As one critic said: "Covered by everyone but never improved on. The White-Stripes modelled their entire career on this song." And I'm astounded that there's a complete Wikipedia article on the song (you can find an incomplete list of who all covered the song), but Blind Willie Johnson's version is on Youtube twice with 831 and 901 views. Talking about rarely heard...Blind Willie Johnson, born 1897 (one year before my grandpa), recorded the song in 1930 as one of his last singles - he died in 1945. The song is a powerful religious call and response blues and you can clearly imagine its appeal to blues and rock musicians up to this day.
Sunday, October 12, 2014
Rarely Heard: Blind Willie Johnson - John the Revelator
As one critic said: "Covered by everyone but never improved on. The White-Stripes modelled their entire career on this song." And I'm astounded that there's a complete Wikipedia article on the song (you can find an incomplete list of who all covered the song), but Blind Willie Johnson's version is on Youtube twice with 831 and 901 views. Talking about rarely heard...Blind Willie Johnson, born 1897 (one year before my grandpa), recorded the song in 1930 as one of his last singles - he died in 1945. The song is a powerful religious call and response blues and you can clearly imagine its appeal to blues and rock musicians up to this day.
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