Chapter 01 — Today in music
On a day like today May 8
1970
'Let It Be' meets the world: the Beatles' accidental requiem
On May 8, 1970, weeks after the breakup announcement, the Beatles released 'Let It Be'. Conceived as a back-to-roots project and finished amid fights, it was marked by the orchestral arrangements Phil Spector added without McCartney's blessing. It is not their best album, but it is their most human: the sound of the biggest band in history saying goodbye without wanting to.
The Beatles
1911
Robert Johnson is born, the bluesman of the crossroads pact
On May 8, 1911, Robert Johnson was born in Mississippi — the man of 29 songs and the legend of a deal with the devil at a crossroads. His 1936 and 1937 recordings are the genetic code of electric blues and, by extension, of rock: Clapton, the Stones and Zeppelin built empires on his grooves. He died at 27, unknowingly founding music's saddest club.
Robert Johnson
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