Who Was The Devil that Appeared to Johnson

MEPHISTOPHELES?

I have been reading about the demons that appear to people in different circumstances for different things, and the one that stands out the most is Mephistopheles.
    Mephistopheles or Mephisto is a demon from Germanic folklore, originally appearing in the legend of Faust.
  In the Faust chapbooks (based on the historical Johann Georg Faust) The lord challenges Mephistopheles (the devil) that he cannot lead astray the Lords prized scholar, Dr. Faust.
Disappointed with the science of natural means, Faust tries and fails with magic to gain knowledge of nature and the universe, and becomes depressed and suicidal at his failed attempts.
 After being followed by a poodle, Mephistopheles appears to faust and offers him a contract: He will do Faust's bidding on earth, and Faust will do the same for him in hell.

The word Mephistopheles, may derive from the Hebrew word mephitz, meaning "distributor" and tophel chequer, the literal translation of which is "falsehood plasterer".
 It could also be a combination of three Greek words: "me" as a negation, "phos" meaning light, and "philis" meaning "loving" which would make it mean "not-light-loving", a possible parody on the latin "Lucifer" or "light-bearer".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5fhRQQmi8Y

^^^^A great link with a short clip from the 1926 film Faust, in which Faust summons Mephistopheles at a CROSSROADS....coinsidence?? I think not. 

ALSO JUST FOUND THIS, THIS IS A DEPICTION OF MEPHISTOPHELES FOR A THEATRE PRODUCTION, AND HE IS SHOWN PLAYING A GUITAR.. NICEE (the story goes with Robert Johnson that when the demon appeared to him, in the form of a black man, he took the guitar from Johnson, tuned it and gave him it back..)

Crossroads Folklore Research

CROSSROADS FOLKLORE

So I've been doing some research on the folklore surrounding crossroads.
    In ancient Greece, the people used to place marker stones at crossroads to commemorate the god Hermes. In ancient Rome the god Mercury who was similar to Hermes was the crossroads guardian.
In India the god Bhairava, the older version of the god Siva, was said to have guarded the crossroads at the outskirts of villages and towns. Stone phalluses and statues of Bhairava's eyes where erected to represent him as the guardian of the boundaries.
 In Africa, basically every cultural subgroup has its own version of crossroads god, their belief is that the spirit opens the way, guards the crossroads and teaches wisdom.
      In more modern times, the crossroads beliefs are still in effect but have changed slightly over the years with the emergence of new cultures, like Voodoo. In Voodoo, (conjure, rootwork and hoodoo) the African American magical spirituality, they say that in order to achieve various skills one should attend a crossroads at midnight.. you shall be greeted by a large 'black man' (some call the devil) and he will bestow upon you your chosen desires in trade for your immortal soul.
     This is what is said Robert Johnson did, it is supposed at the crossroads that intersects highway 61 and highway 49, although Son House the blues musician who knew Johnson has said that it was in fact in Rosedale where the crossroads intersect highway 8, with highway 1... I trust in Son House's knowledge and believe it was in Rosedale.

In Europe there is also a lot of old folklore involving crossroads and demons, mainly in pagan belief.. and I actually have managed to source a Grimm's Fairy Tale given in full on the internet, that explains the Germanic belief about becoming the Devil's servant and also bears reference to musical ability!
http://www.grimmstories.com/en/grimm_fairy-tales/the_devils_sooty_brother

Non-Narrative Brief - Packaging Ideas.

Packaging

So, for the brief the first challenge I have come to is packaging. I have been asked to produce professionally presented packaging for a CD or 12" vinyl, I have decided on the 12" vinyl.
 I came to this decision pretty much as soon as I had decided to choose Robert Johnson for my brief. My reasons for this are simple;
          *Robert Johnson was alive from 1911-1936, there was only vinyl then and his first album was released on mono LP.
          * I am a massive blues fan and play a little myself. I believe that with the perfect match of rustic, delta, slide blues on acoustic guitar, accompanied with Robert's shrill and haunting voice, all played through the cackle of vinyl on a turntable.. it would be a great dishonour to choose a format (CD) that to me would let down the authentic sound and also represents the basic opposite of Robert Johnson's message.

So... To help me get started with ideas on planning my vinyl sleeve...I started with a basic mind map on paper, listing some buzzwords I felt would guide me in the right direction, and then branched them off into there own separate categories with there own associated words.. These are the words I started with, with the associated words I came to, to keep in mind when planning my composition.

(sorry that was a mouthful)

DEVIL
satan, evil, deceitful, scary, powerful

CROSSROADS
(pick one of the two possible crossroads to work from, if deciding to draw crossroads)

COTTON FIELDS
white, vast, field clothes, workers, slavery

GUITAR
gibson L1, old, tatty

BLUES
cool, honest, sad, historical reference

WHITE/BLACK DIVIDE
racism, mobs, plantations, slavery, linching, hangings

MISSISSIPPI
floods, river, deep south, flatland

SOUL SELLING
gives soul for gift of musical ability, midnight, trade, immortal soul, satan

DEATH OF WIFE IN CHILDBIRTH
sorrow, utter dispair, life changing moment that lead to decision to become travelling musician

After this, I then jotted down all of my associated words (shown above in softer font) separately and wrote down some associative words for them, I then went back through them and circled all the ones I felt were going to best help me when creating a composition for my piece.

these were;

*Deep south
(colours, attitude, culture)

*River
(wide, important,floods)

*Racism
(it was basically horrible back then)

*Plantations
(slavery, low wages, poverty clashing with wealth)

*Dispair
(sadness, depression)

*Sorrow
(can be represented with colour)

*Soul trade
(desperation, awesome)

*Satan
(awesome power, deceit, symbolism)

*Evil/Scary
(colours, imagery, symbolism)

*Midnight
(dark, moon, stars, colours)

*Gibson
(gibson L1 flattop, tattered, old)

*Vast
(open flat land, horizon)

*Workers
(black, poor, hardworking, under-appreciated)

*Field clothes
(rough spun, tatty, hats)

I know have an organised and categorised abundance of buzzwords to refer to and help me. I can now research all of the elements I wish to express with finer detail, I will grant myself the ability to achieve a higher level of authenticity with the piece, and hopefully will create a well grounded believable composition to flow through my project.

King of the Delta Blues Singers - Robert Johnson

King of the Delta Blues Singers - Robert Johnson

I'm currently listening to the chosen album for my brief, Robert Johnson's - King of the Delta Blues Singers >>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3TdJmkv9lyI

Whilst listening to the album, probably over and over again till the day is done... I'm going to use this time to search the internet for some research on Robert and the actual album itself, I'm going to watch documentaries, read an abundance of articles and compare them till I come out with some general basic true life journey of Johnson, (as most of his history is lost and has been pieced together by people who knew him, and knew of him). Once I've squeezed enough juice out of my internet lemon, I'll make an organised lemonade from it and move onto the library for some book history.

"The thing about Robert Johnson was that he only existed on his records. He was pure legend."

—Martin Scorsese, Love In Vain: A Vision of Robert Johnson

The Album (A Brief bit of Info)
KOTDBS* (king of the delta blues singers)

The album was released in 1961 by Columbia Records as a mono LP. At the time of the release very little was known about Robert Johnson's life, and the only two known photographs of him where not found until over ten years later in 1973. The cover painting on the album depicts a faceless musician in field clothes playing a guitar.
 King of the Delta Blues was reissued on September 15, 1998 by the Legacy Records label of the Sony Corporation, with a new discovered alternate take on "Traveling Riverside Blues" as a bonus track.
 The Wall Street Journal wrote that "when this album king of the delta blues singers made its delated way to England in the mid 1960's, it energised a generation of musicians". And it really did, Eric clapton has said that KOTDBS* and its second volume, where of huge importance as early inspiration in his music career. In 1980, it was the first album to be inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame.


Tracklist:
Side 1

1.	November 27, 1936	unreleased alternate take	1961	Cross Road Blues	2:29
2.	November 23, 1936	Vocalion 3416	1937	Terraplane Blues	3:01
3.	November 23, 1936	unreleased alternate take	1961	Come On in My Kitchen	2:52
4.	November 27, 1936	Vocalion 3601	1937	Walkin' Blues	2:30
5.	November 27, 1936	Vocalion 3445	1937	Last Fair Deal Gone Down	2:39
6.	November 26, 1936	Vocalion 3445	1937	32-20 Blues	2:50
7.	November 23, 1936	Vocalion 3416	1937	Kind Hearted Woman Blues	2:51
8.	November 27, 1936	previously unreleased	1961	If I Had Possession Over Judgement Day	2:36

Side 2

1.	November 27, 1936	Vocalion 4630	1939	Preachin' Blues	2:52
2.	November 23, 1936	previously unreleased	1961	When You Got a Good Friend	2:56
3.	November 23, 1936	unreleased alternate take	1961	Ramblin' On My Mind	2:52
4.	June 19, 1937	Vocalion 3723	1937	Stones in My Passway	2:28
5.	June 20, 1937	previously unreleased	1961	Traveling Riverside Blues	2:47
6.	June 20, 1937	unreleased alternate take	1961	Milkcow's Calf Blues	2:17
7.	June 20, 1937	unreleased alternate take	1961	Me and the Devil Blues	2:34
8.	June 20, 1937	Vocalion 3623	1937	Hellhound on My Trail	2:37

Robert Johnson- A little background knowledge

Robert Johnson, May 8 1911- Aug 16 1938. (Speculated dates) 

Robert Johnson was born in Hazlehurst Mississipi to Julia Major Dodds and Noah Johnson.
  Julia's husband Charles Dodds had had a dispute with white land owners and was forced by a mob to leave Hazlehurst. After around two years Robert was sent to live in Memphis with Julia's husband who had changed his name to Charles Spencer.
 Circa 1919 Robert rejoined his mother in the delta area near Robinsonville. After school Robert married 16 year old Virginia Travis in Feb 29. Virginia died in childbirth shortly after, surviving relatives of Virginia said that this was a divine punishment for his decision to sing secular music.
  Around this time, Son House (a fantastic and world renowned blues musician) moved to Robinsonville to be close to his musical partner Willie Brown. House remembered Johnson as a boy and recalled he was embarrassingly bad on the guitar.
 Not long after this, Johnson left for Martinsville close to his birthplace in Hazlehurst possibly in search of his natural father. The next time Johnson appeared in Robinsonville it seemed he has somehow acquired miraculous guitar playing skills and techniques that people had never seen or heard before. It is said this is because Robert Johnson had sold his soul to satan at one of two possible crossroads I have narrowed down from many. (lots of people say it was at a lot of different crossroads, I have narrowed it down by reading where the most likely people to know have said.).
   While living in Martinsville, Johnson fathered a child with Vergie Smith. He also married Caletta Craft in May 1931, in 32 they moved to Clarkside in the Delta. Here Caletta died in childbirth and Johnson left to pursue his career as a walking (travelling) musician.
    From 1932 until his death on Aug 16 1938, Johnson moved from town to town between cities like Memphis and Helena and all the surrounding areas in Tennessee and Arkansas, sometimes travelling even further to places like Chicago, Texas and New York.
  He recorded 29 songs between 1936-37 for the American Record Corporation, which released 11 78rpm records on their Vocalian Label, and one after his death.
   He is known as the King of Delta Blues and his music has inspired and continues to inspire musician and blues fans today, some notable musicians that sing the praises of Johnson and also recorded some of his songs are Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton and the Allman Brothers.
   Johnson died on Aug 16 in 1938 making him the third member of the 27 club after Alexandre Levy and Louis Chauvin. Although the cause of his death is unknown, as is the location of his true grave, it is speculated that Johnson was flirting with a married woman at a local dance whilst staying with friends near Greenwood, Mississippi. One opinion is that Johnson was offered a Poisoned bottle of whiskey by the woman's husband, which he accepted, drank.. and fell ill dying three days later.
Another opinion is that the poison expected to have been used would of killed him much sooner than he died.. and on his death certificate it is written that he may have died of Syphilis.

This knowledge is a mixture of mostly, things I already knew having being interested with Johnson for a few years.. and information from the RobertJohnson foundation website.

Level 5 HE Assignment Brief - Illustration Concepts for Commercial Audiences - Non-Narrative Illustraion

For this brief I have to choose a musical artist from a list given by our tutors, and through a self initiated 'concept' I have to represent the music and the artist.
I have to research the artist, album and market and build my own conceptual ideas around my analysis and solutions.
      (research my chosen artist thoroughly, build my own conceptual ideas around them and discuss how my outcomes and processes relate to my chosen artist)

I must document and evaluate personal progression and evidence of theoretical enquiry, technical skills development and commercial viability.
      (basically, document and explain my progression of how my processes change and improve for this specific brief, also explaining and documenting my research into the specific subject.. and explain how it commercially viable in a modern market?... I think..)

This must all be supported by a final conclusion and description of my overriding concept in my journal.
    (so a written final conclusion is needed to explain my overall concept and the journey that brought me to it.. on my blog)

The artist and album I have chosen for this brief is: Robert Johnson - King of the Delta Blues.
(I chose this because I am a huge fan of Johnson, his music and his mysterious life has fascinated me for years. I will not struggle to keep inspired, I will stay passionate and enjoy this brief!)

I have been asked to produce ONE of each of the following:

PACKAGING.
CD
or
12"Vinyl.
(likely to go for vinyl because it is more suited to Johnson's era)

EDITORIAL ILLUSTRATION
Fashion Editorial
or
Interview Editorial
(more likely to pursue the fashion challenge as Robert Johnson is pretty dead, so an interview editorial will be difficult as there where no recorded interviews with him.)

A PRODUCT
Apparel
Home wear
Ceramics
Greetings card
Stationary
Toy
(not sure where to go with this, will put much thought into it..apparel is sticking out to me at the moment because vintage style dress is somewhat in fashion and i can imagine a modern take on 1920-30's delta dress style... but yeah not sure..i'll put more thought into it)

ADVERTISING
A poster
This must be in digital and printed formats.
(looking forward to this, I would like to screen print my poster.. as it is something I have had no practise or experience with as of yet, though I know of its uses and importance in the industry and believe that screen printing is going to be 'right down my alley'.)