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“He blew me away!” That’s the most common statement I hear from fans of Richard Johnston, and it’s a pretty fair description of my first impression when I saw him perform at a blues festival. Richard doesn’t have an off switch. There is no slow speed. He runs pedal-to-the-metal all the time! He had everybody tapping their feet and clapping their hands. Jaws dropped in amazement. Some people just stared with their mouths open while others jumped up and danced as if they were possessed. It’s a hypnotic experience, and I’ve found that some of his fans liken it to a religious experience… a great revelation. I bought a CD and took it home. I couldn’t stop listening. I’ve found that this, too, is a common reaction from fans. His music is addictive. I visited his web site, read about him, and signed up for his mailing list. I had to see him in action again. When he came to play at a nightclub nearby, I went. We chatted briefly during a break. “What a nice guy,” I thought. “Very intense, but really nice.” I kept listening to the CD and I went to see him again. Another nightclub, another break, and he remembered me. “Richard, I’m a documentary director,” I blurted. “I think you have an interesting story to tell.” “What me?” he smiled. “I don’t think there’s much to tell about me. You should tell the story of Eli Green.” Now, I like Hill Country blues. Richard had been my introduction, but my CD collection had by now expanded to include R. L. Burnside, Jessie Mae Hemphill, Junior Kimbrough, Ranie Burnette, and Mississippi Fred McDowell. Richard does songs by all of them, but who is, or who was, Eli Green? In the dim light of that nightclub, Richard told me about the voodoo master of north Mississippi who was also a musician and mentor to Mississippi Fred McDowell and Junior Kimbrough. He said that the old folks turn pale and look scared when you ask them about Eli Green. "Umm, that's fascinating, Richard, but the guy's long dead. If people are scared to talk about him already, they’re not gonna like having cameras pointed at them,” I reasoned. "But I could work that into a documentary about you.” And with that I embarked on a two year adventure. We shot Richard in three Alabama nightclubs and on Beale Street. We followed him through the backwoods of Mississippi visiting blues music icons and just plain folks. They all smiled from ear to ear when they saw Richard. We recorded Richard in a juke joint where moonshine flowed freely and people cheered him on with shouts of “Let’s go Rick!” and “Don’t make me do it!” Everywhere we went, people exclaimed, “He blew me away!” That sums it up. This guy really is amazing. Return to "In Depth" a documentary by Max Shores |