81 Faust (aka The Devil Went Down to Germany)

The History of Literature

Jacke Wilson

Arts, History, Books

4.6 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 24 February 2017

⏱️ 53 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Have you ever wanted something so badly you’d sell your soul to get it? Youth? Wealth? Sex? Power? Knowledge? We call it making a deal with the devil, or in more literary terms, a Faustian bargain. But who was Faust? How did his tale first get told? How was his legend advanced, and what great works did he inspire? In this special episode of The History of Literature, we look at the historical Faust and dig into the literary myth of Faustian bargains, from Icarus and the Temptations of Christ, through Christopher Marlowe and Goethe, all the way to bluesman Robert Johnson and his legendary trip to the Crossroads. FREE GIFT! Write a review on iTunes (or another site), then send us an email at jackewilsonauthor@gmail.com to receive your free History of Literature card as a thank you gift. Act now while supplies last! Show Notes: Contact the host at jackewilsonauthor@gmail.com or by leaving a voicemail at 1-361-4WILSON (1-361-494-5766). You can find more literary discussion at jackewilson.com and more episodes of the series at historyofliterature.com. Check out our Facebook page at facebook.com/historyofliterature. You can follow Jacke Wilson at his Twitter account @WriterJacke. You can also follow Mike and the Literature Supporters Club (and receive daily book recommendations) by looking for @literatureSC. Music Credits: “Handel – Entrance to the Queen of Sheba” by Advent Chamber Orchestra (From the Free Music Archive / CC by SA). “Cross Road Blues” by Robert Johnson “NewsSting” and “Dragon and Toast” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0. *** This show is a part of the Podglomerate network, a company that produces, distributes, and monetizes podcasts. We encourage you to visit the website and sign up for our newsletter for more information about our shows, launches, and events. For more information on how The Podglomerate treats data, please see our Privacy Policy. Since you're listening to The History of Literature, we'd like to suggest you also try other Podglomerate shows surrounding literature, history, and storytelling like Storybound, Micheaux Mission, and The History of Standup. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	The History of Literature Podcast is a member of the Podglamorate Network and LIT Hub Radio.
0:15.0	I went to the close road and I'm on on my knee.
0:21.0	I went to the close road
0:39.0	well down on my knee. We're listening to Robert Johnson, the legendary blues guitarist. A true pioneer. Nobody played guitar and sang like this before Robert Johnson, at least as far as we know. This recording is from 1936.
0:49.0	Here's what Bob Dylan wrote about Robert Johnson.
0:52.0	Quote, when Johnson started singing,
0:54.2	he seemed like a guy who could have sprung
0:56.6	from the head of Zeus in full armor.
0:59.7	I immediately differentiated between him
1:02.0	and anyone else I had ever heard.
1:04.0	His songs weren't customary blues songs.
1:07.0	They were so utterly fluid.
1:09.0	At first they went by quick, too quick to even get.
1:12.0	They jumped all over the place in range and subject matter, short punchy
1:16.1	verses that resulted in some panoramic story fires of mankind blasting off the surface of the spinning piece of plastic."
1:25.0	End quote.
1:27.0	Eric Clapton said that hearing Robert Johnson playing the blues changed his life.
1:32.0	And Keith Richards said that when he first heard
1:34.8	Robert Johnson he asked who's the other guy playing with him. He thought there were
1:39.7	two guitars. It was indeed one guitar, but maybe there was another figure. Only maybe that figure
1:49.7	wasn't a human.
1:52.7	As legend has it, Robert Johnson was not always so great.
	...

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