Myth/ Legends

Myths and Legends

Robert Johnson Myth

Is it possible to sell your soul to the devil? According to Robert Johnson, it is. His legend begins with a stroll through the Mississippi swampland, a bottle of whiskey in one hand and a guitar in the other. Robert biggest wish was to become a famous guitar player and have an amazing life. So he decided to go to the crossroads, where apparently black magic breeds, and have a talk with the devil himself. They had a conversation and Satan decided to agree to Robert’s offer. Robert gave his soul to the devil and in exchange the devil gave him his dream to become famous. Is this legend true? All of a sudden, Robert Johnson became very famous and some think it was just coincidence while others believe the devil granted him his wish.

Ozzy Osbourne’s Taste For Doves and Bats

At one of Ozzy’s concerts a woman threw a supposedly dead bat onto the stage. The concert was at Veterans Memorial Auditorium in Des Moines, Iowa. The Ozzy fan claimed the bat was not alive. Osbourne bit the head off of it because he said he thought the bat was rubber. The bat was actually living and bit Ozzy. He had to get rabies shots afterwards! “The Prince of Darkness” which is a popular nickname for Ozzy said the rabies shots were extremely painful. Anyone insane enough to bite a bat, living or dead, probably has a strange nickname like that. Ozzy also bit the head off of a dove but he was intoxicated while doing it. This incident caused a lot of publicity towards Ozzy. The dove was alive too! Ozzy’s taste for animals heads are just accidents, he did not mean to bite their heads off at all.
　

Abbey Road Cover

“Paul is dead” can be heard through out the Abbey Road Cover by the Beatles while being played backwards. This is linked to Paul McCartney’s well-being after a car accident. Beatles fans thought Paul had died but he actually did not. In the song “Strawberry Fields Forever” when played backwards says “I buried Paul. “This might be a coincidence but possibly not. When everyone thought Paul died, fans began to assume that the new Paul in the Beatles was William Campbell who won a Paul McCartney look alike contest. So basically the myth is that in some of the Beatles songs rumors of Paul’s death can be heard. This legend is still debatable but Paul McCartney did survive the car accident.

Bob Dylan Goes Electric

At a festival in Newport, Bob Dylan was a headliner for the concert and he only played for fifteen minutes. This upset the crown and they started to boo. Some people paid a lot of money and wanted to hear Bob Dylan play! All they other performers played for around forty five minutes so it was unfair that Bob only got fifteen minutes. He also was playing an electric guitar and that’s when the people started to boo him. Another incident was at a concert in New York. Bob played forty five minutes of acoustic guitar and when he started playing electric the weather got really windy and the temperature dropped about ten degrees! This legend is supposedly true but is still questioned.

Ohio Players: Love Roller Coaster

During the song “Love Roller Coaster” by the Ohio Players a scream is heard. The urban legend behind this is that someone was being murdered in the studio when the recording was going on. Ester Cordet (a model) had been burned in the studio from hot honey and the band manager stabbed her to death in the control room for disrupting the recording session! This may not be necessarily true but it has been a myth ever since a radio show host announced the story on his station. They decided to keep the screams in the song even though it may or may not be true. In fact, the band manager disclaimed this evidence and Ester Cordet is still alive! So, basically this may be a myth but it is not true at all.

Sgt. Pepper Cover

The legend of the Sgt. Pepper lies in the front cover. Many people believed that Paul McCartney was dead after the release of Abbey Road because in one of their songs, if you play it backwards it says “Paul is dead”. The guitar made of flowers, which is a bass guitar, is Paul McCartney’s. So, even though Paul didn’t actually die, this cover makes it look like he did. This was for publicity and it worked. Sgt. Pepper was a huge success, party because of the album cover! Paul is still alive today but his legend still baffles people. In this cover, I recognize the following: Paul McCartney (from the Beatles), Bob Dylan (famous singer), and Albert Einstein (famous for his intelligence). I am ignorant of: Marlene Dietrich, T.E. Lawrence, and Lenny Bruce. Marlene was a German- American actress and singer who liked to “re-invent” herself. T.E. Lawrence was a British army officer and Lenny Bruce was an influential and controversial American Jew who spoke his mind.