The King of the Mississippi Delta featuring Tim Field

It's 1930 in Banks Mississippi, Robert Johnson walks into a juke joint where two of the most popular blues guitarists of the day, Son House and Willie Brown, were playing a show for a packed house.  He had not been seen in almost a year and asked Son House if he could sit in his chair and play a few songs.  Son responded saying, “Alright, but you sit in that chair, you better do something with it.”  Son House had heard Robert play before and had not been impressed by what he thought of as Robert’s mediocre talent.  Robert, a young man who was already a widower at age 19 strode up onto the stage and sat down with his guitar.  The audience had no idea what was going on, but what happened next started one of the most famous legends in Mississippi Delta Blues history and would have a profound impact on music for the next 80+ years.  Surrounded in mystery, there are only three known pictures of him and 29 recorded songs.  Sadly, only 8 years after that performance he would become the inaugural member of the macabre 27 club.  Find out more about Robert Johnson on this episode of The Missing Chapter.