Anomale Used Blog: Leon Bridges

Delta blues music is suffused with religion, myths, magic, and voodoo. One of its most enduring and endearing myth is that of the Crossroads. Tommy Johnson an itinerant influential bluesman in the 1920’s and 30’s claimed that his incredible skills as a guitarist were attributed to a meeting with a mysterious black figure at a crossroads. According to the legend, Johnson gave the man, presumably the devil, his guitar to tune it for him and to teach him how to play perfectly in return for his soul. Later on that myth was further embellished by the other more famous, and not related, Robert Johnson, who sang about the famous meeting at the Crossroad.

Many Delta blues singers believed in the power of Mojo, which is a magic spell or charm that gives a person magical powers to succeed in every endeavor, including the art of seduction. The word has become an integral part of daily discourse. The great bluesman Muddy Waters, borrowed an up tempo jump blues song by an obscure blueswoman Ann Cole titled Got My Mojo Working and turned it into a classic Delta style song.

Source: Blues, the Devil’s music by Hisham Melhem

Leon Bridges - Steam