I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues.

Classic rock was always my forte growing up.  I knew the artists, their albums, their back stories..... and spent probably way too much time poring over Rollingstone reading interviews & write-ups on my favorites.  Be it good or bad, my father heavily influenced my "musical upbringing":  Rolling Stones, The Who, Rod Stewart, Pink Floyd.....and many, many others.  To say that Top 40 was never allowed in our home is an understatement.  His one concession, one that I never really understood how I got away with it, was when I went through my Country phase.  Even then, however, I was listening for what I loved, regardless of the genre.....the background beats that spoke to my soul and the lyrics that told amazing stories.  Fast forward through my Prince & Purple Rain phase <though Prince is still one of the most amazing musicians EVER>.....and I found myself at a party with live music.  I don't recall the name of the band or the song, but I didn't know what hit me:  my heart, my brain, MY SOUL grabbed hold of what I was hearing and said this....THIS is what I want.
My introduction to the Blues was purely accidental.  Thank you Jesus it happened, that's all I can say.

Every blues aficionado, of which I am NOT one, per say, knows of Robert Johnson and the Crossroads.  
That is where I begin my Blues education:


Robert Johnson recorded 29 songs between 1936 and 1937, one of which was "Cross Roads Blues"
Johnson performed it as a solo piece with his vocal and acoustic slide guitar in the Delta blues-style. 
The song has become part of the Robert Johnson mythology as referring to the place where he supposedly sold his soul to the Devil in exchange for his musical talents, although the lyrics do not contain any specific references.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GsB_cGdgPTo

• Bluesman Elmore James revived the song "Crossroads Blues" with recordings in 1954 and 1960–1961.

James' lyrics focus on the lost-love aspect of the song:

Well I was standin' at the crossroad, and my baby not around
Well I begin to wonder, 'Is poor Elmore sinkin' down'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvEBsEwTv6E

• Guitarist Eric Clapton with Creampopularized the song as "Crossroads" in the late 1960s.

In addition to Johnson's opening and closing lyrics, he twice adds the same section from "Traveling Riverside Blues":

I'm going down to Rosedale, take my rider by my side
You can still barrel house baby, on the riverside
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PE9HvSdcaL4

In 1986, Robert Johnson's "Cross Road Blues" was inducted into theBlues Foundation Hall of Fame.
Writing for the foundation, Jim O'Neal noted that "regardless of mythology and rock 'n' roll renditions, 
Johnson's record was indeed a powerful one, a song that would stand the test of time on its own

Paula Carter