Robert Johnson didn’t just play the blues. He embodied them. He drank and womanized his way through the South, New York, and Chicago in the 1930s, until he finally met the devil at the crossroads for a little trade. So the legend goes, anyway. With the same soul he supposedly sold to the devil, Robert Johnson belted lightning blues that captured trouble in 12 bars. But the trouble he touted would eventually trickle into his own life, one bottle of poison at a time.
This episode contains themes that may be disturbing to some listeners and includes descriptions of racial violence and traumatic childbirth.
To view the full list of contributors, see the show notes at www.disgracelandpod.com.
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Disgraceland Season 12 Trailer
Bonus Episode: Bruce Sprinsgteen's Nebraska, Best '80s Pop Stars, and Richard Pryor Jamming With Sly and the Family Stone
Bonus Episode: Body Heat, A Disgo's Encounter with Quentin Tarantino, and Willie Nelson, an American Outlaw
Willie Nelson (Pt 2): Grifters, Con Men, Thieves, and the Reinvention of the Outlaw
Willie Nelson (Pt 1): A Shootout, a House Fire, and the Ballad of the Red-Headed Stranger
Bonus Episode: Jake's Favorite '80s Horror Movies, A Long-awaited INXS Episode, and Irish Rock 'n Roll
Skip James: A Sawmill Shootout, Pimping, Bootlegging, and the Son of a Preacher Man
Bonus Episode: Slow Train Coming, the Extra Gear of MC5, and the Return of Badlands
MC5: Dope, Guns, and F***ing in the Streets
Bonus Episode: Muddy Waters, George Benson, The What-If's of Sly Stone, and Alfred Hitchcock's Best Movie
Sly Stone: Guns, PCP, a Psycho Mutt, and a Fugitive from Justice
Bonus Episode: Bjork's Stalker, Lou Reed's Lyrics Explored, and a Succession Rewatch
Lou Reed (An Origin Story) Pt. 2
Lou Reed (An Origin Story) Pt. 1
Bonus Episode: Best Springtime Records, Your Top 5s, and Last Temptations
Bonus Episode: Disgraceland Origins, Elvis's Dressing Room, and Jake's Top 5 Movies Ever
Otis Redding: A Chitlin Circuit Shootout, a Fatal Plane Crash, and Crossing Over to the Other Side
Bonus Episode: Rocka Rolla Beer, Chris Rock DGAF, and Deciding Which Episodes are Two-Parters
Lynyrd Skynyrd: Busted Teeth, Saturday Night Specials, and the Smell of Death
Bonus Episode: Mac Miller's Tragedy, the Real Cocaine Bear, and the Matrix
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