Bruce Conforth - Up Jumped the Devil: The Real Life of Robert Johnson

As the grandson of the iconic blues singer Robert Johnson, Im honored that the truth is finally being revealed. Up Jumped the Devil contains the real story of his life and does away with all the myths.

STEVEN JOHNSON, vice president, Robert Johnson Blues Foundation

R obert Johnsons recordings, made in 1936 and 1937, have profoundly influenced generations of singers, guitarists, and songwriters. Yet until now, his short lifehe was murdered at the age of 27has been poorly documented.

Gayle Dean Wardlow has been interviewing people who knew Johnson since the early 1960s, and he was the person who discovered Johnsons death certificate in 1967. Bruce Conforth began his study of Johnsons life and music in 1970 and made it his mission to fill in what was still unknown about him. In this definitive biography, the two authors relied on every interview, resource, and document, much of it material no one has seen before.

This is the first book about Johnson that documents his lifelong relationship with family and friends in Memphis, details his trip to New York, uncovers where and when his wife Virginia died and the impact this had on him, fully portrays the other women Johnson was involved with, and tells exactly how and why he died and who gave him the poison that killed him. Up Jumped the Devil will astonish blues fans worldwide by painting a living, breathing portrait of a man who was heretofore little more than a legend.

2019 Bruce Conforth and Gayle Dean Wardlow

All rights reserved

First edition

Published by Chicago Review Press Incorporated

814 North Franklin Street

Chicago, Illinois 60610

ISBN 978-1-64160-094-1

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Conforth, Bruce M., 1950- author. | Wardlow, Gayle, author.

Title: Up jumped the devil : the real life of Robert Johnson / Bruce Conforth and Gayle Dean Wardlow.

Description: First edition. | Chicago, Illinois : Chicago Review Press, [2019] | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2019005127 (print) | LCCN 2019005452 (ebook) | ISBN 9781641600958 (Pdf) | ISBN 9781641600965 (Kindle) | ISBN 9781641600972 (Epub) | ISBN 9781641600941 (cloth : alk. paper)

Subjects: LCSH: Johnson, Robert, 1911-1938. | Blues musiciansMississippiBiography.

Classification: LCC ML420.J735 (ebook) | LCC ML420.J735 C66 2019 (print) | DDC 782.421643092 [B]dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019005127

Interior design: Jonathan Hahn

Delta Haze Corporation holds the copyright for all images credited as such.

All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Printed in the United States of America

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CONTENTS

This book is the result of over fifty years of work, interest, research, interviews, writing and rewriting, discussing, listening, traveling, and every other type of human endeavor. Gayle began researching the life of Robert Johnson in 1962 and Bruce in 1968. As we write this we are struck that it was exactly fifty years ago from this current writing that Gayle Dean first uncovered Robert Johnsons death certificate, providing previously unknown information and leading the way to much future research.

Because so much time has elapsed since we both began our journeys into the life and times of Robert Johnson there are literally hundreds of people we could thank; many have passed on, but a great number are still with us. Among those blues musicians and acquaintances of Robert Johnson who are now gone, but who provided Gayle Dean with amazing interviews, and whom he wishes he could thank are Henry Austin and Lillian Berry, Ishmon Bracey, Joe Calicott, Ledell Johnson, Hayes Mullin, Willie and Elizabeth Moore, H. C. Speir, Lula Mae Steps, Reverend and Mrs. Frank Howard, Otis Hopkins, Charlie Mullin, Willie Brown (from Arkansas), Sammy Watkins, Marvin Smokey Montgomery, Fred Morgan, Eula Mae Williams, Johnnie Temple, and Rosie Eskridge. Bruce similarly interviewed and wishes he could thank Robert Lockwood Jr., Johnny Shines, David Honeyboy Edwards, and Loretha Zimmerman-Smith. The late Mack McCormick, the first person to locate Roberts family in the form of his half sister Carrie Harris, was also the first to see the photos of Robert in her possession. Mack was one of the foremost Johnson scholars and it is a shame that his book about Robert, Portrait of a Phantom, never saw completion. Over several years both Gayle Dean and Bruce had many conversations with Mack and when he learned of this project he graciously provided comments and suggestions that allowed us to do additional research that would add to our body of knowledge. The late Steven LaVere was likewise a great source of information on Robert, and his published work, while occasionally incomplete, served as another great resource. We also thank the company he founded, Delta Haze Corporation, for permission to use so many wonderful photos from his collection. Tremendous thanks go to Lawrence Cohn, friend and supporter who won a Grammy for his 1990 work Robert Johnson, the Complete Recordings (Columbia). Lawrence, a record collector, historian, music scholar, ex-music executive, and so much more, provided a great deal of information about Robert that he had personally gleaned from Don Law, Frank Driggs, and so many others. His book Nothing But the Blues: The Music and the Musicians (Abbeville, 1993) is one of the finest overviews of the entire spectrum of the blues. Dan Handwerker, whose family owned the land on which Charley Dodds Spencer and family (including Robert) lived in Memphis was a generous and informative resource. Robert Hirsberg, whose parents owned Hirsbergs store in Friars Point, Mississippi, in front of which Robert used to play, was also a great source of information. Dr. Richard Taylor, director of the Tunica Museum, verified contextual information for us concerning Roberts early schooling and the cemetery in which his first wife, Virginia, is buried. John Tefteller of Blues Images was a great supporter of this project and supplied us with the only known photo of Charley Patton. Thanks to Steve Armitage for digitally cleaning Robert Johnsons death certificate. Lew Campbell graciously supplied us with a photo of Johnny Shines from his collection, and Jane Templin provided a rare photo of Marie and Ernie Oertle. John Paul Hammond, who has spent much of his life studying and performing Johnsons music, enthusiastically supported this project and has been a great friend. His brother, Jason Hammond, gave us a wonderful photo of their father, John Henry Hammond II, circa 1937. Jim ONeal, Scott Barretta, Jas Obrecht, Barry Lee Pearson, Barry Mazor, Adam Gussow, David Evans, Mark Ari, Nicholas Gray, Paul Vernon, James Smith, Frank Matheis, Andy Cohen, Shelley Ritter of the Delta Blues Museum, Dr. John Hasse of Music at the National Museum of American History Smithsonian Institution, Brett Bonner and Living Blues magazine, Greg Johnson at the University of Mississippi Blues Archives, and all the contributors to Facebooks Real Blues Forum provided much needed and appreciated comments, critiques, and discussion. Elijah Wald and Alan Govenar provided excellent information, comments, and edits. Michael Malis of the University of Michigan School of Music did transcriptional analysis of Johnsons music. Thanks to Sony Music Entertainment; the Memphis Public Library Memphis and Shelby County Rooms; Leticia Vacek, city clerk of the City of San Antonio; the San Antonio Police Department; and the Mississippi Department of Archives and History.