on, Skip James, Muddy Waters, Lonnie Johnson, Tommy Johnson, and Blind Willie McTell, among several others. Due to the number of prominent artists of the period, Robert’s music did not initially stand out. Yet as the years went on, and collectors began to gather the early blues of the twenties and thirties, Johnson’s music entered a new realm of respect. H. C. Speir, the white owner of a music shop in Jackson, scouted blues acts from the location of his store. Several of the greatest artists from this period began their exciting careers by taking a trip to the music store and auditioning for Speir, who obviously had quite an ear for blues music. "All the best performers from miles around would gather together by notices in the paper and word of mouth", describes skip James, a prominent blues artist of the time (Guralnick 33). Robert entered into the store himself in 1936 at the age of twenty five. Speir, working for the ARC label group, immediately passed the name of the young man onto Ernie Ortle, another talent scout for the label.Ortle was instantly impressed by the technique and style of Johnson and offered him a recording session in November in San Antonio, Texas. Suffering from a bad case of stage fright, Robert recorded the session facing toward the wall. This coincides with accounts from Robert’s friends Johnny Shines and Robert Lockwood, both of whom describe Johnson as being severely jealous over his technique, never quite willing to face an audience and allow them to view the magic of his fingers producing the music. It was almost as if Johnson had some dark secret to hide (which would coincide with the Devil theory).Robert recorded 16 tracks during the three day session. His first records sold about ten to twelve thousand copies that year yet all that Robert received was seventy-five to a hundred dollars. Robert’s "I Believe I’ll Dust My Broom", and "Sweet Home Chicago", became pos...
