A bit of history, science and some of the best music ever to come out of Texas by a man who has been dead over 60 years- Blind Willie Johnson. I've literally been asked why he was called Blind Willie Johnson. Well, let me tell you back in those days people were simpler and not quite as imaginative as we are today and well, he was named Willie at birth and his fathers last name was Johnson and he was blind. The Blind is the hard part to take: a stepmother threw a handful of lye in his face when he was age 7 after his father caught her with another man and beat her.
All of his music has spiritual tones and most is directly religious. When he was 5 he told his father he wanted to be a preacher. He made a cigar box guitar and began to learn to play. In adult life he was a street preacher in Beaumont and ran a place called The House Of Prayer. As you'll see in the video, Dark Was The Night- one of his most unforgettable songs, was chosen to go into space on Voyager to help tell the human story. You'll understand why if you've never heard the song before.
BWJs Keep Your Lamps Trimmed And Burning for a bonus that demonstrates the bottleneck method of guitar playing and his false bass voice as well or better than any.
After his Beaumont house burned down he was too poor to go anywhere else and stayed in the burned remains sleeping on the wet bed. He contracted pneumonia two weeks later and died.
His death certificate lists malarial fever, blindness and syphilis as complicating factors.
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3 comments:
I wonder if they sent other samples of music along with this because, while it's interesting, it is not exactly representative of our civilization as a whole.
my queen- good point and question the following is from nasa jpl site.
1)Bach, Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 in F. First Movement, Munich Bach Orchestra, Karl Richter, conductor. 4:40
Java, court gamelan, "Kinds of Flowers," recorded by Robert Brown. 4:43
Senegal, percussion, recorded by Charles Duvelle. 2:08
Zaire, Pygmy girls' initiation song, recorded by Colin Turnbull. 0:56
Australia, Aborigine songs, "Morning Star" and "Devil Bird," recorded by Sandra LeBrun Holmes. 1:26
Mexico, "El Cascabel," performed by Lorenzo Barcelata and the Mariachi México. 3:14
"Johnny B. Goode," written and performed by Chuck Berry. 2:38
New Guinea, men's house song, recorded by Robert MacLennan. 1:20
Japan, shakuhachi, "Tsuru No Sugomori" ("Crane's Nest,") performed by Goro Yamaguchi. 4:51
Bach, "Gavotte en rondeaux" from the Partita No. 3 in E major for Violin, performed by Arthur Grumiaux. 2:55
Mozart, The Magic Flute, Queen of the Night aria, no. 14. Edda Moser, soprano. Bavarian State Opera, Munich, Wolfgang Sawallisch, conductor. 2:55
Georgian S.S.R., chorus, "Tchakrulo," collected by Radio Moscow. 2:18
Peru, panpipes and drum, collected by Casa de la Cultura, Lima. 0:52
"Melancholy Blues," performed by Louis Armstrong and his Hot Seven. 3:05
Azerbaijan S.S.R., bagpipes, recorded by Radio Moscow. 2:30
Stravinsky, Rite of Spring, Sacrificial Dance, Columbia Symphony Orchestra, Igor Stravinsky, conductor. 4:35
Bach, The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 2, Prelude and Fugue in C, No.1. Glenn Gould, piano. 4:48
Beethoven, Fifth Symphony, First Movement, the Philharmonia Orchestra, Otto Klemperer, conductor. 7:20
Bulgaria, "Izlel je Delyo Hagdutin," sung by Valya Balkanska. 4:59
Navajo Indians, Night Chant, recorded by Willard Rhodes. 0:57
Holborne, Paueans, Galliards, Almains and Other Short Aeirs, "The Fairie Round," performed by David Munrow and the Early Music Consort of London. 1:17
Solomon Islands, panpipes, collected by the Solomon Islands Broadcasting Service. 1:12
Peru, wedding song, recorded by John Cohen. 0:38
China, ch'in, "Flowing Streams," performed by Kuan P'ing-hu. 7:37
India, raga, "Jaat Kahan Ho," sung by Surshri Kesar Bai Kerkar. 3:30
"Dark Was the Night," written and performed by Blind Willie Johnson. 3:15
Beethoven, String Quartet No. 13 in B flat, Opus 130, Cavatina, performed by Budapest String Quartet. 6:37
don- i know- crazy huh? i mean, its not like it it's rocket surgery or brain science.
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