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   Before the Devil Knows You're Dead"
 $20 ($5 goes to Hugs and Hope)

The album's intro is a monologue from the viewpoint of a guitarist who claims to have seen the devil. This idea is based on the story of Blues legend Robert Johnson, who has been called the greatest guitarist of all time and the most important blues singer who ever lived. Johnson's shadowy and poorly documented life and death at age 27 is shrouded in mystery. In fact, only two photographs of him are known to exist.

Johnson, who lived on a plantation in rural Mississippi, claimed that he met the devil at a crossroad near Clarksdale. He said he promised the devil his soul in exchange for unsurpassed talent to create the greatest blues anyone had ever heard. Overnight, Johnson achieved great success and fame. His landmark recordings from 1936–1937 displayed a remarkable talent, which has influenced generations of musicians; but Johnson's career was short lived and he was dead within a year.

Johnson told people he practiced each night in a graveyard, so no one would disturb him. And it was there that he had frequent arguments with the devil, who was eager to collect Johnson's soul as payment for the talent bestowed upon him.

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Click to read review from Blues Underground

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