Playing on the street corners or at some rundown bar in his native Mississippi, the young blues guitarist Robert Johnson had no to little fame during his days busking in the 1930s. However, his guitar riffs, licks, and style would be influential for the upcoming generations. Even a fellow future guitar hero, Eric Clapton, would pick him as the best blues musician who ever lived.
However, the late musician struggled to get recognition and make a few bucks with his music. So, it was rumored that one midnight, he paid a visit to the local crossroad in his hometown to make a twisted deal. You see, the local legend alleged that Johnson had made a pact with the Devil, selling his soul for eternal glory and fame.
When he came back from that alleged night, the young guitarist’s musical abilities were rumored to have improved a lot. He could play all the chords with ease as if the instrument was a part of his own body. However, Robert’s journey to being a guitar hero in his lifetime was brief as he died in 1938 due to unknown causes and became maybe the first-ever member of the infamous twenty-seven club.
Well, decades after Johnson’s alleged deal with the Devil and selling out his sold for fame, a British rock band named Pink Floyd received an offer from a French soft drink brand called Perrier when the company wanted the act to promote their newest release, ‘Gini,’ a soft drink, with a commercial photoshoot.
Perhaps, in need of cash and thinking extra press wouldn’t hurt, Pink Floyd took on the offer and appeared for a photoshoot for the brand. However, soon enough, they started feeling uneasy seeing these commercial sponsorship flyers in the hallways of the venues and everywhere around their gigs. So, the band thought they’d missed something by agreeing to take these pictures.
Not long after, the act began to regret their decision since it made them feel like they’d sold their soul for money and commerciality. However, rather than just accepting things as they are and moving on with their life, Roger Waters wrote a song dedicated to their decision to participate in this commercial photoshoot and regret afterward.
The song’s name was ‘Bitter Love,’ as you might imagine that Waters believed their love for money and commerciality was the bitter side of things. In the track’s lyrics, Roger talked about selling his soul for fame since that’s what the band had been feeling by taking on the French company’s offer. However, for unknown reasons, Pink Floyd decided not to release the song and move on from the bitter regret.
So, in the end, an old rumor about a young blues musician from the South selling his soul to the Devil in the 1930s evolved into the regret of a British rock band when they felt like they’d sold their soul for some extra bucks and commerciality in the mid-1970s. However, all these rumors about selling their souls, in the end, it’s all for rock and roll, right?
