Nobody’s Fault But Mine – Tracing a significant date in music history from a blues and gospel legend to one of the best drummers ever. #MusicisLife #TedTocksCovers #LedZeppelin #BlindWillieJohnson #JohnRenbourn #PaulButterfieldBluesBand #NinaSimone #BlindBoysofAlabama #LucindaWilliams #RyCooder #JohnBonham #JimmyPage #RobertPlant

Today is a significant day in music history. I will get you there eventually, but the story begins all the way back in December of 1927. Read along, because this is an interesting journey. Like so many of my favourite posts, it all begins with the blues and a touch of gospel.

Imagine being blinded at the age of seven and spending the rest of your life thinking that your fate was specifically connected to a lack of faith. You then live as a tortured soul in an unending servitude to the bible and the teachings within. All the while, pointing to the fact you are unfailingly devoted. This is the beginning of the story of Blind Willie Johnson. Willie Johnson was born in Pendleton, Texas and raised in the nearby community of Marlin. His father, George was a sharecropper and his mother, Mary died when the young boy was only four. For the Johnson family, the Marlin Missionary Baptist Church was the central focus of their world. It had such an impact that it led to the young boy’s desire to become a Baptist minister. Closely aligned with his religious upbringing was a love of music. So much so, that at the age of five young Willie received a cigar box guitar from his father. The foundation of Johnson’s life was laid. Religion and music. The defining moment occurred at the age of seven when internal strife within the Johnson home turned horrific. George Johnson had remarried, and evidently, he did not choose wisely. It seems Willie’s stepmother was not faithful to his father and when he approached her on this matter she threw a quantity of lye water solution toward her accuser. She missed Geoge Johnson, but it splashed square in the face of the innocent Willie. He was left blinded.

As noted, he was also resolute to the teachings of Jesus Christ. Later in life, much of his servitude was captured in the lyrics of his songs. Thankfully they were captured in five recording sessions between 1927 and 1930. Today’s feature was recorded in Dallas, Texas on December 3, 1927. Here are the lyrics which speak wholeheartedly to his religious servitude.

Nobody’s fault but mine,
nobody’s fault but mine
If I don’t read it my soul be lost
I have a bible in my home,
I have a bible in my home
If I don’t read it my soul be lost
Mmm, father he taught me how to read,
father he taught me how to read
If I don’t read it my soul be lost, nobody’s fault but mine
Ah, Lord, Lord, nobody’s fault but mine
If I don’t read it my soul be lost
Ah, I have a bible of my own,
I have a bible of my own
If I don’t read it my soul be lost
Oh, mother she taught me how to read,
mother she taught me how to read
If I don’t read it my soul be lost, nobody’s fault but mine
Ah, Lord, Lord, nobody’s fault but mine
If I don’t read it my soul be lost
And sister she taught me how to read,
sister she taught me how to read
If I don’t read it my soul be lost, nobody’s fault but mine
Ah, mmm, Lord, Lord, nobody’s fault but mine
If I don’t read it my soul’d be lost, mmm”

Blind Willie Johnson

Blind Willie Johnson was paid $50 per usable side for this recording session that resulted in six tracks. One of them being ‘It’s Nobody’s Fault But Mine’.

In a story that is too often told, Blind Willie Johnson died in relative obscurity as far as his music was concerned. His final recording session coincided with the early days of the Great Depression and as a result of greater societal need there was not much of a demand. In addition to operating the House of Prayer in Beaumont, Texas, Johnson did continue to perform his unique rendition of guitar and vocals, connecting his music to Christ’s teachings. Based on the tracings of musical historians it is apparent that Johnson’s house was severely damaged in a fire in 1945. Unfortunately, he had nowhere else to go so he continued to live in the destroyed dwelling. Residing in these poor living conditions resulted in his catching malarial fever. His widow, Angeline Johnson suggested in an interview that he was not admitted into area hospitals because he was blind, or perhaps because he was black. His condition continued to decline, and he died in September of 1945. Blind Willie Johnson was buried in an unmarked grave in Blanchette, Texas. Thanks to the efforts of Shane Ford and Anna Obek, clues ascertaining Blind Willie Johnson’s final resting place were traced between 2007 and 2010 and a fund was created in order to create a monument. Here is the fascinating story of the work Ford and Obek put in to ensure that Blind Willie Johnson was properly remembered.

https://www.newswire.com/blind-willie-johnson-historical/24786

To many, the version of ‘Nobody’s Fault But Mine’ that Led Zeppelin recorded on their 1976 album ‘Presence’ was an homage to Blind Willie Johnson, but it may have been the 1966 version by English guitarist and songwriter John Renbourn that first captured the interest of Jimmy Page and Robert Plant. Here is the Renbourn version with Jacque McShee on vocals.

One thing is very clear. It all started with Blind Willie Johnson. The line of great covers is lengthy. Like many Ted Tocks Covers features, it took me on an incredible journey of great musicians and phenomenal interpretations. My biggest challenge was knowing where to start and when to stop.

Check out the legendary Paul Butterfield Blues Band live from the Winterland Ballroom in 1973. This scales it right down to a blues march. Another strong offering by this blues legend who also died way too young. He was only 44. Listen to Butterfield’s harmonica. There are few better, in the history of music.

Here is the magnificent Nina Simone and her stunning version that sounds like a confession. The combination of Simone’s beautiful voice and the accompanying piano is just astounding. So good.

While considering the many powerful versions of ‘Nobody’s Fault But Mine’ the Blind Boys of Alabama reached out and grabbed me with this heartfelt recording from 2001. They summon the spirits.

Trust Lucinda Williams to provide a recording that resides as a contender for the definitive salute to Blind Willie Johnson. Here is her version of ‘It’s Nobody’s Fault But Mine’ from the critically acclaimed and Grammy nominated 2016 release ‘God Don’t Never Change: The Songs of Blind Willie Johnson’. Definitely listen to this version and if you like what you hear, check out the rest of the album that features recordings by Tom Waits, Derek Trucks and Susan Tedeschi, Cowboy Junkies, Sinead O’Connor and Ricki Lee Jones, just to name a few.

In 2018, the great Ry Cooder released his album called ‘Prodigal Son’ which actually included two Blind Willie Johnson cover versions. The first was ‘Everybody Ought to Treat a Stranger Right’ and this haunting rendition of ‘Nobody’s Fault But Mine’. Wow! This is delivered like a man’s dying proclamation complete with some modified verses.

By the time Led Zeppelin recorded and released their version of ‘Nobody’s Fault But Mine’ in 1976 their blues influence was clearly established. The homage to their roots was obvious, but they opted to modify the lyrics to create a more secular notion. The result is a call and response style performance that sounds like a man who has lived a life of regret.

Oh, nobody’s fault but mine
Nobody’s fault but mine
Trying to save my soul tonight

Oh, it’s nobody’s fault but mine

Devil. He taught me to roll
Devil. He taught me to roll
How to roll the lot you like

Nobody’s fault but mine
Oh, oh, oh, oh

Brother. He showed me the gong
Brother. He showed me the ding dong ding dong
How to kick that gong to light

Oh, it’s nobody’s fault but mine

Got a monkey on my back
M-m-m-m-monkey on my back, back, back, back
Gonna change my ways tonight

Nobody’s fault but mine

How to kick that gong to light
N-n-n-n-n-no, nobody’s fault”

Robert Plant

Here is a classic Led Zeppelin live version from the superlative 1979 concert recording at Knebworth.  As always, the combination of Robert Plant’s vocal prowess and the Zeppelin musicianship takes the listener on a magical trip.

This all leads to the significance of this day in Led Zeppelin history. It was on July 7, 1980 that the quartet of Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Paul Jones and John Bonham last played together live. The venue was Eissporthalle, West Berlin. It was the final gig of their European tour. ‘Nobody’s Fault But Mine’ was the second song on the setlist that opened with ‘Train Kept a Rollin’. Their encore on that evening was ‘Rock and Roll’ a song that paid tribute to their musical roots and an epic 17 minute rendition of their hit ‘Whole Lotta Love’ that existed as an homage to Willie Dixon and their love of the blues. To the final note, Led Zeppelin made sure their audience knew about the musicians who blazed the trail that allowed for their greatness.

I struggled to figure out the best way to close today’s post. After watching and listening to several performances of ‘(It’s) Nobody’s Fault But Mine’ I gravitated to this 1994 release by Jimmy Page and Robert Plant from their 1994 release ‘No Quarter’ This video is taken on a slag heap in Snowdonia, North Wales. There really are no words to describe how good this is.

It’s hard to imagine that it was almost 94 years ago that ‘Nobody’s Fault But Mine’ was first recorded. Its significance lies in a true ability to transcend musical genres yet still exist as a vital recording no matter what the era and no matter who released it as part of their repertoire. From gospel to blues and folk to rock and back again. Every version is a direct tribute to Blind Willie Johnson, a man who had no idea at the time he was literally laying the framework for generations of musicians to ‘kick that gong to light’.