Robert Johnson Living In Memphis - Part 2 (11/24/2023)

I made a 10 minute trip from home to the place where Robert Johnson lived in Memphis, and wanted to share the photos as a follow-up.  Sadly, the second house behind the "big house" is now ashes.  I'd hoped there would be some sort of foundation so I could see the layout of the house, but there wasn't.  At least the big house is still there.

These next few photos look toward the ravene where the family would swim and play in the water.

This is the sight of Sister Carrie's house, the last place Robert Johnson performed in Memphis before his untimely death.  To the right are the train tracks that he used to go to and hop the trains to travel to Arkansas and Mississippi.

NOT Robert Johnson - The Fake Internet Photos

I wrote a letter to Robert Johnson's stepsister, Ms. Anderson, who, at this writing, is 96 years old and is author of the great book Brother Robert.  In that letter, I added a bunch of photos that circulate on the internet to get her opinion of them.

Are these photos Robert Johnson?  She stated, "There's only three known photos of Brother Robert left: the Hooks Brothers portrait, the photo booth portrait with the cigarette, and the photo I have which is on the cover of my book."

Photos shared are not copyrighted by me and you can look all that up on the internet.

There was one man who met with Robert's sister, Carrie, and took with him for a biography that never was written a photo of Robert Johnson with his nephew who was wearing a sailor uniform, it has since disappeared.  There may be a 5th photo according to one account; but, I don't have those details yet.

Robert Johnson has been claimed to be in the following photos and video screen captures; but, they are not him.  Either blues contemporaries have said it is not him, or bluesologists, people who claim to have known him.  Most importantly, his own sister has said, "These are definitely not him."

Nope.  Not Robert Johnson or the others listed.

Robert Johnson would have been about 5'10" tall by some accounts.

This guy is not Robert Johnson - the poster in the rear is from a movie in 1941, years after Johnson's death.  Plus, this guy isn't as sharp a dresser as Johnson would have been in public.

Once I have more information about some of these photos, I'll share that here.

The Robert Johnson Collection

It's easiest to compile all the posts into one to help others when seeking out the information (especially me!).  Click on the titles to visit the stories!  If I get more posts about Robert Johnson, I'll share those links below as well.

PLANNING THE TRIP - details about why the trip was necessary to me.

LEG 1 - Leaving and Living - Stopping at a few proposed "crossroads" and the Jim Henson Boyhood Museum.

LEG 3 and 2a - Emmett Till and Leaving Leland - I wanted to share Leg 3 first, about Emmitt Till because he deserved more story.  Then, I went back to share Leg 2a and the trip after leaving Leland.

LEG 2b - Dusty Roads and Headstones - visiting Charley Patton, Willie Foster, BB King, and Robert Johnson.

That marks the end of that trip.

ROBERT JOHNSON - Living in Memphis. 

This is the story about his life in Memphis and locating the houses where he lived at the time, based on the book Brother Robert by Ms. Annie Anderson, his sister.

Robert Johnson: Living in Memphis Pt. 2

 In a previous post, I talked about the houses where blues legend Robert Johnson lived with his sisters while in Memphis, TN.  Tonight (8/14/2020), Lisa and I did a drive-by - except I got out and walked around the property.

Our office secretary told me to be sure I go out there with someone because that's the kind of location where homeless people like to live.  Sometimes they may make spooky sounds hoping to run someone away, and if you don't go: they attack!

After I took the photo of the inside of the window, I turned around and nearly pooped.  Out of nowhere this old man was sitting on the steps of the back of the big house!  We exchanged some pleasantries, and I made haste out of there (ran like hell)!

Here are the photos of the property.  I want to go back sometime when it's earlier in the day, explore the interior of the 'rear house,' and hopefully have a policeman with me!

Robert and family originally lived at 285 E Georgia Avenue in the big house, then moved to the rear house, before moving around the corner to Hernando St.

Robert Johnson: Living in Memphis, TN

Having recently learned that Annye Anderson, 94-year-old sister of Robert Johnson, wrote a book about her "Brother Robert," I immediately jumped at the chance to purchase it.  It's available at Novel Book Store in Memphis, TN, as of this writing.  CLICK HERE to buy from them.

It was fun to realize she had the only fully-acknowledged third photo of Robert, which was taken as an alternate shot in a photo booth when this famous photo was taken:

The night before my 7/18 venture to the Mississippi Delta, my friend Lisa was at the house and I was thumbing through the book to see what photos were included, and I happened upon a postcard written to his sister Carrie Harris, and an address: 720 Hernando Street!  We decided:  FIELD TRIP!

We made our way out to the location to see the site of the address on the card only to find an empty lot.

It was after I got home, thumbed through the book, I realized there were two other houses around the corner where Robert Johnson and his sisters lived.  728 Hernando Street was the third house they lived in while in Memphis (the train bridge nearby is where Robert caught the train to travel).   The other houses were listed in the book, too:

291 E Georgia Avenue, Memphis, TN

The lot between two houses.

Which 291 E Georgia is just an empty lot now.  One other property she mentioned having moved to next is 285 E Georgia Ave , then they moved to the 'rear house' which is pointed out by the red arrow below.

With a close-up view of the property here:

This house still stands, behind it you can see the 'rear house.'

The 'rear house' popping up from behind trees.

So, I haven't made my way to this property - YET! - but, I hope to.  There are black and white photos in the book "Brother Robert" mentioned above; but, I'd like to get out there and take some color photos and just say 'I've been there.'
My true desire?  Wouldn't it be great to turn that house into a museum and to try and reconstruct the old place out back with a hired man to sit on the porch and play the blues as Johnson?  Do I know any investors??   I'd be dangerous if I could afford my genius!  :D

So, our full trip would be 291 E Georgia Street and 285/285 rear E Georgia Street, 728 Hernando St.

Hope this was fun for you.