About the Artist – Blind Willie Johnson
Blind Willie Johnson (BWJ) was an American gospel blues singer and guitarist known for the power and emotion in his voice and his innovative slide guitar playing. Not much is known about his childhood, but he was born on January 22, 1897, in Independence, Texas, and lost his sight at a young age after a fight between his parents resulted in his stepmother throwing lye in his face. Johnson made a living by singing gospel songs and playing guitar on the streets of towns and cities in Texas, and recorded 30 songs in the late 1920s. His rough, low baritone voice and rhythmic guitar playing were showcased in powerful tracks like “If I Had My Way I’d Tear the Building Down” and the slow and haunting “Dark Was the Night—Cold Was the Ground”. This latter song, which featured a unique combination of vocal moans and slide guitar lines, was included on the Voyager spacecraft’s Golden Record, a collection of sounds and images meant to represent humanity to any extraterrestrial life that might encounter the probes. Johnson continued to perform until his death in 1945, which came after his house burned down and he contracted malaria while sleeping in its remains.
Lyrics
Nobody’s fault but mine,
Nobody’s fault but mine
If I don’t read it my soul be lost
I have a bible in my home,
I have a bible in my home
If I don’t read it my soul be lost
Mmm, father he taught me how to read,
Father he taught me how to read
If I don’t read it my soul be lost, nobody’s fault but mine
Ah, Lord, Lord, nobody’s fault but mine
If I don’t read it my soul be lost
Ah, I have a bible of my own,
I have a bible of my own
If I don’t read it my soul be lost
Oh, mother she taught me how to read,
Mother she taught me how to read
If I don’t read it my soul be lost, nobody’s fault but mine
Ah, Lord, Lord, nobody’s fault but mine
If I don’t read it my soul be lost
And sister she taught me how to read,
Sister she taught me how to read
If I don’t read it my soul be lost, nobody’s fault but mine
Ah, mmm, Lord, Lord, nobody’s fault but mine
If I don’t read it my soul’d be lost, mmm
Genre – Texas Gospel Blues
The words in “Nobody’s Fault but Mine” is simple in nature but it is delivered powerfully. The earthy voice of BWJ combined with the steely bluesy music gives a sense of serenity and spirituality. His voice is similar to that of a preacher giving out a sermon in a street corner.
He had an important message, and he sang that message loudly from street corners, not so much to his fellow man as at him: ‘Prepare the way for the Lord; make straight paths for him.’
Gospel blues is innately tied to the sermons that would be given in Black churches during that time. Preachers would speak each line in the sermon in a short burst (similar to the graph below). The same pattern can be observed in BWJ’s songs. Moreover, there is a strong sense of being swayed and immersed by god during the songs and sermons. The clip below show Reverend C L Franklin giving a sermon and the similarities are quite clear.
Although gospel and blues are typically associated with different settings they actually have some common roots, influences, and musical characteristics. Many African African singers have performed in both fields. Rev. C.L. Franklin, who preached at St. Peter’s Rock M.B. Church here, influenced gospel, R&B and blues artists, and his daughters Aretha, Erma and Carolyn became noted soul singers after starting out singing in church.
Gospel music and the blues share a unique relationship, reflecting “two sides of the same coin,” some have said. Both the genres have distinct characteristics, however many gospel songs have been transformed into blues or soul songs, and vice versa, by simply changing a few words in the lyrics. Therefore, to combine the two genres into one was not a difficult leap.
Unlike some of his congregation members, Franklin saw no conflict between blues and the church, and once recalled, “I always liked the blues.” B.B. King, who sang gospel on the radio in the Delta in the 1940s, once said, “I’ve heard that black folks are supposed to have this big conflict between singing for the world and singing for God. Some of them surely are divided. I am not … I believe all music talent comes from God as a way to express beauty and human emotion.”
History of Blues
Anglo-Americans brought their slaves with them when they settled in Texas. Their music became a part of the cultural scene and they would commonly sing as they worked on farms and plantations. Sometimes Anglos would listen or dance as Black musicians would perform. In the early 1900s, thousands of African Americans migrated in search of work and to escape from racism, and many blues singers were among them. They followed crop harvests or worked in lumber camps and prospering towns. Some settled as sharecroppers, leasing small land from white landowners, while others continued moving from town to town, working odd jobs in urban areas such as Dallas, Houston, and more.
Blues music expressed the hardships faced by newly-freed African American slaves, who faced major obstacles such as racism, Jim Crow laws, and the Ku Klux Klan, in their pursuit of economic independence and self-determination. Despite these challenges, leisure and the need for a release from daily life served as a catalyst in the development of blues. It was a form of personal music that related to the feelings of its audience, including suffering, hope, economic failure, broken families, and the desire to escape reality. This individualistic approach of blues reflects a Western concept of life, though it is musically rooted in African traditions. Lastly, blues had a cathartic effect on its listeners and the blues singer had an expressive role similar to that of a preacher, leading to a mixed reception of blues by African Americans and their churches.
The music would then undergo several transformation over the years creating several sub-genres: Jazz Blues, Texas Blues, Gospel Blues, and more. Gospel Blues is in its core Blues music because it spoke truth to power and about the hardship that African-Americans were facing. The uniqueness of Gospel Blues lies in the lens through which this message was being conveyed: church and god.
Sources
American Routes, scholarblogs.emory.edu/americanroutes/texas-blues/.
“Blind Willie Johnson.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 18 Jan. 2023, www.britannica.com/biography/Blind-Willie-Johnson.
“Blues.” TSHA, www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/blues.
Davies, David Martin. “Texas Matters: The History of Texas Blues.” TPR, www.tpr.org/show/texas-matters/2016-05-19/texas-matters-the-history-of-texas-blues.
“Gospel and the Blues.” The Mississippi Blues Trail, 5 Sept. 2022, msbluestrail.org/blues-trail-markers/gospel-and-the-blues.
“It’s Nobody’s Fault But Mine.” Blind Willie Johnson – It’s Nobody’s Fault But Mine Lyrics | Lyrics.com, www.lyrics.com/lyric/7211280/Blind+Willie+Johnson/It%27s+Nobody%27s+Fault+But+Mine.
“Various Artists/Anthologies.” Alligator Records, www.alligator.com/albums/God-Dont-Never-Change-The-Songs-Of-Blind-Willie-Johnson-CD/.
