"Tom Feldmann is an instrumentalist of the first degree, renowned among guitarists as an instructor and preservationist. No one can teach Robert Johnson, Charley Patton, Skip James or Bukka White better than Feldmann, a master fingerpicker and slide guitarist." _ Living Blues

"Robert Johnson is the most important blues musician who ever lived. I have never found anything more deeply soulful. His music remains the most powerfulcry that I think you can find in the human voice." - Eric Clapton

"Robert Johnson's music sent me reeling. I couldn't even imagine how someone could play the guitar the way he did and sing at the same time." - Bonnie Raitt

Robert Johnson is arguably the most well known figure in the history of the blues. Though the 29 songs Johnson recorded from 1936-1937 had little impact during his lifetime, a collection of his singles, entitled King of the Delta Blues Singers was released in 1961 and found widespread recognition. Then, 30 years later, The Complete Recordings of Robert Johnson was released selling over one million copies. The first blues recording to do so, winning
a Grammy in the process.

Since that 1961 LP, players from all different musical backgrounds have sought to learn Robert Johnson's techniques and in this 3 DVD set, with over 5 hours and 52 minutes of instruction, Tom Feldmann covers every aspect of Johnson's playing. Each song is performed by Feldmann before he dissects the arrangement verse-by-verse and ends with a split screen segment where the song is played slowly with close up shots of both the left and right hands. This is the most expansive look into the guitar playing of Robert Johnson produced in video form.

DVD ONE: STANDARD TUNING: Kind Hearted Woman, Phonograph Blues, 32-20 Blues, A Blues Variations (Dead Shrimp Blues, Little Queen of Spades, Honeymoon Blues), I'm a Steady Rolling Man, Sweet Home Chicago, Love In Vain, From Four 'Til Late DROP D TUNING: Malted Milk CROSS NOTE TUNING: Hellhound on my Trail

DVD TWO: SPANISH TUNING: Stop Breakin' Down Blues, Walking Blues, Come On In My Kitchen, Last Fair Deal Gone Down, Stones In My Passway with Variations for Terraplane Blues and Milkcow Blues, Cross Road Blues, Traveling Riverside Blues

DVD THREE: SPANISH TUNING: If I Had Possession Over Judgement Day, VESTAPOL TUNING (OPEN E TUNING): Rambling on my Mind, I Believe I'll Dust My Broom, Preaching Blues, STANDARD TUNING: They're Red Hot

352 minutes • Level 3 • Detailed tab/music booklet PDF file included on each DVD

Review: Over the intervening decades since Robert Johnson cut his 29 monolithic sides in 1936 and 1937, countless manhours have been spent by countless guitarists hunched over spinning 78s, then LPs, then CDs, and now spinless MP3s, desperately trying to latch onto the mystical powers inherent in those songs - in that sound - which launched as many legions of rockers as of bluesmen.

With Johnson's direct apostles below ground - Robert Lockwood, Honeyboy Edwards, Johnny Shines (who thrice returns, via bonus performance footage) - Tom Feldmann is your best possible instructor. The country blues junkie has put in those countless hours intensively detailing everything from the lemon squeezing "Traveling Riverside Blues" to the tamale-peddling "They're Red Hot" - so that you don't have to. He's got the complete canon down cold (come on, both takes of "Cross Road Blues" get dissected here). Right down to that spine-tingling 'howling wind' slide lick dripping down "Come On in My Kitchen." Even down to that momentary flash of wickedness in the fourth verse of "Walking Blues" when string bends actually snap.

With calm coaching, you'll run the existential table from the Son House knockoff of "Preaching Blues" to "Hellhound on My Trail," with a "Malted Milk" break in between. Besides using the slo-mo split-screen, Feldmann makes learning easier by wisely corralling similar pieces, as when taking advantage of the structural relationship between "Terraplane Blues" and "Milkcow's Calf Blues" with "Stones in My Passway."

Tremendous clout resides within three how-to DVDs, for herein lie both the kindling and the spark which lit the firestorm of modern blues and rock. So the calculus is simple: Six hours of one-on-one Robert Johnson instruction equals essential. - Dennis Rozanski/Blues Rag

Review: We rarely review instructional videos, but this one is something special. And it’s more than just a how-to guide: it’s an in-depth, note-for-note-documentary look at the playing-style of one of the most influential blues men of all time. And for that reason alone –whether you’re willing to sell your soul to the devil to learn to play like Mr. Johnson or not – you owe it to yourself to check out Mr. Feldmann’s study.

Johnson of course needs no introduction, but Feldmann may to those not up on the blues. Based from a small town in Minnesota, he has immersed himself in traditional country blues stylings, releasing several CDs of his own recordings, plus a series of stellar how-to DVDs on Charlie Patton, Son House, Bukka White, and more. Few pickers today play these old-time blues so naturally and intuitively.

Feldmann’s long-anticipated Johnson set has been well worth the wait. First, the technical details. The package includes three DVDs with a total running time of 352 minutes– that’s almost six hours. And the songs are available in both tab and musical notation in PDF form on the DVDs as well.

Feldmann covers most all of the 29 songs that Johnson cut in 1936-’37. He organizes his lessons by guitar tunings your soul to the devil to learn to play like Mr. Johnson or not –you owe it to yourself to checkout Mr. Feldmann’s study. Johnson of course needs no introduction, but Feldmann may to those not up on the blues. Based from a small town in Minnesota, he has immersed himself in traditional country blues stylings, releasing several CDs of his own recordings, plus a series of stellar how-to DVDs on Charlie Patton, Son House, Bukka White, and more. Few pickers– standard, drop D, cross note,Spanish, and Vestapol.

He then makes sense of the song similarities by organizing them into variations on themes. For instance, he goes through “Kind Hearted Woman” in patient detail, then explains how Johnson used that song form to create variations, segueing into explanations of “Phonograph Blues,”“32-20 Blues,” and several others. He also explains the efficacy of fingerings and the why behind the how. This logical approach makes understanding and playing the songs dramatically clearer.

As a teacher, Feldmann is ideal; as a blues historian, he’s downright heroic. His understanding and explanation of Johnson’s playing – as well as the other country blues greats – is masterful. It’s also insightful, and this will be a reason that Feldmann’s films endure. No need to traipse to a crossroads at midnight and strike a bargain; just pop Feldmann’s DVDs into your player. Maybe this takes away some of that romance, but fear not – there’s still hours and hours of good old woodshedding left. – Michael Dregni/Vintage Guitar