Watch the full report: Windows Media: 28k or 56k Clips of Big Jack Johnson performing: "I Can't Get No Lovin'" 250k MPEG-3 or 350k WAV "I Wanna Know" 165k MPEG-3 or 225k WAV "We Got To Stop This Killin'" 200k MPEG-3 or 150k WAV

Web posted on:
Wednesday, November 11, 1998 3:34:50 PM EST

CLARKSDALE, Mississippi (CNN) -- Big Jack Johnson played the guitar in his daddy's blues band back in Mississippi at the tender age of 13. He's known as the Oilman for his spell as an oil truck driver, and with that moniker he and his backup musicians, the Oilers, have taken their music around the world.

Through it all, the blues have been his inspiration as well as his means of expression. "That's where this stuff started with me, the blues," he told CNN's World Beat. With songs like "We Got To Stop This Killin'," he's urged blues musicians to talk about the problems in their communities, and stop talking about their "baby."

"Everybody knows about my baby," he quipped. "My baby done left me, I love my baby, my baby. Let's talk about something else."

World Beat followed Johnson all the way back home to Mississippi to learn more about his musical path.