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The tune has been a favorite of other bluesmen (Slim Harpo, Buddy Guy, and Freddy King have all recorded it) and even rock bands Led Zeppelin once included it in a medley they recorded for BBC radio in 1969. Considered a delta blues classic, the record also epitomized the “boogie” style with its rhythmic syncopations. An original tune recorded in 1948, the song represented the minimalist aesthetic that was Hooker’s hallmark the only instrument on the record was Hooker’s guitar, on which he strummed guitar chords in a hypnotic, loop-like fashion behind his gravelly bark of a voice.
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Hooker’s biggest commercial success was during the years 1949 to 1951 when he was in his thirties he put six singles in the US R&B charts, the first of which was “Boogie Chillen,” which went all the way to No.
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– Charles Waring John Lee Hooker – Boogie Chillen It offers a quintessential example of Johnson’s soulful wail and skeletal guitar accompaniment, and became a touchstone for later blues musicians those who covered it included Peter Green Splinter Group, Eric Clapton, and Gil Scott-Heron. The fact that Johnson died in mysterious circumstances not long afterwards made the record seem prophetic. One of the last recordings he made, released on the Vocalion label in 1938, this classic fable about Satan calling in a debt, helped to fuel the long-held myth that Johnson had made a Faustian pact with the devil at a crossroads, exchanging his soul for musical success.
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Click to load video Robert Johnson – Me And The Devil Blues
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