Chords for Robert Johnson Exposed

[G] Robert Johnson is considered the king of the Delta [D] Blues.
He's also considered the father of rock and roll
It is very significant [N] that Johnson would be considered the father of rock and roll as is alleged that he had sold his soul to Satan
In Clarksdale, Mississippi in exchange for guitar playing abilities and worldwide fame
_ _ _ _ _ [D] _ [Bb] _ _
_ _ _ _ [F] _ _ _ [Bb] _
_ _ _ It was after Johnson [E] made his alleged pact [Db] with Satan that he became the king of [N] the Delta Blues
Bluesmaster BB King said quote as a musician Robert Johnson had it all
I think he's the greatest _ folk blues guitar [Bb] player that ever lived
The greatest singer, the greatest writer
You think you would get him a handle on playing the blues and then to hear [G] Johnson say, whoa, that's the wrong way to do it
[N] It's still the most powerful
_ _ [F] _ _ [G] Cry, I think you can find in the music [N] of the human voice
Bluesmaster and Johnson's mentor Sunhouse said of him before Johnson's transformation
He said in our feet and played during the break and such another racket you've never heard
Sunhouse said he made the audiences mad with his racket
Sunhouse [Fm] went on to say of Johnson [G] before he made his alleged pact with Satan
That he was a talentless and even an irritating guitar player
But he followed me and Willie around on Saturday [Gm] night here with the girls
[E] And every time we stopped for [Eb] a rest and sit around
We would get out over in the corner or something and go out to catch [N] air, you know
Get the guitar and be trying to play it and be just noise in the people, you know
And when the folks would come out, I said why don't y'all, some of y'all go in there and meet that boy
Put that thing down, he's running us crazy
And finally he let me run off from his father and mother
And he went over in Arkansas some place
[Eb] He was gone about six [N] to eight months
It was during this period of six [E] to eight months that it [A] is said that he made his pact with Satan
[N] On the crossroads of Highway 49 and 61 in Clarksdale, Mississippi
It was at these crossroads where the legendary experiences of Johnson
Trading in his eternal soul for temporary fame was said to have taken [E] place in Clarksdale, Mississippi
_ _ [N] Well they say he sold himself to the devil, that's what they said
I heard a lot of people say that he sold himself to the devil and went to the crossroads and all that
After Johnson's alleged pact with Satan, everything changed
As Johnson went from [E] being the worst blues guitarist [F] in a matter of months to the best
Some [Abm] musicians who knew [G] Johnson claimed that Johnson himself admitted that [Bb] he sold his soul to Satan
[A] He said he done [Gb] that with the [E] crossroads
[C] _ _ [Fm] _
[A] _ Sunhouse said that [Em] when Johnson returned after six to eight months, [N] everything changed as Johnson was transformed almost [Eb] before their very eyes
And then he come back
[Abm] _ [E] And when he come back me and Willie Brown was playing [N] out there
And he walked in, he said, can I hit it with you?
I said, now I'm going to come back with bedrock
I said, you know the people all want to hear that racket
He said, that's what they want
He said, I want you to see what I like
[Em] Sunhouse said [E] when he finished, all of our mouths were standing open
They couldn't believe what they were hearing
Sunhouse declared [G] emphatically, quote, he sold his soul to the devil to play like [N] that
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has stated that Robert Johnson's songs are, quote
The bedrock upon which modern blues and rock and roll were built
He's not only declared to be the father of rock and roll
But the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame says that Robert Johnson stands at the crossroads of American music
Much as a popular folk legend has it
He once stood at Mississippi Crossroads and sold his soul to the devil in exchange for guitar playing powers
Incredibly, Robert Johnson went from a guitarist who couldn't play a lick in a matter of months
To a guitarist who like a medium didn't even have to practice as he chatteled music from the spirit world at will
I never seen him have to practice, uh, anything like that
Never seen him sit down and write a song, he already knew it
Once he attempted to play it, he knew it
He had a built-in computer, _ everything he heard was there
All he had to do was punch the button
Whether or not the crossroads [Dm] of Highway 49 and 61 are the [Db] exact place that Robert [Ab] Johnson sold his soul, we cannot know for sure
[Gb] But one thing [Bb] is clear, Johnson had indeed [N] given his soul to Satan
This is brought out in his own lyrics which testify to this
Early this [Eb] morning, ooh, [Bbm] he knocked upon my door
_ _ _ _ [F] _ _ And I said, hello, Satan, [Eb] I [Em] believe it's [Gb] time to go
_ _ [Fm] _ _ _ _ [N]
Me and the devil _ would walk side by side
[Bb] _
Me [Em] _ [D] _ [A] _ [D] _ and the devil, ooh, [Ebm] would walk side [G] by side
_ _ [Bb] _ _ _ [C] _ I'm going to beat my woman
_ [Gm] Until I get there
Robert [E] Johnson had a genuine fear of Satan coming to collect his soul
Which is vividly [N] recounted in songs like Hellhound on My Trail
I got to [E] keep [B] moving, I got to keep [Eb] moving
[E] And the day keeps on burning [B] me
It's a [G] hellhound on my trail
Selling one's soul to Satan is a thread that runs through the history of rock and [E] roll from Robert Johnson until [A] present
_ _ _ _ [D] Frank [C] Bogdolan sings a takeoff on this theme [D] on Highway 49
And Eric [A] Clapton sings Crossroads which seems to be a lament for having once sold one's soul
[D] Ooh, he knocked upon my door
And [A] I said, hello, Satan, I believe [Am] it's time [E] to go
Ginger Baker, formerly of Clapton's [D] group Cream, says of Cream, [Ab] quote
It [A] happens to us quite often
It feels as though I'm not playing my instrument
Something else is playing it
And that same thing is [Am] playing all three of our instruments
[Dm] That's what I mean when I say it's frightening [A] sometimes
Maybe we'll all play the same phrase out of nowhere
It happens very often with us
[D] I'll be down to the crossroads
[Ab] Robert Plant, lead singer of the now [C] defunct Led Zeppelin, one of the biggest bands of [Bm] all time
Said in an interview that he possessed [F] a container of dirt taken from the crossroads of Highway 49 and 61
Robert Plant and [Fm] Jimmy Page's [Am] last album together was appropriately called Walking [Ab] into Clarksdale
[A] Incredibly, the title cut is about meeting a [D] hellhound from hell on [F] Highway 49 in a burnt [E] out motel
You're a C12, white horses, you're here walking the line
Moving [Bm] east across that river in the highway 49
The sky is in the shadows of [E] a burned out motel
We came here for Christmas, it's a worthless car
_ [C] _ _ [E] So I'm not in the crossroads, I'm thinking about Santa's [C] face
_ _ Oh,