''The Soul of a Man'' is an album of "twenty haunting spiritual blues songs" recorded in the late 1920s and 1930 by the American gospel blues singer and guitarist

Blind Willie Johnson Blind Willie Johnson (January 25, 1897 – September 18, 1945) was an American gospel blues singer, guitarist and evangelist. His landmark recordings completed between 1927 and 1930—thirty songs in total—display a combination of powerful "ch ...

that was released by Charly Records in 2003.''The Soul of a Man'' CD booklet. All of the songs have religious themes and are notable for Johnson’s distinctive combination of a raw and powerful vocal style with a fluid and melodic

slide guitar Slide guitar is a technique for playing the guitar that is often used in blues music. It involves playing a guitar while holding a hard object (a slide) against the strings, creating the opportunity for glissando effects and deep vibratos tha ...

technique. Their influence can be heard in the music of

Taj Mahal The Taj Mahal (; ) is an Islamic ivory-white marble mausoleum on the right bank of the river Yamuna in the Indian city of Agra. It was commissioned in 1631 by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan () to house the tomb of his favourite wife, Mu ...

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are ci ...

and

Ry Cooder Ryland Peter "Ry" Cooder (born March 15, 1947) is an American musician, songwriter, film score composer, record producer, and writer. He is a multi-instrumentalist but is best known for his slide guitar work, his interest in traditional music, an ...

. The 2003

Wim Wenders Ernst Wilhelm "Wim" Wenders (; born 14 August 1945) is a German filmmaker, playwright, author, and photographer. He is a major figure in New German Cinema. Among many honors, he has received three nominations for the Academy Award for Best Docum ...

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional film, motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". Bill Nichols (film critic), Bil ...

The Soul of a Man ''The Soul of a Man'' is a 2003 documentary film, directed by Wim Wenders, as the second instalment of the documentary film series ''The Blues'', produced by Martin Scorsese. The film explores the musical careers of blues musicians Skip James, ...

'' is a tribute to Johnson. The songs were recorded for

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

, in December 1927 and December 1928, in

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

in December 1929 and in

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

, in April 1930. Johnson ceased recording in 1930 and became a

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compete ...

preacher. He died of malarial fever in

Beaumont, Texas Beaumont is a coastal city in the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat, seat of government of Jefferson County, Texas, Jefferson County, within the Beaumont–Port Arthur, Texas, Port Arthur Beaumont–Port Arthur metropolitan area, metropo ...

, in 1945, aged 48, after being forced to sleep outdoors when his home burned down.

Cover versions

Taj Mahal recorded a cover version of "

You're Gonna Need Somebody on Your Bond "You'll Need Somebody on Your Bond" (later titled "You're Gonna Need Somebody on Your Bond") is a gospel song that is attributed to both tradition and to gospel blues musician Blind Willie Johnson. Johnson first recorded the song in December 1930 ...

" on his 1969 album ''Giant Step''. Led Zeppelin covered the song "

It's Nobody's Fault but Mine "It's Nobody's Fault but Mine" or "Nobody's Fault but Mine" is a song first recorded by gospel blues artist Blind Willie Johnson in 1927. It is a solo performance with Johnson singing and playing slide guitar. The song has been interpreted and ...

" on their 1976 album ''Presence''. " Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground", an instrumental that showcases Johnson's slide guitar playing, is reported to have been the inspiration for Ry Cooder's soundtrack for the 1984 Wim Wenders film ''Paris, Texas''.

Track listing

All songs written by Blind Willie Johnson except where noted. #"

Keep Your Lamp Trimmed and Burning "Keep Your Lamp(s) Trimmed and Burning" is a traditional gospel blues song. It alludes to the Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins, found in the Gospel of Matthew at 25:1-13, and also to a verse in the Gospel of Luke, at 12:35. The song has b ...

" (3:06) #"

You're Gonna Need Somebody On Your Bond "You'll Need Somebody on Your Bond" (later titled "You're Gonna Need Somebody on Your Bond") is a gospel song that is attributed to both tradition and to gospel blues musician Blind Willie Johnson. Johnson first recorded the song in December 1930 ...

" (3:12) #"

God Moves on the Water God Moves on the Water is a gospel blues song recorded by Blind Willie Johnson in 1929 and released on a 78 rpm record by Columbia Records. The song describes the sinking of RMS ''Titanic'' and the consequent loss of life after it struck an icebe ...

" (3:01) #" Jesus Is Coming Soon" (3:12) #"

John the Revelator John of Patmos (also called John the Revelator, John the Divine, John the Theologian) is the name traditionally given to the author of the Book of Revelation. The text of Revelation states that John was on Patmos, a Greece, Greek island where, a ...

" (Trad.) (3:19) #" Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground" (3:22) #"

Trouble Will Soon Be Over "Trouble (in the Land) Will Soon Be Over" is a traditional gospel blues song recorded in 1929 by Blind Willie Johnson (voice and guitar) and Willie B. Harris (backing vocals), who is thought to have been his first wife. Lyrics "Trouble" is thi ...

" (3:09) #"

Let Your Light Shine on Me "Let Your Light Shine on Me" is a traditional gospel blues song, having been recorded by The Wiseman Quartet in 1923, by Ernest Phipps in 1928, and by Blind Willie Johnson in 1929. The song itself is also known as "Shine On Me", "Let It Shine on ...

" (3:11) #"

It's Nobody's Fault But Mine "It's Nobody's Fault but Mine" or "Nobody's Fault but Mine" is a song first recorded by gospel blues artist Blind Willie Johnson in 1927. It is a solo performance with Johnson singing and playing slide guitar. The song has been interpreted and ...

" (3:11) #"

" (3:15) #" If I Had My Way I'd Tear the Building Down" (3:10) #" Praise God I'm Satisfied" (3:13) #" I'm Gonna Run to the City of Refuge" (3:25) # " Can't Nobody Hide from God" (3:23) #" Motherless Children Have a Hard Time" (3:24) #" I Know His Blood Can Make Me Whole" (3:05) #"

The Rain Don't Fall on Me "The Rain Don't Fall on Me" is a gospel blues song recorded in 1929 by Blind Willie Johnson (vocals and guitar) and Willie B. Harris (vocals), who is thought to have been his first wife. Other recordings * 1963Geoff Muldaur, on the album Slee ...

" (Trad./arr. Johnson) (3:20) #" Sweeter as the Years Roll By" (Trad./arr. Johnson) (2:49) #"

Jesus Make Up My Dying Bed "In My Time of Dying" (also called "Jesus Make Up My Dying Bed" or a variation thereof) is a gospel music song by Blind Willie Johnson. The title line, closing each stanza of the song, refers to a deathbed and was inspired by a passage in th ...

" (3:13) #" Bye and Bye I'm Goin' to See the King" (Trad./arr. Johnson) (2:54)

Personnel

*Blind Willie Johnson – vocals, slide guitar *Willie (Wilhemina) B. Harris – vocals

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Soul of a Man 2003 albums Blind Willie Johnson albums Columbia Records artists