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Jim Clark, an animator out of England, has done some phenomenal work here, taking the few existing photos of Robert Johnson and distorting them in time with his recorded tracks, making it appear as if the legendary bluesman is, indeed, performing the track on video (or close enough to it). Color us impressed. Check out this animation of Johnson “performing” “Traveling Riverside Blues”, a track recorded in Dallas a mere 14 months before his 1938 death:
Not bad, right? Guy’s got tons of these–515 of them, to be exact. Here’s another animation of a bluesman with Dallas ties, Leadbelly, “performing” “De Kalb Blues”:
Or, just head to Clark’s YouTube page and peruse the offerings at your own leisure. — Pete Freedman
