YOU ARE HERE: zharth.net / Zharth's Music Log / Week 61 (Robert Johnson Covers)
(Originally finalized on February 26, 2024)
Preface: Like a cross between the last two Redux themes - Yardbirds Covers and Reinterpreting The Blues - this week we'll explore covers by some pretty high-profile bands of tunes originally performed by the legendary (and some say cursed) bluesman Robert Johnson.
Monday: The Paul Butterfield Blues Band - Walkin' Blues [East-West, 1966]
Comments: Also recorded (but left unreleased for three decades) by the Quicksilver Messenger Service (and Joe Bonamassa, for his 2003 album Blues Deluxe - well worth hearing), The Paul Butterfield Blues Band (with Michael Bloomfield on guitar) deserves a spot on this list, having risen through the ranks of the Chicago blues scene, alongside such greats as Muddy Waters himself.
Tuesday: John Mayall's Bluesbreakers - Ramblin' On My Mind [Bluesbreakers with Eric Clapton, 1966]
Comments: This theme wouldn't be complete without an appearance by Britain's seminal blues interpreter, John Mayall (NOT to be confused with John Mayer, who couldn't carry a blues tune to save his life - despite what he thinks). From the highly influential album that featured an up-and-coming Eric Clapton (himself an avid devotee to the Robert Johnson songbook), Mayall's band would later feature such talented guitarists as Peter Green (who founded Fleetwood Mac) and Mick Taylor (who played with The Rolling Stones during their heyday), among others.
Wednesday: Cream - Four Until Late [Fresh Cream, 1966]
Comments: Any list of Robert Johnson covers would be remiss in not including Cream's sensational cover of Cross Road Blues (a.k.a. Crossroads), which has undoubtedly been responsible for introducing untold new generations to the legend of Robert Johnson. And what better song than the one that makes reference to the "crossroads" where Mr. Johnson allegedly made a deal with the devil? Nevertheless, I just used that song for another theme, and I am loathe to repeat myself if I can help it (lest this music log devolve to the level of corporate radio...), so instead I am including a lesser known Cream cover of a Robert Johnson song - Four Until Late, from their first album, Fresh Cream.
Thursday: Led Zeppelin - Traveling Riverside Blues [Coda, 1982]
Comments: For a band that was more keen on musical reinvention than flat out reiteration, this is a relatively straightforward cover of a Robert Johnson song, featuring Jimmy Page on slide guitar. First released on the band's post-breakup album (following drummer John Bonham's untimely death), it was actually recorded for the BBC over a decade earlier, in 1969. Careful listeners will recognize the "squeeze my lemon" bit that Robert Plant recycled in The Lemon Song (which was otherwise largely based on Howlin' Wolf's Killing Floor).
Friday: The Rolling Stones - Stop Breaking Down [Exile On Main St, 1972]
Comments: For great Robert Johnson covers by The Rolling Stones, you have your pick. There's Love In Vain, recorded for their 1969 album Let It Bleed (a biting response to The Beatles' Let It Be). But since I used that song for a previous theme on the subject of unrequited love (named after that very song), instead we're getting the more upbeat Stop Breaking Down, from the Stones' phenomenal 1972 roots album, Exile on Main St.
Saturday: Steve Miller Band - Come On In My Kitchen [The Joker, 1973]
Comments: Here's an unexpected treat - from that time when the Steve Miller Band stripped back their sound and included a live blues cover on their 1973 album The Joker. This is one of Robert Johnson's more eerie tunes (and that's saying something), which plays on the anxiety and hunt for shelter in the moments before a coming storm. Can't you hear the wind howl?
Sunday: Foghat - Terraplane Blues [Fool For The City, 1975]
Comments: For such a high energy rock band, Foghat has a solid basis in the blues. I originally had picked out their cover of the blues standard Sweet Home Chicago for this theme, from the band's blues-focused 1978 album, Stone Blue. But then I discovered that they'd recorded an even less common Robert Johnson song for their breakout album, Fool For The City - it's called Terraplane Blues.
Honorable Mention: Lance Lopez - Stones In My Passway [Simplify Your Vision, 2006]
Comments: Although it was pushed off the end of the list by its twenty-first century release date, this might be my favorite song on the whole page. Also covered by Joe Bonamassa in 2012 for his album Driving Towards The Daylight, Joe's version is more melodically faithful to the original, but I have to give props to Lance Lopez, who dials it up to eleven and slams it out of the ballpark. It loses the eeriness of Robert Johnson's original, I'll admit, but replaces that with hard-on guitar fire. And that's not a bad substitute.