Grandfather of Rock and Roll, Robert Leroy Johnson had his first recording session facing the wall. The technique of "corner loading" was used to enhance the sound of his guitar. During three days in November of 1936, Johnson played sixteen tunes in room 414 at the Gunter Hotel in San Antonio, which had been set up as a temporary studio by Brunswick Records. The itinerant "King of the Delta Blues" only had one other recording session before his untimely poisoning, but he lived a legendary life traveling all over the country from town to town, playing on street corners, developing his style, and establishing his reputation.
'Kind Hearted Woman Blues' was a response to 'Mean Mistreatin' Woman' by Bumble Bee Slim, which was a rewrite of Leroy Carr's 'Mean Mistreating Mama'. It was the first song and the only guitar solo he ever recorded.
Johnson adapted his finger picked Prodigal tale 'I Believe I'll Dust My Broom' from various related blues songs of the thirties: 'I Believe I’ll Make A Change' (done by Sparks Brothers and Leroy Carr), Kokomo Arnold's spinoffs 'Sagefield Woman Blues' and 'Sissy Man Blues', 'Believe I'll Go Back Home' by Jack Kelly, and 'Mr Carl’s Blues' by Carl Rafferty.
'Crossroad Blues' portrays a desperate man afraid of being caught out alone after dark. Legend says that Johnson sold his soul to the devil to be able to play guitar and that this song addresses his remorse.
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