OUGD603 - 27 Club - Research

The 27 Club has become one of the most elusive and remarkably tragic coincidences in rock & roll history. The term became widely known after Kurt Cobain's death in 1994, with rock fans connecting his age to that of Jim Morrison, Janis Joplin, Brian Jones and Jimi Hendrix – though it was notable to fans in the early 1970s when those four visionaries died within just two years of each other. When Amy Winehouse passed away at age 27 in 2011, it attracted even more attention to the significance of the age. While the club has been largely connected to musicians, it has expanded since, as many young actors and artists have lost their lives due to everything from addiction to suicide to freak accidents.

When looking through the long list of artists who died at the age of 27, plenty stood out for me for the obvious reasons. However, one particular name stood out for a reason that doesn't necessarily relate directly to the artist. That artist is Robert Johnson, who was an American blues singer-songwriter and musician who died in 1938. Although, I am aware of the artist and his importance to the blues genre, except when I see his name I think of the legendary techno nightclub in Germany named after him. I feel this answers a part of the brief that says ' Find some hidden gems', therefore my response for 27 Club will focus on Robert Johnson and his link to the club Robert Johnson in Offenbach, Germany.

Robert Johnson (Singer)

• Robert Leroy Johnson (May 8, 1911 – August 16, 1938) was an American blues singer-songwriter and musician.  Johnson's shadowy and poorly documented life and death at age 27 have given rise to much legend.

• One Faustian myth says that he sold his soul to the devil at a local crossroads of Mississippi highways to achieve success. As an itinerant performer who played mostly on street corners, in juke joints, and at Saturday night dances, Johnson had little commercial success or public recognition in his lifetime.

• After the reissue of his recordings in 1961, on the LP King of the Delta Blues Singers, his work reached a wider audience. Johnson is now recognized as a master of the blues, particularly of the Mississippi Delta blues style. 

• He is credited by many rock musicians as an important influence; the blues and rock musician Eric Clapton has called Johnson "the most important blues singer that ever lived."Johnson was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in its first induction ceremony, in 1986, as an early influence on rock and roll.

• Johnson was always attractive to women; as his prowess grew, he was the object of jealousy, from fellow musicians and jilted boyfriends and husbands. He often claimed that he learned to play guitar from the Devil himself, and many of his recordings evince a haunting, otherworldly inspiration.

In research I discovered his death remains a mystery to this day. He died on August 16, 1938, at the age of 27, near Greenwood, Mississippi, of unknown causes. However, several differing accounts have described the events preceding his death. Johnson had been playing for a few weeks at a country dance in a town about 15 miles from Greenwood. According to one theory, Johnson was murdered by the jealous husband of a woman with whom he had flirted. In an account by the blues musician Sonny Boy Williamson, Johnson had been flirting with a married woman at a dance, and she gave him a bottle of whiskey poisoned by her husband. When Johnson took the bottle, Williamson knocked it out of his hand, admonishing him to never drink from a bottle that he had not personally seen opened. Johnson replied, "Don't ever knock a bottle out of my hand." Soon after, he was offered another poisoned bottle and accepted it. Johnson is reported to have begun feeling ill the evening after and had to be helped back to his room in the early morning hours. Over the next three days his condition steadily worsened. Witnesses reported that he died in a convulsive state of severe pain.

Artworks related to Robert Johnson:
As Robert had a poorly documented life which meant little commercial success or public recognition. When looking for any artwork relating to the artist, this was apparent as he has next to nothing visually representing him.

Robert Johnson (Club)

Opened in 1999, Robert Johnson is central to a respected Frankfurt-area house and techno scene. Tucked away in Offenbach, near Frankfurt's city centre, its the last surviving club that connects the Frankfurt area to its rich electronic music heritage of the '90s, during which time the city was one of house and techno's global hotspots. It has been said Robert Johnson bridged US deep house and German house sensibilities, opening the door for minimal house. What many people today may associate with a Berlin sound was an extension of what was pioneered in Frankfurt. Robert Johnson made that happen.

Despite being named after blues musician Robert Johnson, techno and house is the agenda and played from both internationally renowned and locally-emerging DJs. It's a small, no-frills club in the Offenbach district which consistently delivers nights by concentrating on what’s important, the music. Simplicity is key and this is what makes it one of house and techno's most important clubs. It has unwittingly defined minimalism before the term took over the electronic music scene.

I was curious to know why the club is named after Robert Johnson and although I didn't find any concrete answers, I did find a few links:

"Named after the infamous dapper-dressed bluesman whose fiendish guitar playing and hedonistic ways — not to mention fabled satanic pact — made him the father of rock 'n' roll's long relationship with the dark side, Robert Johnson the club has plenty of that self-same ribald attitude."

In 2012 the club also released a book number 'Come into my kitchen' just like the song by Robert Johnson. That title was chosen because it always stuck around with the founder Ata, as back in the day Robert Johnson sang about the kitchen as a place where you'd meet with people, drink whiskey and dance. If you read his story and the story of the blues, you see that what they did back then wasn't too different from is happening in the club.