A Newly Discovered Recording Lets You Hear Delta Blues Legend Robert Johnson in Stunning Clarity https://www.openculture.com/2026/04/recording-lets-you-hear-delta-blues-legend-robert-johnson-in-stunning-clarity.html
"... Some of that had to do with the less-than-ideal quality of the recordings that have long circulated, but this test pressing of Johnson’s second take sounds different. Uploaded by sound restorer Nick Dellow, it was originally made in 1940 straight from the metal master by Columbia Records producer George Avakian, who would go on to work with everyone from Miles Davis to Edith Piaf to John Cage. The sonic muddiness of most Robert Johnson releases thus far has done its part to prevent modern-day listeners from getting quite what the big deal was about him. But perhaps the unprecedented clarity of this recording will get the hair of young musicians and mature connoisseurs alike standing on end. ..."
Too bad it'll be another 10 years till it reaches public domain.
I was going to say that if it was written by Robert Johnson, it would be in the public domain in Canada.
I think I was partially wrong in that. For unpublished works, copyright in the performance is at least 100 years. The composition itself would be in the public domain (life + 50 years).
@artisan-radio Am I misunderstanding something? In US only pre-1931 is PD.
"it was originally made in 1940 straight from the metal master by Columbia Records producer George Avakian"
Nevermind, I misinterpreted what you said. I didn't realize that all his recordings all within in a years time, I'm more familiar with the legend of Robert Johnson then I am of his history, but I am a fan of delta blues, some of it anyway.
"...All such recordings date from 1936 or 1937, the fruits of just two sessions in makeshift Texas studios overseen by producer Don Law. Though the “king of the Delta blues singers” left behind only this small body of work after his still-unexplained death at the age of 27,..."
Can't seem to find an mp3 of it and not sure how to rip it from the YouTube video
@richpowers Get a youtube video to MP3 downloader. Lots, even ones where you don't need to download anything. Follow the instructions and it puts it into your downloads and then you can transfer it to documents and then you have a copy that can go right on to your playlist. But I don't know how many will work with a phone(android).
Now you know where the band Cream got the song from!
@mark I've tried that, doesn't work. I could get the pro YouTube plan and do it, but I have no interest in doing so.
Now you know where the band Cream got the song from!
Yeah, apparently it's not that rare for major artist to record vintage songs, for example Nirvana's major hit of of the 1887 song "Black Girl" comes to mind
My version:
Black Girl (1887)
https://suno.com/s/D9m1ZfvaOyoMRv9G
Just for the sake of mention, noticed another one posted recently, this one of his "Come on into my kitchen" take 1:
"...all of them made between 1936 and 1937 in less-than-ideal studio conditions even for the time, leave something to be desired in the audio quality department. But now, some 90 years later, sound restorer Nick Dellow has been uploading relatively crisp digitized “test pressings” of Johnson’s songs to YouTube: last month, for example, we featured one of “Cross Road Blues” here on Open Culture.
In the video above, you’ll find a similarly higher-quality version of “Come On in My Kitchen,”...
Incidentally, I notice you can download a related discography on Internet Archive. Robert Johnson Crossroad The Legendary Recordings ( Remastered) but it doesn't list what songs and it's a single hour long mp3 . It's not the same as restorer Nick Dellow has been uploading lately but it's the same songs and the quality is still pretty good for what it is: https://archive.org/details/robert-johnson-crossroad-the-legendary-recordings-remastered
This article is over ten years ago but it's it's an interesting tidbit:
Blues Law: Robert Johnson vs. the Rolling Stones https://www.americanbluesscene.com/2013/05/blues-law-robert-johnson-vs-the-rolling-stones/
"....When the Rolling Stones recorded their versions of “Love in Vain” in 1969 (Let It Bleed), and “Stop Breakin’ Down” in 1972 (Exile on Main Street), their publishing company, ABKCO Music, assumed that the two songs had already entered the public domain. At some point, presumably in the late 1980’s- early 1990’s, Steve LaVere and his publishing company, Delta Haze, had negotiated with Robert Johnson’s Estate to administer the copyrights to the music. Following the 1990 CD release of the “Robert Johnson – the Complete Recordings”, LaVere registered the copyrights.
After attempts to negotiate with ABKCO, LaVere filed a lawsuit in 1995 arguing that the songs were not in the public domain, ... .. ... Possibly the most interesting aspect of this case, is that by ruling against the Rolling Stones, the Ninth Circuit Court would be overturning the La Cienega case (the famous John Lee Hooker/ Z.Z. Top case), which is exactly what the court did. ... the District Court and stated that judgment be entered in favor of Delta Haze and the Robert Johnson estate. It is unclear what the final amount owed to Delta Haze and the estate was, as they may have settled out of court, however, one thing is certain: the “World’s Greatest Rock ‘n’ Roll Band” paid a lot more than tribute to the “King of the Delta Blues Singers”. ... .."
https://www.americanbluesscene.com/2013/05/blues-law-robert-johnson-vs-the-rolling-stones/
@richpowers You see how complicated this public domain is? It's too bad that Robert Johnson never lived to see all the money he could have made when the Stones and the other British bands redid his songs, and idolized the American blues people. Where do you think Cream got their hit Crossroads from! The Animals got House of the rising sun from, the Stones got all their early hits from,....the list is endless. Wonder if they were public domain? What about Black Betty by Ram Jam? I don't think we have any idea how many lawsuits there were, or weren't.
@mark Interesting that Clapton's Cross Road Blues was actually a mashup of two of Johnson's songs; "Cross Road" and "Traveling Riverside Blues".
The Ringing Sun and Black Betty songs both go back centuries, so yes those two were probably always public domain but neither were Robert Johnson songs.
I kind of doubt Robert Johnson would even be so well known today had not early rockers hadn't of covered his songs (that's my assumption)
@richpowers When the levy breaks....Led Zeppelin? No again a Leadbelly song. They just changed the style a bit. It goes on and on. None of these blues people would be known if not for the British bands led by the stones. I loved it that that's what these bands were doing.
By the way you meant Rising Sun, not ringing sun, correct?
@mark You seemed to say The Animals got House of the Rising Sun from Robert Johnson, but the song goes way back, I don't know if Johnson did it or not, but the song is much older.. I forget now but previously looked it up for DJ script, and it goes back to the UK in the 1800s I think.
OH!!
I see now that I misspelled it! Yeas, I meant Riding Sun.
Damn. Try again.
Rising Sun.