Terraplane Blues’ isn’t the best known of Robert Johnson’s works today, but it was the song most often recalled as a Johnson hit by bluesmen of the 1930s. In the grand blues tradition of automotive imagery, the Terraplane, a car manufactured by Hudson Motor Car Company in the ’30s, serves as a sexual metaphor, as Johnson sings lines such as ‘And when I mash down on your starter, then your spark plug will give me fire.’The melody of ‘Terraplane Blues’ has been traced to earlier recordings by one of Johnson’s main influences, Peetie Wheatstraw.
Robert Johnson, vocal and guitar. Recorded November 23, 1936, San Antonio, Texas. Released on A.R.C.labels (Banner, Melotone, Oriole, Perfect, and Romeo) 7-03-56 in March 1937; also on Vocalion 03416 (all 78 rpm). First reissued on LP: King of the Delta Blues Singers, Columbia CL 1654, in 1961.