Eric Clapton knows whatsup when it comes to this blues stuff. A lot of rock musicians, in fact, that came over from England (during the 'British Invasion' and otherwise) really love American folk music (and the blues in particular). I'm no musicologist, but myself, as well as many others would probably have to say Clapton is the 'cream' of the crop though, when it comes to understanding what these guys were doing stylistically, incorporating it into his own music, evolving the style, etc. - Robert Johnson, probably Clapton's and Muddy Waters favorite bluesman, was a really sweet dude. He actually grew up learning from Son House, Charley Patton, and Willie Brown. Sadly, as a teen he got married and his wife died in childbirth, along with their child... He continued to try and learn from the three delta bluesmen -- following them around and watching them perform - but b/c he was still a novice, he often became the object of ridicule when House, Patton, and Brown were drunk and feeling mean, so he abruptly left the area (which was Robinsonville, Mississippi). As the story goes, he returned a couple months later (some say a year), playing with dazzling technique. Years later, several of Johnson's relatives told blues researcher Mack McCormick that Robert had sold his soul to the Devil for his talent, and claimed they knew the exact backcountry crossroad where the deal was made... So Johnson returned, and it's been said delta guitarists (even those he first learned from) would watch with 'unabashed, open-mouthed wonder.' From this point in his life on, Johnson moved from woman to woman, town to town, trusting no one and taking on few musical associates... One musician who was able to stick with Johnson for a while as he 'rambled' around the country, was Johnny Shines. One story I really like about Robert Johnson was the one Shines told interviewer Pete Welding, "we was staying in West Memphis at a place called John Hunt's, and this place burnt down and burnt our guitars up. I didn't know that Robert knew anything about the harmonica at all, but he come up with this old harmonica. We were out on Highway 61, and he started blowing this harmonica and slapping his hands -- patting his hands, blowing and singing -- and in a few minutes, the whole highway was almost blocked off with cars, people pitching us nickels, dimes, quarters. He'd sing, I would sing, and when we got to Steels, Missouri, we bought ourselves little guitars. We had enough money to buy guitars with! And truthfully speaking, we didn't have no money when we started out." Apparently no matter how much traveling Johnson did he was always looking 'sharp.' Shines said they'd be playing on dusty streets or inside dirty places, and as he'd catch his breath and see himself 'looking like a dog, there'd be Robert, all clean as can be, looking like he's just stepping out of church.' Honeyboy Edwards -- a delta blues musician -- recalls seeing Robert Johnson, in 1937, on a dirt road in Greenwood: "He was standing there playing on the street, and this lady, walked up to him and said, 'Can you play Terraplane Blues?' Cause that Johnson record had just come out, but she didn't know who she was talkin' to. He said [and here Edwards assumed a tone of dignified, inviolable cool], 'Miss, that's my number,' like 'that'... and she said 'I don't believe you.' He said, 'Give me fifteen cents and I'll play it.' And he played that 'Terraplane,' man, he wore it out." Yea - stuff like that just doesn't happen anymore... I mean, seriously -- 'Miss, that's my number.' This weeks first song is Eric Clapton playing Johnson's 'Walkin' Blues' on his 'Unplugged' album... Clapton actually even has an album, 'Me and Mr. Johnson,' a tribute album to the legendary bluesman. The second song is Robert Johnson's, "Sweet Home Chicago," recorded by Robert Johnson in 1936.