Hold My Sweet Tea
Where True Crime collides with chilling ghost stories and Southern folklore. Join us, sip sweet tea, and uncover shocking tales of murder, mystery, and the supernatural, all with a healthy dose of Southern charm and a touch of sass!
Hold My Sweet Tea
Ep. 30-Midnight at the Crossroads: Robert Johnson's Deal with the Devil
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Have you ever wondered about the true cost of extraordinary talent? The story of Robert Johnson takes us deep into the heart of Mississippi Delta Blues, where legend and reality collide at a dusty crossroads under moonlight.
Robert Johnson was born in Mississippi in 1911, just one generation removed from slavery. What's captivating about his story isn't just his revolutionary blues playing but the mysterious transformation that made it possible. As a young man, Johnson was merely adequate on guitar—so mediocre that blues legend Son House once cruelly declared, "Boy, you ain't never gonna amount to nothing playing like that." Then something extraordinary happened.
Johnson disappeared. When he returned, his fingers danced across the guitar with impossible dexterity, creating sounds that seemed to come from another world. His sudden mastery gave birth to whispers—had he made a midnight deal at a lonely crossroads with a smooth-talking stranger dressed in black and red? The folklore surrounding Johnson's supernatural transformation connects to ancient traditions about crossroads as liminal spaces where realms intersect. What many don't realize is that the "devil" figure in these tales closely resembles Papa Legba, a deity from West African and Haitian traditions who serves as a gateway between humans and spirits.
Despite recording only 29 songs and dying mysteriously at just 27 years old, Johnson's influence reaches across generations. His innovative techniques became the foundation for modern blues and rock music, with legends like Eric Clapton calling him "the most important blues singer who ever lived." Songs like "Crossroad Blues" and "Hellhound on My Trail" hint at the supernatural bargain that may have sealed his fate, creating a legacy that continues to haunt American music nearly a century later.
Join us as we explore the man behind the myth, the cultural significance of crossroads deals, and the enduring power of a musical genius whose brief life cast an impossibly long shadow. Whether you're a blues enthusiast or simply love a good supernatural tale, this story of talent, ambition, and possible cosmic consequences will leave you wondering about the price we pay for greatness.
Source Material:
Courtney Ingle - July 13, 2023
https://magnoliatribune.com.dream.website/2023/07/13/robert-johnson-the-man-myth-legend-and-legacy/
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/25/obituaries/robert-johnson-overlooked.html
Introduction to Robert Johnson
Speaker 1Today we're diving deep into the myth, the music and the enduring legacy of a true legend, robert Johnson, and his deal with the devil. This is Hold my Sweet Tea. Hi, hi, I'm Holly.
Speaker 2And I am Pearl.
Speaker 1And we're giggly.
Speaker 2And like we've had some more interaction on some of our other episodes, which is really cool.
Speaker 1Yes, I'm so happy.
Speaker 2Lots of back and forthies. Now it's so nice to get in there and go. Oh look, we have comments, yes, and we can talk to you guys. We love it and, like we told you last week, we did add those merch and buy me a coffee. Links to the beginning of our show notes on several of the episodes. I didn't go all the way back to the beginning, but there's a lot of them, so easy to find right because it's right.
Speaker 1After the send us a text right, so you can buy a shirt, buy a coffee tea mug or buy us a which we probably won't use for coffee, but it'll help with the pod and I don't know about right now because I'm kind of flimmy, I need something. I keep going. You need hot tea. Again, I know I need hot tea.
Speaker 2Maybe it's because Annabelle is in Louisiana. Possibly she made you flimmy.
Speaker 1I was like Because Annabelle is in.
Speaker 2Louisiana. Possibly she made you feel me.
Speaker 1I was like look that bitch come rolling up in New Orleans and I was like, oh no.
Speaker 2Yeah, every time I saw somewhere else that she was, I was like no, get out, right they're like Annabelle's here.
Speaker 1I'm like why, why, why.
Speaker 2Why did?
Speaker 1you remove her from where she was.
Speaker 2Did you see when they were packing her up in New Orleans, the voodoo lady?
Speaker 1Yeah, the voodoo lady.
Speaker 2Yep, what the hell with you? Yeah, like trying to get her on out of there. Yep, get her out.
Speaker 1Get her going, because we don't need. We got enough. Banish her Bad juju and spirits here. We don't need Ann Right, especially in New Orleans.
Speaker 2Come on now. They don't play well together. No, no, top it, top it. But speaking of bad juju and spirits, yeah, what?
Speaker 1you doing today. Oh, that was a good segue, I like it. So I am doing a I would say partial like reality, partial folklore. On Robert.
Speaker 2Johnson Cool, that's kind of like what.
Speaker 1I did with the Yazoo Witch. So Robert Johnson was a musician and he did play and he had hits and he did play and he had hits. But then there's also some folklore surrounding how he got to be so good. So, as I said, robert Johnson is a name that is synonymous with the Delta Blues. If you're into music, you know that sound. It's a style born from hardship and hope and intertwined with a tantalizing tale of a midnight bargain at a lonely crossroad. That's his sound. There you go, but Mississippi is undoubtedly the heartland of blues. I mean Elvis Presley, but this was before Elvis's big breakthrough in time and everything. But some of his sound came from Robert Johnson and these Delta Blues Very eclectic sound, right?
Speaker 2Yes.
Speaker 1And this part of Mississippi was a land where music flowed like the muddy river Dust. Devils danced on unpaved roads, the air was thick with humidity, kind of like today. It's gross out. Yeah, it's nasty, so it's just May.
Speaker 2Like your face hits the air conditioner and you're like, oh, thank God Right.
Speaker 1But these tales tell hardship, love and maybe, just maybe, something a little supernatural. Dun dun, dun, right. So Robert Leroy Johnson was born out of wedlock in Hazlehurst, mississippi, possibly on May 8th 1911. They didn't have a. I'm sure they didn't have calendars just hanging around in their houses back then, especially in rural Mississippi. Yeah, you know the dirty, dirty south. May have they did, may have they didn't, right?
The Mediocre Musician Who Vanished
Speaker 1He was born to julia dodds and noah johnson, like I said, out of wedlock, so they weren't married. Um, his mother later on married and they moved to Memphis, tennessee, where he attended school and he was introduced to popular music, eventually learning how to play the guitar. He was also born just one generation from the abolishment of slavery, but still oppressed by the system that locked poor Black families into a cycle of backbreaking work for the slightest wages. His father, noah Johnson, moved his family to the Delta to escape the lynch mob. But his desire to be more than just a field hand started early in life, when Robert was expected to be working in the fields, he was instead playing his guitar and singing the songs that came from the bitterness of oppression. So he was telling his tale Now. Robert Johnson, by all accounts, was a decent enough guitar player. He taught himself. He was passionate.
Speaker 2Which I always think is awesome, right when you can hear the music and teach yourself.
Speaker 1that's cool. That's the coolest thing, right. When you can hear the music and teach yourself, that's cool, that's the coolest thing, right. But he was lacking that certain something and he was determined to make a name for himself. So accounts from his peers like the towering figure, son House and this guy's name is S-O-N Son this is my son, son House. Yeah, but he was a big dude. Um, they weren't exactly glowing reviews from his peers. He was rather hard on robert and perhaps that's why he made his mindset deepen. Son was quoted as saying boy, you ain't never gonna amount to nothing playing like that. Those were some harsh words.
Speaker 2Yeah, they either make you or break you Right, did they fuel his transformation?
Speaker 1Possibly. But all of a sudden Robert just vanished, poof Gone. He was gone for a period of time and nobody knew where he went.
Speaker 2Oh crazy.
Speaker 1So maybe those words just got to him and he was like I need to step back and rethink some stuff, Like peace out, yeah. But when he reappeared, well, the boy could play. So he went from okay, mediocre to conjuring sounds from his guitar that were otherworldly complex, filled with raw emotion that cut straight to the bone. So people were like dang. So this sudden, almost miraculous leap in skill gave birth to the legend. The whispers started, Whispers of a deal made under the cloak of midnight at a lonely crossroad. What is the significance of crossroads? You hear about it in movies and TV shows. There's always a crossroad and the deal with the devil and all this stuff.
Speaker 2And how cemeteries should always be at one.
Speaker 1Yes, and all this stuff, and how cemeteries should always be at one yes.
The Significance of Crossroads in Folklore
Speaker 1I mean I've heard it all my life about the crossroads and the deals and stuff, but it kind of cropped up from this story. These are liminal spaces that you know, the intersection of paths that have held significant in folklore across cultures for centuries. They're seen as points of transition, of decision and sometimes as gateways to other realms. It's often, even today, used by people who connect with the deity Hekate, which is the triple moon, goddess, the mother, the maiden crone. It's common to leave offerings of like honey, wine and chocolate as a way to honor her and gain her favor. She is also associated with the underworld, so once you leave your offering, you don't look back, you just you leave it and if she favors you then supposedly she gives you some good graces and some help. So even today, that's used as something that's practiced in people who do witchcraft, who do witchcraft, but in West African and Haitian traditions, the deity or Loa, known as Legba or Papa Legba and if that sounds familiar, you've watched American Horror Story Coven so Papa Legba was the one that Marie Laveau had made the deal with him and she had to give him a baby once a year. Wasn't it once a year? I think so. Yeah, I think it was once a year. It's been a while since I've watched it.
Speaker 1But Legba is the guardian of the crossroads, the intermediary between humans and the spirit world, often depicted as a trickster figure, a master of communication and opportunity. He doesn't collect the souls or babies, he's just like a communicator between worlds, so that he's the middle man. Right, he's the middle. He's like the car salesman that, like smooth, talks you and makes the deal and then he hands you off to somebody else. Yeah, yeah, so he may. Like I said, makes the deals. Legba is often depicted with sacred dogs or hellhounds. He's usually got a cane, there's some kind of keys present, maybe it's to the gates of hell, who knows, I don't know. And he's also depicted with the colors red and black. So if you think of a devilish figure, but he's not the devil, he's Legba. This is the figure, perhaps that morphed into the more westernized image of the devil in the Delta Tales. So if you think about the devil, you're thinking, oh, red and black, skinny, tall, like lanky figure, but that's not actually the devil. It's Legba. Like lanky figure, but that's not actually the devil, it's Legba.
Speaker 1In Hollywood, the crossroads are most always depicted as a dusty intersection, the moon hanging heavy in the night sky, a young, desperate and vulnerable individual seeking a shortcut to greatness, then emerging from the shadows, not necessarily a horned beast with a pitchfork, but rather a well-dressed stranger, a smooth talker with an offer too tempting to refuse, not your fire and brimstone type, more of a cosmic facilitator.
Robert's Revolutionary Blues Style
Speaker 1The deal, as the story goes, was simple Unparalleled musical talent in exchange for well the specifics are always a bit hazy A debt to be collected later, a small favor, an IOU with an underworld lender. Legba turned Robert's guitar and gave it a strum, and the sound that it made sent chills through him. And just like that Robert Johnson could play. His fingers danced across the fretboard with a dexterity that seemed impossible. His voice, raw and filled with a haunting beauty, told stories of love, loss and ever-present shadows of the blues. So his style was revolutionary the intricate finger picking the slide guitar that seemed to weep and wail, the call and response between his voice and his instrument. It was a whole new language of the blues. He only recorded a handful of songs, like crossroad blues and hell hound on my trail.
Speaker 2So you see where the uh yeah, the story's coming, so he's kind of pushing out the the whole, the whole rumor of like oh, it was a deal with the devil, right.
Speaker 1Right, look at him and that's some of like his. More probably, and I went and listened to him, they sound pretty good, like they, you know, you can tell it's like an older recording style, but like the, the guitar and how it twangs and all that stuff like it's really cool. So you know, if anybody wants to go give it a listen Crossroad Blues, hellhound on my Trail. But those recordings became the foundation of generations of musicians to come. Eric Clapton called Johnson the most important blues singer that ever lived. The Rolling Stones, led Zeppelin their music carries the DNA of Robert Johnson, that raw emotion, the storytelling, the sheer innovation in his guitar playing. It's the bedrock of so much rock and roll, blues and beyond. And then you know, here comes Elvis Presley and he's kind of from that same area and he integrated that in his rock and roll music. You know which? Everybody was like oh, that's the devil's music and he's shaking his hips and everybody was just screaming, screaming, including my mother. She loved Elvis Presley.
Speaker 2But I'm over here like he was all right, right, yeah.
Speaker 1All right, I guess for the time. Yeah, you know. He was all right, right? He all right, I guess for the time. Yeah, you know.
Speaker 2Musically I mean, yeah, great. But I just mean, like everybody was like oh, hubba, hubba.
Speaker 1Right, I was just like hmm. I did get to take my mom to Graceland, though, and it was a lot smaller than I thought it would be, but it was still really cool yeah. Like the it would be, but it was still really cool like the tour through the house and we went at like the holidays. So it was all just dressed like christmasy and he had the I bet your mama loved that, oh gosh, she loved it.
Speaker 1She had always wanted to go and, uh, we were going that way and I was like you know what? We're stopping at?
Speaker 2graceland yeah, he was the hottie of her time yep, absolutely so.
Speaker 1it's almost eerie how a musician with such a brief career, shrouded in mystery and tragedy, and who died at just 27. Like he didn't have a long life at all, so I don't know if that debt was collected?
Speaker 2real fast, right, not a long life or career.
Speaker 1Right, but that you know, the time that he was a musician cast like a really long shadow. Was it the deal? Was it pure, like raw talent that simply blossomed, or was it the potent combination of both, amplified by the mystique of the legend? The folklore surrounding deals with the devil or powerful entities is widespread. I think it speaks to our human desire for like shortcuts for extraordinary abilities, often with hidden costs. It's a cautionary tale, perhaps about ambition and the price of fame yeah, and how shortcuts aren't always right best route right.
Speaker 1But like like get off the couch right, get up and do something. But these deals and things like that have been depicted in movies like oh brother where art, though remember the guy who with the guitar in mississippi on the old dirt road and he could play, yeah, and they said he made a deal with the devil, so. So that was kind of the devil went down to Georgia, right, that was kind of like the Robert Johnson tale in oh Brother when Art Thou yeah, the devil went down to Georgia. And movies like American Satan they did the deal with the crossroads. Tv shows, supernatural.
Speaker 2Supernatural. Lots of crossroads in there, love.
Speaker 1Supernatural.
Speaker 2Lots and lots of crossroads.
Speaker 1But I mean, it's just from this story and the folklore that it spun like you see how far it's still gone and he had a very short life.
Speaker 2Yeah. But, he started it.
The Legacy and Impact of Johnson
Speaker 1So impactful of his music and what happened and everything. But you know, regardless of the truth behind the crossroad encounter, robert Johnson's music endures. It speaks to the human condition in a way that is timeless and universal. It's a testament to the power of blues born from the struggle and transformation into something beautiful and influential. So the next time you hear a blues lick that sends shivers down your spine, or a rock riff that feels like it carries the weight of history, take a moment to remember Robert Johnson, the man, the myth, the musician who may or may not have made a deal at a dusty crossroad under a mississippi moon how about that yeah?
Speaker 2I think this is shortest one I've done so far yeah, no, but it was like still super cool, very interesting, I I think I mean.
Speaker 1what do you think? Do you think he made some kind of deal like he could play okay and then all of a sudden he disappeared? Did he go practice real hard? How long was he?
Speaker 2gone right. Did he go meet some amazing player and get schooled, or did he really go make a deal?
Speaker 1It really didn't say how long he had disappeared for, but I mean he had a pretty short life, but he made an impact for sure.
Speaker 2Yeah.
Speaker 1Yeah, I saw that one and I was like you know what. And to die so young didn't say what he died from?
Speaker 2No, so he just died at 27, with no explanation.
Speaker 1And they had one picture of him like an album cover picture. I read that they really didn't have photographs of him, but back then, you know, there wasn't a lot going on anyway, it's not like you were running around going. Oh, let's take a picture.
Speaker 2We might need this for later.
Speaker 1So yeah, no selfies, no selfie with Legba, nothing like that.
Speaker 2Right, let's document this moment.
Speaker 1Contract.
Speaker 2you say I need a picture, pictures, or it didn't happen.
Speaker 1Exactly, but it is always depicted that way. There's like this contract and it's like even in cartoons I don't remember what cartoon it was but like the little devil pops up and they're like signing and it's likeof the thing disappears all of a sudden.
Speaker 1The contract yeah, that you signed in blood, yeah, or um on, uh, the chilling adventures of sabrina, where she was supposed to sign her name in the book of the beast and blood and everything, so to like give herself over to the dark lord and all that so it was. I think a lot of it stems from this, this whole instance, and then the songs he wrote crossroad blues, hellhounds on my trail, like they were coming after him right, he was biding his time my thing is, though he didn't get that much time like that was a very lopsided deal, and and that's why, folks, you should always read your contract, and that's why music producers give these contracts and they screw over people.
Speaker 1Oh my God, it happens all the time there we go. Read your contract, yeah.
Speaker 2And quit taking shortcuts. Yep, just do the work. Yep Do the work.
Speaker 1Don't be like. You know, maybe if I do this or somebody gives me this, it'll be okay, Don't do it.
Speaker 2The benefits of the long way outweigh the consequences of the short way. There you go, there you go, like you take a shortcut on the street and you end up with a flat tire.
Speaker 1Right, yep, I should have just went around. Yep, should have went around, or should have. You know, you're waiting behind some construction stuff on the road and you're like I'm going down this way and then something happens. Nope, should have just sat there and waited.
Speaker 2Yeah, should have waited. You never know.
Speaker 1That was really cool. Some folklore and some Some mixed, some mixed stuff.
Speaker 2It's like a mixed drink, but we didn't drink it. I wish I had a mixed drink. Could definitely use a mixed drink. This is the day already.
Speaker 1Absolutely. And then you know, down in New Orleans, besides Annabelle, they just had 10 prisoners break out of the New Orleans. Besides Annabelle, they just had 10 prisoners break out of the New Orleans prison down there, and they were convicted.
Speaker 2And then like one was caught really fast. No, they.
Speaker 1At first they said it was 11, but they miscounted one. He was in his cell, got you. That's why I was like. He was probably like, not me out of here, but they caught one. So as of today they've caught three of the 10 that took off Gotcha. So hopefully you know they're scouring. I actually heard helicopters a lot last night. Oh yeah, I'm sure they're looking at the lakefront area and everything, Because I'm like where are these helicopters?
Speaker 1And then I was like, oh, escapees, yeah, lock your doors. I forgot Lock your doors, girl. My doors are already locked. Same, it's the first thing I do.
Speaker 2I'm like my dang pretend adult children will go do something and leave it wide open. And I wake up the next morning and I'm like oh, how nice of you to leave our door unlocked all night long so someone could come in and kill us.
Speaker 1Not mine. He's like Mr Safety, he's like make sure the door's locked and everything I'm like good for you.
Speaker 2You know, I feel like sometimes I should just get up when I hear them come in, because my dogs lose their mind.
Speaker 1And then check it.
Speaker 2And check it, but then put on a ski mask and run in their room and scare the mess out of them.
Speaker 1Do it, do it one night.
Speaker 2Thanks for leaving the door open, bro. Right, you know just like. Ah, get all dressed up like an intruder. My luck Aiden would beat me up, or something he works out every day.
Speaker 1He'll probably be like throw you to the floor and be like no, it's me your mom.
Speaker 2He'd have a fight on his hands. He tried though he know it was me when he couldn't pick me up and throw me on the floor.
Speaker 1There you go. He's like mom. Is that you?
Speaker 2He tries all the time to mess with me and I'm like, yeah, you're not picking me up, crazy kid.
Speaker 1Yeah, crazy kid, but yeah, but lock your doors and lock your windows, yes, especially if you're in this area yeah, our wonderful theme music did not require a deal at a crossroads.
Speaker 2Nope, but it is by patty salzetta absolutely, and she can.
Speaker 1She can sing like the devil, yeah, well.
Speaker 2Well, I mean, I don't know. I ain't ever heard the devil sing, Neither have I but she does sing very well. We love her, oh my gosh so well and, as I told you all before, you can look for the Facebook for the band she's in it's Wonderkind W-U-N-D-E-R kind.
Speaker 1Go like her page.
Speaker 2Yeah, and then if you're in Louisiana you can go listen. She also has a YouTube channel that's got like some original stuff that she's done on there, so you can always check that out too. And that is just under Patti Salzetta, so easy peasy to find.
Speaker 1Yeah, Every once in a while a video from back in the day pops up and I'm like, oh look, it's Patty.
Speaker 2Yeah, or we've gone out and like watch her sing and stuff, or my favorite, like I have one of those like smooth criminal pose pictures of her.
Speaker 1Oh, yes.
Speaker 2I was like, I love this one Yep.
Speaker 1She's awesome.
Speaker 2Yeah, and and share the link to this episode with your friends. Yes.
Speaker 1So they can listen, and I did get a suggestion from a friend of mine, so I'm going to look into that story as well and then I will, you know, make sure to give her a shout out when we do that episode.
Speaker 2That'll be cool, yep, you can always email us if you have a suggestion at steeped, at hold my sweet teacom. You're also welcome to message us via messenger or dms on the insta. You can also message us on the tiki taki yes, all over the place. Yeah, so many options.
Speaker 1So there's no excuses. So what are you waiting for? We expect messages, do it, and this is a drunken bee production. Bzzz, you guys don't make any sudden deals with any tall figures, with hellhounds, at any crossroads, at any crossroads, at any crossroads. Stay safe out there. And just because we're dipping doesn't mean you can't keep sipping. Bye, bye, thank you, bye.