Radio Topia

From PRX

You're listening to Radio Diaries, I'm Joe Richmond.

On November 23rd, 1936, two men sat down in front of a microphone and began to play.

These two men couldn't have been more different.

One was a cello prodigy who had performed before the Queen of Spain.

The other played guitar in the juke joints of the Mississippi Delta.

This is the sound of one of the world's greatest classical cellist, and probably the most legendary blues guitarist of all time, jamming together.

Of course, it didn't really happen.

Not like that anyway.

Pablo Casals and Robert Johnson were an ocean apart.

But on the same day in 1936, they both made recordings that would change music history. I first met Robert in 1936, same year he recorded. He wasn't famous at the time. Just a choir

man played guitar. My name is Honeyboy Edwards. I'm a guitar playing. I play the blues. Back in

them days on a Saturday night, everybody would go up at that roadhouse, read down 61 highway,

have music, have barbecue, white whiskey.

And we all started playing the blues together.

That old boy, show, could play a guitar.

Ooh, baby, in my district.

My name is Bernard Greenhouse. I'm a cellist.

I was one of the early students of Casals, and I spent a lot of time working on the box suites with him. Pablo Casals was one of the greatest musicians of old time.

My name is Paul Eli, and I'm the author of Soundabout, Reinventing Bach.

My name is Scott Ainsley.

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