'The Soul Of A Man' BLIND WILLIE JOHNSON (1930) Gospel Blues Guitar Legend

[davidoffon]

This man had a very viable soul!!

I think it might still be rockin' to his blues patrol!!

[Veronikalee]

Every time I hear this song it goes right through me, touches the soul, ..incredible, I have been asking that question most of my life :-)

[9903kateyes]

An amazing song; an amazing life

[mrvillaman2]

the real soul of a man

[colliric]

@Papwithanhatchet

The photo is actually a 'still' taken from the scene where he sings this song in that brilliant film. So that's the connection. This is a photo of that scene in the film.

[JosephsSoul]

Willie Johnson is still waiting for an answer.

[niepotrzebny1]

man, there were so many incredible blues artists during first half of the 20th century, but Blind Willie Johnson was The Greatest

[blueboy397]

i live in England and come from a different time and place,if this music touches you like it did to me many years ago then that's all that matters.im a keen guitarist and its only when you learn and play this kind of thing do you realize the depth of these poets of old,but yet still more amazing is how it resonates and is still very much relevant today...long live the BLUES...

[what8ish]

This reminds me of the little churches my momma used to take me to. I used to wear those little Mary Jane shoes. Boy were my shoes mighty shinny.

[what8ish]

I love it.

[CoachG1000]

Don't be one of those who constantly preach about 'real music'..yes this is it..but it ain't meant for everybody...sometimes the pool will always be too deep...

[acousticray1]

Bluesgurugod - Thank you man. Well said.

[CreativedotMedia]

everytime i listen to nickelback my IQ feels like is dropping by the second...slowly absorbing my spirit... everytime i listen to this...I WAKE UP!

[bigtone1348]

If you want to thank them, what better way than by sharing their music & history with those who are not lucky enough to already know these beautiful songs.

[MichaelDominici]

The photograph above is of Chris Thomas King.

[Papwithanhatchet]

@MichaelDominici You're absolutely right. I suppose the link is that King played Blind Willie Johnson in the documentary movie "The Soul of a Man" about Johnson, Skip James and J.B. Lenoir.

[Fr3etd4nc3r]

and I effin love this song it tightens my pants! thats how it is, its real

[Fr3etd4nc3r]

they hate Nickelback because they realized that making quality soulful music nowadays is not worth it if you want to make a living...not everyone wants to stay in the fields scratching it for few cents and being happy to love their woman till the morning comes. WE live a different world, mainly based and aimed towards money. Only RICH people cen afford the luxury of playing what ever their soul desires and earn money for that...do not hate Nickelback, hate the system

[Papwithanhatchet]

@Fr3etd4nc3r No, we hate Nickelback and their mindless, soul-less, sellout, lame-ass, overproduced, whitebread cracker music.

And the system. Yeah. That, too.

[kohleran]

Why all the hate toward Nickleback? Can you not like rock and some Blind Willie too?

[kohleran]

I don't particularly like Opera, but not spreading hate toward that, just because I like Gospel or Rock or whatever.

[TheWayGate]

@kohleran its not that we/i hate nickleback but this music (willie johnson) have real soul something that the music from now don't have

[Papwithanhatchet]

@kohleran You don't like the "Flowers Duet" from Lakme (watch?v=mpT7pK9A61A)?

How about Pavarotti singing Nessun Dorma, Puccini (watch?v=TOfC9LfR3PI)?

These are but two of many such gorgeous, soulful arias from amazing operas.

In its own way, when done well (I mean WELL), any kind of music has SOUL. Unfortunately, most of the stuff out there is contrived, saturation marketed trash.

I think most people who have a broader view of music will agree, though, that Nickelback sucks ass.

[Papwithanhatchet]

@kohleran No. Not if you had any self-respect, at any rate. Nickelback has been recycling one song for their entire career. Horrible trash. As far as mainstream goes: White Stripes, Queens of the Stone Age... now THAT'S rock!

[Elmer74]

Awesome stuff. Millions of credits and dollars to the original uncredited blues musicians.

[rgslemer]

I just have one single to describe Blind Willie Johnson : UNIQUE --

[CurtisMateer]

His voice was less deep back in 1930. Preferable to the later ultra deep rough and raw sound, albeit that style became one of his hallmarks and is incredibly unique and distinctive. A terrific artist this man.

[ralphcraddock]

i understand willie johnson died in chicago in the street in the snow and in extreme poverty.his wife survived but died a few years later in poverty.

.what did that man do to deserve such an end to his life.?

we are lucky to have a these recordings of such a great singer and guitarist.much of todays music is bland,many people are have begun to see it for the charade it is .the days of gagabiebier and the nickelodeons are coming to an end though not in the same way as willie johnson,s.

[Thebluesman25]

one time i played this for a friends nephew, and he asked what is that fuzzy sound? i told him it was blind willie johnson playin his soul out and the mic was pickin it up.

[Thrasher426]

this song was recorded on 420

[mouldybear]

This is soul before the concept was invented.

[jxh261]

Love these old time tunes. Since I started listening to Blind Willie, Leadbelly I can't listen to modern music anymore. Oh well the soul of a man is not easily explained.

[SuperMatheusNery]

- Good, very good

[texas74535]

He's from Texas that's BADASS

[AnomisMLG]

this song sux !

[BeGoodNatured]

Blues Music is everywhere in the U.S. and elsewhere around the world. Many cities and regions have volunteer organizations that help promote blues music. It's a good place to find out when and where live blues music is playing.

Google search "Blues Society" + "City or State name".

Blues fan from Reno, NV, Western USA

[VonZeb]

Just a question from a guy from Sweden, are there places in the USA where blues are played on clubs and stuff or is it just pop and rock clubs like here in Sweden?

[lasttime713]

@VonZeb there are a few places but they are really hard to find and there are getting to be fewer of them.

[VonZeb]

@lasttime713 that's not fun to hear.

[427monkeyman]

@VonZeb Guarantee you there are none west of the Mississippi.

[inkey2]

@VonZeb oh I am sure you can find places playing blues.....you probably have to go down to the southern USA states. The USA is a big country.....you can find what ever you want here

[shedevil92]

@VonZeb if you hear any blues over here it'll be the black keys. They're really good but they're the ONLY mainstream blues band here.

[vtekrules]

@VonZeb there are a number of blues and jazz clubs all across the USA. For example, I live in the state of Rhode Island, where there exists a Chinese restaurant which doubles as a blues/jazz club. There are other blues clubs all across the country, particularly in New Orleans, Memphis, and Chicago, which were the epicenters of urban blues.

[todddhel]

I bought this cd a few years one of my favorites of all time.

[AcePilot101]

I'm thinking about writing a song called the Jihad Blues.

For Eric Clapton.

[whoquiensabe]

put it this way, this it's guitar at it's greatest and raw form, if everything you have known no longer existed because of war, man made tragedy or an external force impact, and the few people that survived, this is how music would sound like. ( among other styles, drum, wind instruments, etc..)

[astonemusic]

No doubt Ben Harper has listened to this man!

[MrBuk86]

This is the sound of the soul of a man.

[SCARSAC]

you people are nuts

[Ragnar1369]

For the Clapton discussion - being against illegal immigration does not make you a neo-nazi. The biggest influence in Clapton's life, from the time he was unknown until the present day, was and is Robert Johnson. There is no way he is racist or a neo-nazi.

[spacemonkey1463]

@buffymacleod WTF are you talking about? Are you nuts? Why don't you fuck off and have a stroke somewhere quietly alone you asshole. Neo-nazi my ass! Idiots like you that propagate such malicious bullshit and repeat moronic crap like this really need to be dragged into court and sued for everything you don't own! Stop putting your twit opinions in print where real people can see them, and stay off the net.

[Huffstuff420]

2 people have amusia.

[ELVIS4221]

THIS IS THE RIGHTEOUS SONG THAT IGNITED JOHN FAHEY

[taildragger53]

@buffymacleod The story goes like this; (its on 'wikipedia' in part for those who don't believe me) Eric's girlfriend at the time was Patti Boyd. She complained to Eric that she was "rubbed up against" by a foreigner (possibly Arab? Might've been Greek or Italian?) but apparently she did this type of thing just to wind Clapton up---Eric went beserk and joined forces with the far right NF , who were happy to have him onboard.

He has never apologised for his attitude.

[mugwamp4]

@taildragger53 i heard he carried on at one of his shows (apparently pissed)about some "foreign type" touching up his wife..didnt know he joined the NF..i think he's a bit of a jerk anyway .

[taildragger53]

@buffymacleod None of us are saints.I think we sometimes beat ourselves up thinking we're monsters only to realise that there's someone who has done far worse. We all have 'skeletons in our cupboard'. You are right..sometimes we carry suppressed emotions. Perhaps bad times that somehow manifest themselves further down the way.

Genetics can play a part but sometimes its down to plain old selfishness.

[AbstractLucidity]

This song has so much soul and depth!

[Glaeken1961]

pic is guy davis..contemporary bluesman..

[bigmarty11288]

Love the backing vocals. Who is it?

[TheShakespeareBlues]

What a great song to have on the journey of life

[diagreen]

A MILLION THANXS.GREAT PIC,SOUND,NICE AND LOUD

[bluesgurugod]

Isn't it amazing that these incredible black musicians lived in such utter poverty, when shit like Nicklecrap make millions for creating absolute garbage...

I wish I could go back in time and personally thank each and everyone of these greats for their immense contributions to world music. They never get the credit they deserve; everyone knows Page, Hendrix and Clapton but few people have ever heard of Blind Willie Johnson.

This is REAL

This is SOUL

This is some of the greatest music ever!

[taildragger53]

@bluesgurugod Blind Willie lived the life.

Blinded at an early age by his fathers jealous girlfriend. Begged on streets with a tin can.

Died wrapped in newspaper in a frozen room.

Bluesmen like Clapton wear Versace suits and speak of "hard times"(??)

[Ch1nGFuX2]

@bluesgurugod It's something called publicity, I'm glad that you acknowledge Blind Willie Johnson as an awesome musician but you should direct your dislikes to contemporary pop music instead of alt rock.

[Pertinaziuos]

@bluesgurugod lol i don't know who is Page, Hendrix and Clapton, but i know this man. How that makes me less or more than the ones you speak about?

[momskid]

@bluesgurugod

god i hate nickelcrap and justin beaver

amen tah dat

JAI GURUDEVS

[9903kateyes]

A very touching song-goes right to your heart and beyond. Thanks for posting!!

[JAACastle]

Thankyou from the heart for posting this up for me. I haven't heard such heart since i left home at 15 years old where i used to grasp as much fruit as i could to get alone in life. I grew up with such beutifull fruits, and this was one of them. Thank you for reminding me im alive and that i've indeen made it after all these years. God bless you. And thankyou Megwhite48 for your words too. GB. JCastle from uk.

[hateyouruglyface]

thumbs up if you have goosebumps

[Blondina70]

QUE MARAVILLA!!!!!! Y DE ALLÍ VIENEN TODOS

[diazsinger]

The power of this song could topple any tower man has made.

[diazsinger]

The power of this song could topple any tower man has made.

[Khultan]

....I goof off here on Youtube often but I feel so humbled. This is something beyond description, beyond any genre. This is down to earth.

[wijkdvan]

Check out the version of Bruce Cockburn !

[Trewilli53]

HEY THATS MY GRANDMOTHERS HOUSE IN MARLIN TEXAS, WELL OF COURSE IT TORN DOWN BUT WE REBUILED IT IT LOOKS THE SAME

[Zhyperos]

No dislke, god damn right!

[grapeseedfruit]

Quick question, he sings, "i read the bible often" however he is -blind- willie johnson. How?

[roboparks]

@grapeseedfruit

He had a Bible that was in Brai

[grapeseedfruit]

@roboparks ah yes, i am an idiot.

[cyberties]

@grapeseedfruit

Ever hear of Braille?

[grapeseedfruit]

@cyberties Ever hear of reading past comments in which i deemed myself an idiot for not thinking of braille before i asked the question?

[cyberties]

@grapeseedfruit

No, I didn't see that post or what you were responding to. Unfortunately, YOUTUBE's view of the comments when you are viewing the video doesn't show the discussion thread for each reply to a comment. It does when you view "All Comments" but then the video stops.

I didn't mean to offend and sorry if you thought so. I'll pay more attention to the later comments in the future, though.

[TheMickeyMay]

I fully Understand why no one has put a dislike for this video

[TheHuMoCa]

Didnt he use a pocket knife as a slide?? Thats real blues right there, aint no matter what kind of equipment you got so long as your tune is fine

[galleon30000]

great song

[kamukeys1]

Just can't stop tappin' my feet....Oh, how I love this music! FABULOUS....

[staypuftlova]

good music my generation is stuck with shit like bieber were did this go, the blues, Jazz, and rock and roll need to return miss originality

[pakmanmanc]

@staypuftlova it will never come back into the mainstream but who needs mainstream, dont worry though there are plenty of places to get great music like this still. I grew up in the 80s/90s and apart from grunge and maybe metal everything else was shit. I still think i was born in the wrong time but you gota take it from me, turn your radio of, dont watch music t.v and listen to music that you want to, not thats forced on you.

[ursusasha1]

@pakmanmanc  well said

[stigletto]

Fantastic..The best..

[angrypunkbronxkid]

This is awesome.

[STREETSWON]

a simpler time.

[ursusasha1]

@STREETSWON maybe one day

[ELVIS4221]

PAUL REJOICED IN PRISON. BWJ HAD EVERYTHING TAKEN FROM HIM, STILL HIS MUSIC REJOICED. AND WE WAIT FOR THE KINGDOM COMING. COMING SOON

[mrallcz]

Song with Soul.

[sexmagician222]

Best channel on YouTube, by far. i haven't heard a bad song in this collection. Sheer brilliance, and also it gives me a chance to realize where all the modern music i like comes from.

[TheHardhickey]

i listen to hardcore rock viking all sorts of power music yet if it was all going at once willie start singing it would cut through it all. there is power in the soul of this man.

[terrisonb]

I am glad I stumbled across this. I was unaware of this man somehow I missed this little piece of history.

[UndergroundMan1984]

THIS is the soul of a man. ;-)

[chinaboyd]

Shit, there is a god.

[goldtogreysmoke]

Once you go Blind, you never go back.

[Broonzied]

Great post Ragtime. One of my very favourite Blind Willie songs.

[justme2nu3]

THE SOUL OF A MAN===IS THE MIND AND EMOTIONS IT GOES LIKE THIS THERES 4 NOT 3 ITS MIND BODY EMOTIONS N SPIRIT YOU CAN ASK JESUS IF YOU WANT TO HE STILL HASNT TOLD A LIE YET PEACE WHAT A JOY WHAT A SONG THANKS jesus

[Mojave888]

Attended a funeral today, boy this song came to mind. Timeless artistry.

[tasigogue]

Sweet. This is a nice song.

[megwhite48]

Johnson died penniless in the remains of a house that had burned down. He was blinded by his mother at the age of 7 when she threw lye in his face. In the face of that adversity he left us with a gorgeous collection of music.

Now one of his songs is hurling through space on Voyager along with other cultural introductions from Earth should it encounter other life forms. The lesson ~ it's always important to remember we never know the extent to which our lives and work effect others. Aim high.

[jekk23]

@megwhite48

Yes. Thankyou, wonderful comment

[3006khz]

@megwhite48 WELL SAID... Actually, it was quite profound...

[JohnGaltHasSpoken]

@megwhite48 He died of malaria,& when taken to the hospital,they refused to admit him because he was black.

may his soul rest in peace..

[busessuck1]

@JohnGaltHasSpoken That's not true, some reasercher found his daughter in 2003 and she said that though he did die of malaria he was not refused entry to hospital _ he'd have probably gone to a hospital they had for black people... he also didn't live in a burnt down house

He's got some 30 recorded pieces and later became a travelling preacher, in the 40's he also made radio broadcasts and headed his own church at the time of death.

It's not his life story that's amazing but his capability

[LuccaTotti]

@megwhite48 Actually I thnik he was blinded by his stepmother. And the song that's in Voyager is "Dark was the night , Cold was the Ground" , not Soul of a Man.

[ChiltonTurbo]

@megwhite48 here here brother!!!!

[Priestica606]

@megwhite48 thats a great comment, thank you for posting that.

[arabianzeppelin]

@megwhite48 Well put Meg.

[JAACastle]

@megwhite48 Thank you so much for your words there, great to know there's still heart left in the world. I aint heard such fruit for years thats been good for me, music and words.

[frg8524]

@megwhite48 With all due respect, I think that It is important to make one correction. BWJ's step mother through lye in his face to avenge a beating that his father gave her.

[taildragger53]

@megwhite48 It was his father's girlfriend who was about to be his step mother. She was insanely jealous of the attention he was giving to his son.

[billhicks8]

@megwhite48

I think everybody in the world should hear this song, and then read your comment here!

[whoquiensabe]

@megwhite48  thank you, ( that's one smart thought )

[ZupaZunk]

Mmm hmm.

[srvledoux9]

open e for sure



[manictatter]

@srvledoux9 yes it is.

[mhearstify]

That's easy, since the body, mind and intelligence are possessions of the one posing the question, the "soul" (self) is then the one asking the question.

Anyone know the tuning he's using here?

[MrDaemonB]

@mhearstify " Vestapol" tuning EBEG#BE

[destroydez]

80 years and still so good

[Dannys998877]

All thirty sides that Blind Willie Johnson recorded in his lifetime (all on Columbia) are still in print on CD and available online....also available by MP3 download. It's great music.

[3035730357]

Thanks for the post!

But it's worth mentioning that the photograph is not of Blind Willie Johnson, but of an actor from the Martin Scorsese Presents the Blues PBS series. There is (as far as I know) just one genuine photograph of this man.

[TheBobnalyd]

I reads the bible often. I tries to read it right . An as far as I unnerstand the soul of a man is his mind, his will and his emotions.

[SKYBLUE27able]

the soul of a man is a Ghost!

[Metoyou78]

Real music .. It's wonderful

[wheninroamful]

but Blind Willie, yr. song is the answer!!!!!!!

[cholocharile]

Best song by him, should have been sent up on the space probe.

[Wiligot]

" What's the fuck up , man ? " :))

[capanneso]

Quid animo satis?

Thanks for posting this...from Italy?

[bigwillhenk]

i like it thanks

[txm7721]

:) Thanks

[slideharp1]

@xavieranmeerbeeck...That's great!!..I knew Chuck Berry was on the space probe (voyager?) but didn't know about BWJ. Very appropriate when you think about it.

[jimehinkle]

If I'm not mistaken this song along with other items of the Human race was put on a deep space probe and sent into ...who knows where it may end up.

[xaviervanmeerbeeck]

It's not this one. You're talking about another song from Blind Willie Johnson though: Dark was the night, cold was the ground. Check it out ;)

[jimehinkle]

Thanks for the correction always nice to know for sure. Cheers jime

[her080]

You're not mistaken

[WichitaSam]

the BWJ song sent on Voyager was "Dark Was the Night and Cold Was the Ground".....

[wheninroamful]

@WichitaSam thats right

[elmunco86]

Most beautiful music... all my love to Willie Johnson

 - gospel blues is tha bomb ;) -

[docmoorej]

This song gives me the goosebumps. Pure awesome!

[sharonanony]

Talk and sing about Black Musical History from suffering. BUT KNOW THERE WILL BE NO HIDING PLACE FROM THE KINGDOMS THRONE. ALL THOSE WHO THINK 400 years of Slavery was NOT A CRIME AGAINST THE LIVING CREATOR HIMSELF, IS DUMB AS HELL.

GET ready Cowards, because u cant hide your hypocrisy from THE KINGDOMS THRONE.

[MsKeepinItReal]

lolz calm down

[Rickystrat82]

@sharonanony did you not take your medication today?

[HiddenFormula]

Oh my god, just stumbled across this. 10secs in I knew this was gonna be one of the best songs Ive heard recently. So DAMN raw.

[malmswax]

From the gospel of Thomas-

Jesus said, "If they say to you, 'Where did you come from?', say to them, 'We came from the light, the place where the light came into being on its own accord and established itself and became manifest through their image.' If they say to you, 'Is it you?', say, 'We are its children, we are the elect of the living father.' If they ask you, 'What is the sign of your father in you?', say to them, 'It is movement and repose.'"

Hmmmmm...

[PeaceAndJustice357]

Where is that written in scriptures?!

[malmswax]

Google- Gospel of Thomas book by by Marvin Meyer Also (Gnostic texts), pp43, para 50- a lot of the similar sayings appear in the bible in the book of John I 1-5 and 9-14 (in particular the statement about "...the light came into being...")

Some would say this is similar to the Buddha in dicating the following "turnings of the wheel". "Mind....there is no mind...mind is luminosity".

Hope that helps. Peace.

[dankeewolnir4042]

i will say, Yeshua has referred to himself as the light... But we must be careful with the Gnostic text. From the very first Story in the Scriptures---the tree of Gnosis (knowledge) was the tree of evil, and Luciferian Doctrine is what satan preached to Eve... that if she learned enough she could become God. That is Luciferian Doctrine, and draws you away from where ALL attention should be (which is Yeshuas Teachings) and thats on the Father, the Creator of the Universe. Satan is very tricky

[dankeewolnir4042]

The Gnostics dont believe and worship the creator... they dont tend to the garden... the strive to be God as far as I have read, through Manly P. Hall... All of the Masons, and secret orders think similarly to the Gnostics, and there approach to Christianity, and Yeshua said look at the Fruits of the Tree. If you do a very small amount of research, those fruits are not good. And, as to the fruits of the Catholic Church, thats not Christianity...nothing to do with Yeshua's teachings.

[flyingmojo5]

Why don't you look up the word "gnosis" on wikipedia. Would give you a very good unbiased explanation...without any religious dogma mixed up in it

[dankeewolnir4042]

I have showed people that definition before, because it says exactly what it is...Gnosis- It means "divine knowledge" directly, and people that are Gnostic generally believe we were created by an imperfect god, and if we learn enough we can become "one" as gods consciousness... obviously that is very generalized, but satans lie in the garden of eden none-the-less. But I dont need wiki when I have read Gnostic text, and know its history and of its origins. They have infiltrated every religion.

[dankeewolnir4042]

we are not perfect, and cannot determine what is good or evil- divine knowledge.There are priest that sit and justify their molestation cases, people that justify murder, etc... and the human mind will do that. We always try to redraw the line between good and evil. The point is, we cant ever figure out these type things. They are beyond the human mind, and exactly why we must come to God as children and develop a relationship with HIM and HIS WORD. Our hearts and minds are easily deceived.

[dexxxhunt]

light years ahead of its time...good post!!

[zolar55]

love this song...been looking for it...real soulful

[CorruptMedia]

That picture looks a lot like Chris Thomas King

[devinbret]

It is. He played Blind Willie Johnson in Ken Burns The Blues documentary.

[JBlueMast]

It is him. Martin Scorsese Presents: The Blues. It was a great week long documentary on the blues. I haven't seen it on since it's original airing, though....

[Aeschylus]

Fantastic song by a fantastic singer. Thanks a lot for posting this! I've subscribed to your channel and put this video on my own YouTube page.

[RagtimeDorianHenry]

so nice , thanks so much !

[JAACastle]

@RagtimeDorianHenry God Bless you Ragtime, I haven't heard such heart since i left home at 15 years old where i used to grasp as much fruit as i could to get alone in life. I grew up with such beutifull fruits, and this was one of them. Thank you for reminding me im alive and that i've indeen made it after all these years. God bless you.

[SKYBLUE27able]

good song