http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2013/feb/03/robert-johnson-photograph-identified

• Vanessa Thorpe, arts and media correspondent
• The Observer, Saturday 2 February 2013
• Jump to comments (14)

Robert Johnson poses with fellow blues musician Johnny Shines in the newly released photograph. Photograph: Robert Johnson Estate/Getty Images

Perhaps the most infamous music deal ever struck involved no contracts and no lawyers. The blues singer Robert Johnson, so the legend goes, acquired his unearthly musical talent after meeting the devil at a crossroads.

Until now, there were only two verified photographs of Johnson (1911-1938), who remains the most inspirational musician produced by the Mississippi Delta and the man Eric Clapton once anointed as "the most important blues musician who ever lived". This weekend a third, newly cleaned-up and authenticated image has been released by the Johnson estate showing him standing next to musician Johnny Shines.

Forensic work on the photograph began in 2007, when Lois Gibson, who works with the Houston police department, analysed the features of the long-fingered figure holding the guitar. Gibson, who found the identity of the sailor kissing the nurse in the Life magazine photo of Times Square on VJ day the second world war ended, has ruled that "it appears the individual is Robert Johnson. All the features are consistent, if not identical." The only differences, she added, were due to the angle of the camera or the lighting.

The new photograph came to light eight years ago, when a classical guitarist called Steven "Zeke" Schein was searching eBay for an old guitar. He spotted a thumbnail picture with a caption that read "Old Snapshot Blues Guitar BB King???" and bought it. On inspection neither man in the photograph looked like BB King, but Schein noticed the length of the man's fingers on the guitar and the way his left eye was narrower than his right.

One of the other two known photographs of Johnson is postage stamp size and is thought to have been taken in a booth in the 1930s. It was first published in Rolling Stone in 1986, the year that Johnson was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and shows him in a button-down shirt, staring directly at the lens. A cigarette hangs from his lips and his long fingers rest on a guitar neck.

The second image was taken at the Hooks Bros photographic studio in Memphis. In it, Johnson sits cross-legged on a stool with his guitar, wearing a pin-striped suit and a tie. This portrait was used on the cover of Robert Johnson: The Complete Recordings, the two-CD boxed set issued by Columbia Records in 1990.

^ I saw that photo on his "Will" episode (which was good by the way).

By the way, I love how they keep going on with that devil myth when that's hardly true. Damn that Alan Lomax.

It's a good story, though

scriptgirl said:

It's a good story, though

That's why it's good, it's a myth lol

I need to watch that episode. Thanks for the heads up, ya'll.

Harlepolis said:

I need to watch that episode. Thanks for the heads up, ya'll.

No prob Harle.

Timmy84 said:

^ I saw that photo on his "Will" episode (which was good by the way).

By the way, I love how they keep going on with that devil myth when that's hardly true. Damn that Alan Lomax.

Well I don't know about that but I do have a creepy story to tell.

Three years ago, I stayed at the Gunter Hotel in San Antonio, which is where Robert Johnson recorded a number of songs back in 1936.

One morning I was talking to a lady who was staying on the fourth floor. She said late at night, she heard blues music coming from that room.

She did not know that was the room Robert Johnson had recorded in, but when I told her, she went white as a ghost.

Because when she checked it out the next morning, you know what?

The room was empty, and had not been booked by anyone.

True story!

^ Or maybe she was just hallucinating.

When I here Pops Staples guitar playing, I hear a little Johnson. I'm not sure if anyone spoke with Pops or have it down on tape, about his experiences with playing with Johnson. I don't know if Johnson was "touched" by the devil or by the heavens, but that man was a brilliant musician.

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[Edited 2/4/13 10:13am]

TD3 said:

When I here Pops Staples guitar playing, I hear a little Johnson. I'm not sure if anyone spoke with Pops or it on down on tape, his experience with play with Johnson. I don't know if Johnson was "touched" by the devil or by the heavens, but that man was a brilliant musician.

Timmy84 said:

^ I saw that photo on his "Will" episode (which was good by the way).

By the way, I love how they keep going on with that devil myth when that's hardly true. Damn that Alan Lomax.

Timmy was that part of a documentary aired on TV? Let me know.

2elijah said:

Timmy84 said:

^ I saw that photo on his "Will" episode (which was good by the way).

By the way, I love how they keep going on with that devil myth when that's hardly true. Damn that Alan Lomax.

Timmy was that part of a documentary aired on TV? Let me know.

You mean a Robert Johnson documentary? I don't know, I doubt it. It was just an hour-long episode of "The Will".

Timmy84 said:

^ I saw that photo on his "Will" episode (which was good by the way).

By the way, I love how they keep going on with that devil myth when that's hardly true. Damn that Alan Lomax.

Timmy, when I saw this one minute video, I had to wonder about this

http://www.youtube.com/wa...WcSq_X8z9g

interesting, it's obviously him, but makes me realize I fully don't know what a person looks like with only 2 pics.

Beautifulstarr123 said:

Timmy84 said:

^ I saw that photo on his "Will" episode (which was good by the way).

By the way, I love how they keep going on with that devil myth when that's hardly true. Damn that Alan Lomax.

Timmy, when I saw this one minute video, I had to wonder about this

http://www.youtube.com/wa...WcSq_X8z9g

Either that or people just wanna make the industry more evil than it already is.

NDRU said:

interesting, it's obviously him, but makes me realize I fully don't know what a person looks like with only 2 pics.

I guess there's now only three known pictures of Robert. But I bet there's some more. If not, then blame the living conditions of the time. Knowing about that time period, whatever other pictures were taken of him were lost in some fire or an abandoned house.

How did he really die? Is that poisoning story true?

scriptgirl said:

How did he really die? Is that poisoning story true?

No one knows how Johnson died.

TD3 said:

scriptgirl said:

How did he really die? Is that poisoning story true?

No one knows how Johnson died.

Yeah it remains a mystery to this day.

Do they even know where the man is buried? good lord, I can't believe there are so many unknowns about such a legend.

scriptgirl said:

Do they even know where the man is buried? good lord, I can't believe there are so many unknowns about such a legend.

During the Robert Johnson episode, they mentioned that there were two burial plots for Johnson but his family wasn't sure where his remains laid. Sounds like his family didn't really know how to keep valid information...

Can't they exhume the burial plots?

scriptgirl said:

Can't they exhume the burial plots?

I don't think they can...

Why not, you just need a court order

scriptgirl said:

Why not, you just need a court order

Maybe it's more a personal thing. Robert's only known child hasn't called for one. I think there was an attempt to exhume the plot but it was stopped. I know one thing for sure: they didn't need to exhume the burial plot to prove Robert had a child.

I wonder why the exhumation was stopped. Maybe that is not his body in that grave after all.

Let the dead bury the dead.

Find A Grave - http://www.findagrave.com...mp;page=gr

Ms Trina, what does that mean, "let the dead bury the dead"?