Who deserves a musical biopic? Part 1: Robert Johnson

Bleeding Cool had a post the other day, which stated:

The box office success of Bohemian Rhapsody could pave way for other musician biopics to strike while the coals are hot. 

Here are three artists Hollywood should consider for their next biopic film...

The writer, Tom Chang, chose Janis Joplin, The Ramones, and David Bowie. While I consider Bowie a fine selection for that list, I have different choices. today begins a three-part series where I present my top three choices.

First on my list is Robert Johnson:

Arguably one of the founders of the Blues genre, Robert Johnson's story is also the most mysterious and fascinating.

The opening to his Wikipedia page summarizes him nicely:

Robert Leroy Johnson (May 8, 1911 – August 16, 1938) was an American blues singer-songwriter and musician. His landmark recordings in 1936 and 1937 display a combination of singing, guitar skills, and songwriting talent that has influenced later generations of musicians. Johnson's 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. In 2003, David Fricke ranked Johnson fifth in Rolling Stone magazine's "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time".

Here is one of his most popular songs, Cross Road Blues:



But most people are more familiar with the Eric Clapton version, known as Crossroads, performed with the band Cream:



While Johnson's influence on both the blues and rock are undisputed, the best part about any musical biopic about Johnson would be how it handles his "deal with the devil" rumor, or even his mysterious death, probably murdered, at the age of 27. There is a ton of good mystery here, allowing for even a fanciful biopic of Johnson to be quite entertaining.