to do when he reaches those pearly gates, taking advantage of an elderly woman.

[kathyuk28]

It's just a shame that Mr. Harris, Robert's nephew and grandson of Robert Johnson's sister Carrie was kicked to the curb after

started the estate and owns the only two true pictures of Robert Johnson,. I am quite aware of the whole story and why the Foundation uses paintings of those pictures on their website. It's terrible that he is a family member and is treated like a bastard at a family reunion. He was also never paid a cent for the use of those pictures. The truth will come out.

[kathyuk28]

I have no doubts. Believe me.

[caroljackson3]

W6CSAhamradio Get in the 21st Century!!! There is a court recognized blood relative out there from which DNA can be obtained and compared to Claud. I think you all know who that blood relative is!

[caroljackson3]

@orgasmtron1 According to THIS very video, Claud only saw his father twice while looking out the window from his grandparents home. How would he have gotten records from him if he never came into direct contact with his father? And since the family would not allow the "Devil's music" in the house, what makes you think they would allow Robert Johnson to give Claud or his grandparents records to play , when they believed it to be wrong?

[kathyuk28]

@caroljackson3 I agree, Carol, and don't forget that Claud claims in the documentary "In Search of Robert Johnson" that he was seven or eight years old the last time he saw his father and "he played and sanged the guitar for me" (sic). If Claud was born in 1931, Robert Johnson was already dead when Claud was seven or eight years old.

[Bapman808]

I heard his sermon which he preached @ his granfather 100th B day celebration at Little Zion on May "11 Mother's Day.Good sermon.

[MrSaxy09]

@Bapman808 hey i was there ...im the sax player

[Bapman808]

@MrSaxy09 You did a good job I was in town to settle some bussiness in Greenwood,when I was invited by Mr.Hoover.I was up front with the shorts on I'm a Zydeco producer & song writer.

[lewars1912]

I too am the grandson of Robert Johnson, and so is him over there.

[therat36]

I got to hear some good stories about Robert Johnson well talking to Joe Beard... Joe was really good friends with Sun House the man knows a lot

[kathyuk28]

Hearsay says Claud Johnson was conceived in a tryst between Claud Johnson's mother and Robert Johnson STANDING UP in the bushes against a tree supposedly having sex with someone watching them! That is how a judge ruled paternity! Whatever happened to DNA? There is a blood relative of Robert Johnson out there that can provide it. Every time I hear something about Robert Johnson, the story changes and seems rehearsed to me. DNA DNA DNA

[lastpoet1]

so why did son house say he was gone 4 6 to 8 months and his grand kid says 2 years the time table is way off

[W6CSAhamradio]

@kathyuk28 It's hard to take a DNA test when they don't know the exact spot that Robert Johnson was buried. Food for thought. Remember y'all it was Mississippi in the 1930s and for one that kind of music was taboo and for two he was a black man who was a drifter. He wasn't seen as a legend like he is today. Y'all keep that in mind before y'all pass judgement.

[TheSatanas666]

why doesnt he play some ?

[caroljackson3]

In addition to my previous post …..There was a superstition in the black culture in this time period, which stated that all you had to do was to go to the crossroads and the "act" of "selling your soul" would take place. Just as kidcalabria stated, poets in Europe were accused of “selling their souls.” Why? It is because the ordinary, primitive, uneducated masses could not account for people with great artistic talent. Because of this they concluded that his talent must be “from the Devil.”

[caroljackson3]

@orgasmtron1 I know for a fact that DNA was not taken because I have personally spoken to one of Robert Johnson's blood relatives. I was not aware that Son House's story of records being handed out to "children." That would imply that Robert Johnson has more than one child floating around out there. Also, Claud did NOT make this claim until after the estate began to produce money, when Capitol Records made the first release of Robert Johnson's songs per RJ's blood relative.

[orgasmtron1]

@caroljackson3 What makes you think they collected dna from one of his living relatives?Claud was one of the people that Johnson delivering these records according to son house. He goddam sure did to make this claim before the estate was created. Read the book searching for robert johnson

[kathyuk28]

@orgasmtron1 If you read the court documents, no DNA was collected from ANYONE because the burial plot of Robert Johnson is unknown. He is buried in one of three places, just thrown in the ground without a proper burial. The man is not at rest. Also, the relatives of Carrie Spencer did not want to disrespect her and have her exhumed. What the court failed to realise was that DNA can be collected from the living relative, as it was on the maternal side.

[kathyuk28]

The judge in that case opted to believe the testimony of an 88 year old woman who was a groupie at the time going to see blues musicians at juke joints. This woman claimedto have seen Robert Johnson and Claud Johnson's mother standing up against a tree kissing and heavy petting! In this day and age, with the availability of DNA testing that enables other relatives to give DNA, a judge believes heresay.

[orgasmtron1]

@kathyuk28 Well if they didnt get Dna, they really should. People are forgetting they wasnt just going on the old Ladys testimony, but also video of clauds mother, and a birth certificate, and it was being based upon what son house revealed in interviews about johnson handing out records to his love children

[kathyuk28]

@caroljackson3 HERE HERE

[kathyuk28]

@caroljackson3 HERE HERE  By the way, what is the worthwhile cause you should be sending your money to the Robert Johnson Foundation for? Just asking. WHY does Claud refuse to take a DNA test if he is so sure that Robert Johnson is his father? The birth certificate says his father was R L Johnson, the mother did not know where he lived, admitted she was basically a groupie, and the 1930 census lists countless RL Johnsons living in that area all of the same age. Very dubious.

[MrSaxy09]

@kathyuk28 The money goes to the museum and to help keep it just like any other museum if you have any doubts Go to CrystalSprings ,MS All your questions will be answered

[caroljackson3]

I don't understand how paternity can be established WITHOUT a DNA test. Anyone can say they are related to someone but without DNA evidence it's just hearsay.

[orgasmtron1]

@caroljackson3 I think dna was taken, but it was never revealed to the public. There was alot of hearsay, but the testomonial was very consistant with son house descrpition of how robert johnson went around handing out records to his children. Clauds story went hand in hand with what son house described. Keep in mind Claud made this claim wayyyyyyyyyyyy before the estate had ever made anything

[kathyuk28]

I want to know why he will not submit to a DNA test. His father, Claud Johnson, was awarded paternity WITHOUT a dna test, only by an eyewitness saying that they saw Claud's mother having sex with "RL Johnson. " There is a proven living heir, and I know in my heart justice will be served.

[tomlew55]

Saw Steven tonight, half this weight and singin his ass off at the Robert Johnson centennial concert at the Zeiterion Theatre in New Bedford Ma. Oh yeah, with Hubert Sumlin, Cedric Burnside, Lightnin' Malcolm and Todd Mohr (big head todd and the monsters) Great show!!

[tweepixie]

I wanna meet this guy! :)

[bluesruley2k]

get your fat ass up and get a job! If Robert Johnson was your granddad then you should have enough respect for yourself to do much better than what you're doing! Don't BEG ME for money! You're better than that!

[JnOProductions]

Robert Johson never had a child!

[thyrfing2]

@JnOProductions infact robert johnson had kinda few kids... different women... etc...

[TheMoll60]

Robert Johnston r.i.p..... blues london we will never for get you

[destroydez]

RIP ROBERT , THE GRANDFATHER OF BLUES AND ROCK MUSIC



[vipervnm74]

26 hav a kid and kid hav a kid in 50's there's ur answer math genius. Totaly possible- hats off to u Steve-good to see you on utube

[BrucePetty]

Didn't Robert die at 27? That doesn't seem old enough to have a grandson.

[tweepixie]

@BrucePetty men can produce semen and sperms since they are 12 :)

[lillebjorn]

HATS OFF TO YOU MR JOHNSON. CHECK OUT MY DELTA BLUES TRIBUTE ON MY PAGE.

[cgcgce]

Sadly blues artists playing in front of drug stores and juke joints were considered drunken wandering hobos,it's only after the blues explosion of the 60's and the British invasion that did we realize these people were truly the cornerstone of Ameicana music.THANK GOD they were recorded,imagine nevre hearing of Charlie Patton,R obert Johnson,M uddy Waters,Son House !!!!..............ask yourself would rock and roll exist today?

[TheMoll60]

@cgcgce  yer i was lucky aa found me

[aaronamccoy]

sittin on cold tombstones drinkin moonshine under the weeping willows

[wileypayote]

I think his grandson just explained it. he was mentored by that Ike character and learned how to play after 2 years. He does speak of selling his soul. "I went down to the crossroads, I got down on my knees." Or, "the Devil ain't got no mercy." All artists speak metaphorically about opression and hard times through a story. that's why they call it the blues because of the things people, specifically black people, have been through, and you might need to say you sold your soul to make a point,

[OfficialArmonist]

@wileypayote He doesn't mention the devil at all in Cross Roads Blues.

[BP3DP]

All blues is not Devil music. Robert Johnson sold his soul to the Devil. Thats why he went from a nobody into the King over night. He even sang about selling his soul at the crossroads.

[kidcalabria]

@BP3DP

The song goes: "Standing at the crossroads, trying to hitch a ride", not "Standing at the crossroads, selling my soul to the devil". It's about being in a strange town after dark, which whites didn't like blacks to do. "All Blues is not devil's music"? What's that supposed to mean? "King overnight"? Nobody knew who he was until the 1960s, especially blacks & "Blues royalty", a good 30 years later! There wasn't even a photo until the '80s! Is YT used only by 5-year-old or what? My God!

[BP3DP]

@kidcalabria So whats your explanation for Me And The Devil Blues? Whats your excuse for The Devils Hounds On My Trail? There is nothing Figurative in Johnson's music, lyrics or musical talent. He was literally the King of the Blues. He paid for it with his soul. He was more sold out then Kanye West, Jay Z, Nas Beyonce, and Rihanna combined. Not to say that Many White and Latino every race has their artist's that are sold. Why do you try and turn it into a Race thing? People are People.

[kidcalabria]

@BP3DP

It's not a "race thing"! Outstanding artists were all thought to have sold their soul to the devil, like poets in Europe long before, or Tommy Johnson in the Delta before Robert Johnson. You didn't understand what I meant: R Johnson didn't become "king overnight", he lived & died in obscurity, without fame nor money & he never sang of selling his soul to the devil. And even if he had, do you believe that Willie Dixon "healed the sick & raised the dead" 'cos he sang it (The Seventh Son)?

[BP3DP]

@kidcalabria He did not sale his soul to be rich. He sold his soul to play the guitar and sing. We are not talking about Willie Dixon. I only commented that Robert Johnson's music was not figurative. Have you ever been to Mississippi, or New Orleans, or Memphis? The Men who play blues are not like the Beatles or the Stones who grew up with a silver spoon in their mouth. It's not fake or a act. It is literal. It is not known if Johnson ever went to one day of school. He made a deal. Literally.

[kidcalabria]

@BP3DP

1) You wrote that Crossroad Blues is about selling his soul to the Devil & that he was 'king overnight'; neither is true. Get it? 2) Dixon's a example, and a fitting one, unlike The Beatles, who never had silver spoons in their mouths anyway. All 60s English Rock musicians are working class 3) I've been to MIssissippi & New Orleans. What has it got to do with anything? 4) Poetry is never literal 5) There are school records for Johnson 6) You have no idea of what you're saying. Goodbye!

[caroljackson3]

@BP3DP I am from New Orleans. Just because he uses the words "hell hounds on my trail", this does not equate to "selling his soul to the Devil." I am well acquainted with southern history, The black culture had many superstitions handed down from the slavery days. They practiced voodoo and other mystic arts as an aid to implore the spirits for release from slavery, and rightly so

[juegas]

@BP3DP dude you watch too much tv. quit believing myths you're whats wrong with today's society.

[TamarZucker]

Any people out there can help this man get some grant money for his foundation, say from the Council of the Arts, but anyway tons of corporate and government grants out there. He needs a good grant proposal writer.

Someone posted that they think this was filmed @ Shack Inn. I don't know if it is but it seems to me this looks like many of the homes in the rural south today. Doesn't look too bad or at least nothing a handy man and a can of paint wouldn't take care of.

[dabluesyuh]

Big thanks to all involved with this, hope to meet Steven soon. Keep it coming..

[kristjenM]

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[WheelSlip8]

What song is this??? It's freekin awesome.

[RustyReeds]

This appears to have been filmed at the "Shack Inn" near Clarksdale MS. It's a hotel done up to look like slave shacks from an old cotton plantation. Some of the buildings are authentic farm tenements taht were moved to the property. It's a pretty popular destination for people doing the Delta Blues tour of Mississippi.

[JimiLuvsMusic]

@RustyReeds

That's right.

[vicsflick]

is this hd i think you guys need to think

[MyFG1]

Ike passed his gift, it was a way to immortalize himself. It's like when you send you kids to colleges you previously attended. I had a man teach me chords, and was dead two months later. I never met him before that. But best believe his music lives on through me in some way or another. No to mention the sales on the internet are also partly his in retrospect. The universe blesses his soul, eternally.

FG1.

[satan666himself]

i can see the resemblance, specially the eyes

[RastafariPoet]

How can you like the blues and be disrespectful?

[meathookmayhem]

He looks more like mike tyson than robert johnson

[brumerman]

rip robert in peace

[jimdog1964]

Fascinating. If it is indeed real, it could settle the legend. As he still lives in the Delta, I wouldn't think it'd be too hard to verify whether or not he is RJ's grandson.

[jsilence418]

This jerk off can't prove he is any relation to Robert Johnson, none ! he's full of shit !

[avril2]

Has it occured to anyone that this fat slob in his pyjamas, who can't even be bothered to paint his shack might just be an opportunist?

So many now claim to be related to the skinny little lad who couldn't get arrested at the time.

Do you see the familial similarity?

[Kubrick856]

So RJ lifted Ike's licks? Awesome video. Who was IZ?

[dewglass]

once again, the english tryin' to take credit for another's genius. pitty them poor guys.

[targetmann100]

What are you talking about IDIOT

[mickyshambles]

i didn't see one english person in the video.

pity you, you dumb piece of shit

[bonelee]

Wow....!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!­!!!!!!!!!!

[kavikarkaino]

Ike taught him! No way!!!!!!!!!!!

[gibsongold1970]

ROBERTS guitar playing is truly

mindblowing!!!!

still trying to learn how to cop his

licks and nail those songs!!

very trick at times!!!lol!

[andrewjeff]

he looks like buddy miles...

[largelester]

sounds like tone loke

[OfficialArmonist]

RIP Robert Johnson

King of the Delta Blues

[cgcgce]

@OfficialArmonist Sadly blues artists playing in front of drug stores and juke joints were considered drunken wandering hobos,it's only after the blues explosion of the 60's and the British invasion that did we realize these people were truly the cornerstone of Ameicana music.THANK GOD they were recorded,imagine nevre hearing of Charlie Patton,R obert Johnson,M uddy Waters,Son House !!!!..............ask yourself would rock and roll exist today?

[eileencasey1]

I love this interview - and i love the foundation. IO had heard about it before seeing this video. But if you are a fan of Robert Johnson or even Blues in general you can;t ignore the foundation - its for great causes.

[RiYeNRoOtSMuSiC]

Great video steven!!

Hope to see you in May!!

Many Blessins',

RiYeN RoOts

[jamianm]

Just awesome. Hope to meet Claud and him at the festival

[volleyballjones]

Cool Video!

[buster541]

This a great bit of history.

Thank's for sharing with us.

*****

[mizzissippiblues]

great video 5***** thanks for share Lena

[lenaspieltblues]

Very interesting, thanks a lot! :=)) Lena

[fendermac]

Thanks Lena...interesting.