# Robert Johnson — Cross Road Blues

Robert Johnson’s Cross Road Blues (1936) is No. 1 in our Blues ranking. The full verdict, and where to hear it.

- **Released:** 1936
- **Label:** Vocalion
- **On one list:** Blues
- **Updated:** 2026-08-30
- **Artist:** [Robert Johnson](https://waxonia.com/artist/robert-johnson/)
- **Canonical page:** https://waxonia.com/track/robert-johnson--cross-road-blues/

## What we say

### No. 1 in [Blues](https://waxonia.com/genre/blues/)

One man, one guitar, and a sense of pursuit that no amount of retelling has managed to domesticate. The myth around Johnson is a distraction from how precise the playing actually is.

## Analysis

3 sections, the first drop at 1:07, 42% of the way in.

- **Tempo:** 99.4 BPM — holds throughout
- **Dynamic range:** 4.9 dB — compressed hard — very little between the quiet and the loud
- **Length:** 2:38

- `0:00` A · **intro**, instrumental — opens the record below its own average energy — playing: vocals, other
- `0:34` B · **peak** (bar 14), sung — sits at the top of this record's range — playing: vocals, other
- `1:02` A · **outro** (bar 26), instrumental — the closing fall — playing: vocals, other

**Drop** at 1:07 (bar 28). A drop is a moment, not a stretch.

**What is playing.** Separated into parts by a source-separation model, so each lane is the instrument it names.

- **drums:** the drum kit, separated from the mix
- **bass:** the bass part, separated from the mix
- **vocals:** the voice, separated from the mix
- **other:** everything else — synths, guitars, keys, strings

Measured from the YouTube master on 2026-08-29. Section labels describe how the energy
moves, not musical form. Anything we were not confident enough to state is omitted
rather than hedged.

## Listen

[Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Robert%20Johnson%20Cross%20Road%20Blues) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=Kxi4XkIVWLQ)

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Hand-curated by Waxonia. We host no audio; all links point to streaming platforms.