Blues Musicians’ Graves
Robert Johnson is one of the most influential musicians in blues history, but much of his life is still a mystery to researchers.
The exact location of Robert Johnson’s grave is a matter of dispute, as are many other details of Robert Johnson’s life. There are three reputed Robert Johnson grave sites in Mississippi: this one at Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church in Morgan City, one nearby at the Payne Chapel Missionary Baptist Church in Quito and the third at Little Zion Missionary Baptist Church near Money, Mississippi. All three reputed Robert Johnson gravesites are in Leflore County.
The evidence for this Morgan City location being the actual site of Robert Johnson’s grave comes from the research of Mack McCormick, based largely on interviews with Johnny Shines and David “Honeyboy” Edwards, both of whom knew, and played with, Robert Johnson.
Unfortunately, Mack McMormick never published a book detailing his extensive research so much of what is known of McCormick’s research comes from citations in the work of other writers. Peter Guralnick‘s 1982 book, Searching For Robert Johnson, summarizes McCormick’s research on Robert Johnson’s gravesite as:
“…..Robert Johnson lay dying for several days, and toward the end he wrote something on a piece of paper. He was buried in the graveyard of a small church near Morgan City, outside of Greenwood, in an unmarked grave; “You may bury my body, ” he had sung, “down by the highway side/ So my old evil spirit can catch a Greyhound bus and ride.”
Peter Guralnick doesn’t specify what the “something” that Robert Johnson wrote “on a piece of paper” while on his deathbed actually was. He implies that it was the lines, “You may bury my body down by the highway side, So my old evil spirit can catch a Greyhound bus and ride.” But those lines come from the last verse of Robert Johnson’s “Me And The Devil Blues“:
“You may bury my body, down by the highway side,
Baby, I don’t care where you bury my body when I’m dead and gone,
You may bury my body, ooh, down by the highway side,
So my old evil spirit, can catch a Greyhound bus and ride.”
The gravestone on the reputed Robert Johnson grave at Little Zion Missionary Baptist Church, south of Money, Mississippi, indicates that the lines Robert Johnson wrote shortly before his death were: “Jesus of Nazareth, King of Jerusalem, I know that my Redeemer liveth and that He will call me from the Grave.”
Perhaps this is indicative of the many conflicting stories around the enigmatic life of Robert Johnson.
The monument on this reputed Robert Johnson gravesite (see photos below. also see Little Zion Missionary Baptist Church and Payne Chapel Missionary Baptist Church) is an obelisk with inscriptions on each of its four sides. The marker was place by the Mt. Zion Memorial Fund and ZZ Top was instrumental in having this monument placed here. The inscriptions read as follows:
East facing side:
“ROBERT JOHNSON
‘KING OF THE DELTA BLUES SINGERS’
HIS MUSIC STRUCK A CHORD THAT CONTINUES TO RESONATE.
HIS BLUES ADDRESSED GENERATIONS
HE WOULD NEVER KNOW AND MADE POETRY OF
HIS VISIONS AND FEARS.”
North facing side:
” ‘YOU MAY BURY MY BODY DOWN BY THE HIGHWAY SIDE’
THIS MEMORIAL ERECTED APRIL 20, 1991 THROUGH THE GENEROSITY OF PEOPLE ACROSS AMERICA, WITH PROFOUND RESPECT AND APPRECIATION FOR THE PEOPLE AND CULTURE OF THE MISSISSIPPI DELTA.”
The quote comes from the last verse of Robert Johnson’s, “Me And The Devil Blues,” see above. The full verse is:
“You may bury my body, down by the highway side,
Baby, I don’t care where you bury my body when I’m dead and gone,
You may bury my body, ooh, down by the highway side,
So my old evil spirit, can catch a Greyhound bus and ride.”
The west facing side of the marker lists Robert Johnson’s recorded songs, in the following order: Love In Vain ; Cross Road Blues ; Terraplane Blues ; Come On In My Kitchen ; Rambling On My Mind ; I Believe I’ll Dust My Broom ; Kindhearted Woman Blues ; If I Had Possession Over Judgement Day ; Traveling Riverside Blues ; Walking Blues ; Stones In My Passway ; I’m A Steady Rollin’ Man ; Stop Breakin’ Down Blues ; Milkcow’s Calf Blues ; Malted Milk ; Preaching Blues ; From Four Till Late ; Dead Shrimp Blues ; Drunken Hearted Man ; Honeymoon Blues ; When You Got A Good Friend ; Sweet Home Chicago ; 32-20 Blues ; Little Queen Of Spades ; They’re Red Hot ; Phonograph Blues ; Hellhound On My Trail ; Me And The Devil Blues ; Last Fair Deal Gone Down.
The south facing side of the marker reads:
“Born in Hazlehurst, Copiah County. The recording career and brief transit of Robert Johnson left an enormous legacy to American music. Preserved for the ages by the Columbia Recording Company. The body of his work is considered to be among the most powerful of its kind. A haunting and lyrical portrait of the human spirit.”
We consider Robert Johnson’s Complete Recordings an essential component of any blues fan’s music collection. Our Recommendation is currently Robert Johnson – The Complete Recordings – Centennial Edition, released in 2011.
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