Knowra Cross Road Blues Cross Road Blues A 1936 blues song written and recorded by Robert Johnson, whose lyrics portray a singer pleading for help at a crossroads. Its imagery later became entwined with legends about Johnson making a deal with the Devil.
Robert Johnson : An American blues singer and guitarist whose influential recordings were made in 1936 and 1937. Johnson wrote and recorded the song, performing its vocal and guitar parts.
Vocalion Records : An American record label that released blues, jazz, and popular music in the early twentieth century. Vocalion issued Johnson’s original recording as a 78-rpm record.
Eric Clapton : An English guitarist, singer, and songwriter known for work in blues and rock. Clapton’s 1968 recording with Cream helped popularize the song as “Crossroads.”
Deal with the Devil : A folkloric bargain in which a person trades something precious for supernatural power or success. The song’s crossroads setting became linked to a later legend that Johnson bargained for guitar skill.
Crossroads (Cream song) : A 1968 Cream recording that adapts Robert Johnson’s “Cross Road Blues” into electric rock. It keeps Johnson’s core song while changing its sound, arrangement, and title.
Delta blues : A style of blues music that developed in the Mississippi Delta, often featuring solo singing and guitar. The song’s solo guitar-and-vocal performance draws on this regional blues tradition.
Don Law : An American record producer and talent scout who recorded Robert Johnson in Texas in 1936 and 1937. Law supervised the recording session that produced the song.
Cream : A British rock band formed in 1966 by Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce, and Ginger Baker. The band transformed Johnson’s song into a celebrated electric-rock performance.
Crossroads myth : A legend that Robert Johnson sold his soul to the Devil at a Mississippi crossroads in exchange for musical talent. The song helped make crossroads imagery central to the story, though its lyrics do not describe a bargain.
Crossroads (John Mayer song) : A live blues-rock recording by John Mayer, released on his 2008 live album “Where the Light Is.” Mayer’s performance offers a later interpretation distinct from Cream’s famous arrangement.
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