God Don't Never Change: The Songs of Blind Willie Johnson

Tributee: Blind Willie Johnson.Liner Note Author: Jeffrey Gaskill.Recording information: Dave's Room, North Hollywood, CA; Fame Recording Studio, Muscle Shoals, AL; Swamp Raga; The Carriage House, Los Angeles, CA; The Hangar, Toronto, ON; Zebra Ranch.God Don't Never Change: The Songs of Blind Willie Johnson almost didn't happen. Though producer Jeffrey Gaskill assembled the award-winning collection You Gotta Serve Somebody: The Gospel Songs of Bob Dylan in 2002, the narrowing focus of the recording industry made it necessary to undertake a Kickstarter campaign for this set to become reality. (The crown jewels for top contributors were ten cigar box guitars made from three boards acquired from one of Johnson's residences.) Gaskill first heard Johnson's haunting, knife-like slide guitar and moaning gospel-blues in 2003, then made two investigative trips to Texas to learn more. There wasn't much: Michael Corcoran's excellent historical liner essay here admits that what we don't know about