Interesting Theory About Robert Johnson - Grandpa Of Rock n Roll....

[Hardrock69]

http://www.touched.co.uk/press/rjnote.html

Not going to repost. Go to the page and read. Theory is that Robert Johnson recordings are about 20% too fast, and includes slowed down mp3 samples of some of his stuff.

Very possible.

Interesting theory.

[ELVIS]

I totally agree with that...

I think the slowed down samples totally prove it...

[Hardrock69]

The guitar sounds more...realistic, if that is possible. I have never sat down and tried to figure out what keys he played in or anything like that. He is one of those badass guitarists that I prefer to just listen to and marvel at. Sorta like Hendrix. Though I can play a lot of Hendrix stuff. Most of Robert's stuff....it is no wonder people say he sold his soul to Legba....

[evil_lil]

The guitar sounds more...realistic, if that is possible. I have never sat down and tried to figure out what keys he played in or anything like that. He is one of those badass guitarists that I prefer to just listen to and marvel at. Sorta like Hendrix. Though I can play a lot of Hendrix stuff. Most of Robert's stuff....it is no wonder people say he sold his soul to Legba....

That was my reaction as well. I've listened to these tracks so much, but I've never really tried to learn any of it. When I heard the slowed down versions, my thought was " Wow...he sounds human."

I've never heard of this before. Makes a lot of sense though. Trippy.

[Headly1984]

I downloaded it and it could be.. however - it may not be either ..

RJ is / was / will be a music inspiration for all time no matter what speed he played

neat theory tho'

[ZahZoo]

Interesting theory... The writer mentions the difficulty of being able to reach the 16th fret on the classical guitars of the time with the neck joined at the body at the 14th fret. In the picture below... look at the length of RJ's fingers. His middle finger is fretting the 6th string at the 6th fret and he's got over 2 inches of reach to spare.

Based on that... with a slide on his pinkie or ring finger appears he could reach beyond the 18th fret without having to even stretch or reach much. Like Hendrix... appears that guy had huge, long hands...

[VHscraps]

I used to think some of the tracks on the old King of the Delta Blues Singers would speed up mid-song, and I was never sure if it was a wonky tape machine, a deliberate touch or Johnson himself.

I was sure John Hammond went into this at some point in his documentary from the early 90s, The Search for Robert Johnson. There's interviews with people who knew Johnson, including musicians. I just started watching it on youtube after reading the posts here, but nothing so far ... Anyways, for those of you with the texture and the taste, this is a fine way to while away an hour:

[VHscraps]

Honeyboy Edwards is about 77 in that documentary (part two), still playing and looking younger - if Johnson had lived he'd have been 81 at the time. He's so shrouded in myth that it's difficult to believe that he could've ever been sitting on that railway stop in 1991-92, like his pal Edwards, pickin' away at his guitar ...

[chefcraig]

Wow, that is strange. Compare these tracks side by side. The first is the most familiar, "normal" speed version, followed by a track played at 85%.

[Jérôme Frenchise]

His voice sounds quite impressive too, I think: just 25-year-old, but incredibly close to a 40-year-old Muddy Waters.

These slowed down versions are amazing, and I prefer them to those in my old compilation. They sound more real, in a way...