Son House
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Biography
[Edit]Son House's place, not only in the history of Delta blues, but in the overall history of the music, is a very high one indeed. He was a major innovator of the Delta style, along with his playing partners Charley Patton and Willie Brown. Few listening experiences in the blues are as intense as hearing one of Son House's original 1930s recordings for the Paramount label. Entombed in a hailstorm of surface noise and scratches, one can still be awestruck by the emotional fervor House puts into his singing and slide playing. Little wonder then that the man became more than just an influence on some white English kid with a big amp; he was the main source of inspiration to both Muddy Waters and Robert Johnson, and it doesn't get much more pivotal than that. Even after his rediscovery in the mid-'60s, House was such a potent musical force that what would have been a normally genteel performance by any other bluesmen in a "folk" setting turned into a night in the nastiest juke joint you could imagine, scaring the daylights out of young white enthusiasts expecting something far more prosaic and comfortable. Not out of Son House, no sir. When the man hit the downbeat on his National steel-bodied guitar and you saw his eyes disappear into the back of his head, you knew you were going to hear some blues. And when he wasn't shouting the blues, he was singing spirituals, a cappella. Right up to the end, no bluesman was torn between the sacred and the profane more than Son House.
He was born Eddie James House, Jr., on March 21, 1902, in Riverton, MS. By the age of 15, he was preaching the gospel in various Baptist churches as the family seemingly wandered from one plantation to the next. He didn't even bother picking up a guitar until he turned 25; to quote House, "I didn't like no guitar when I first heard it; oh gee, I couldn't stand a guy playin' a guitar. I didn't like none of it." But if his ambivalence to the instrument was obvious, even more obvious was the simple fact that Son hated plantation labor even more and had developed a taste for corn whiskey. After drunkenly launching into a blues at a house frolic in Lyon, MS, one night and picking up some coin for doing it, the die seemed to be cast; Son House may have been a preacher, but he was part of the blues world now.
If the romantic notion that the blues life is said to be a life full of trouble is true, then Son found a barrel of it one night at another house frolic in Lyon. He shot a man dead that night and was immediately sentenced to imprisonment at Parchman Farm. He ended up only serving two years of his sentence, with his parents both lobbying hard for his release, claiming self defense. Upon his release — after a Clarksdale judge told him never to set foot in town again — he started a new life in the Delta as a full-time man of the blues.
After hitchhiking and hoboing the rails, he made it down to Lula, MS, and ran into the most legendary character the blues had to offer at that point, the one and only Charley Patton. The two men couldn't have been less similar in disposition, stature, and in musical and performance outlook if they had purposely planned it that way. Patton was described as a funny, loud-mouthed little guy who was a noisy, passionate showman, using every trick in the book to win over a crowd. The tall and skinny House was by nature a gloomy man with a saturnine disposition who still felt extremely guilt-ridden about playing the blues and working in juke joints. Yet when he ripped into one, Son imbued it with so much raw feeling that the performance became the show itself, sans gimmicks. The two of them argued and bickered constantly, and the only thing these two men seemed to have in common was a penchant for imbibing whatever alcoholic potable came their way. Though House would later refer in interviews to Patton as a "jerk" and other unprintables, it was Patton's success as a bluesman — both live and especially on record — that got Son's foot in the door as a recording artist. He followed Patton up to Grafton, WI, and recorded a handful of sides for the Paramount label. These records today (selling scant few copies in their time, the few that did survived a life of huge steel needles, even bigger scratches, and generally lousy care) are some of the most highly prized collectors' items of Delta blues recordings, much tougher to find than, say, a Robert Johnson or even a Charley Patton 78. Paramount used a pressing compound for their 78 singles that was so noisy and inferior sounding that should someone actually come across a clean copy of any of Son's original recordings, it's a pretty safe bet that the listener would still be greeted with a blizzard of surface noise once the needle made contact with the disc.
But audio concerns aside, the absolutely demonic performances House laid down on these three two-part 78s ("My Black Mama," "Preachin' the Blues," and "Dry Spell Blues," with an unreleased test acetate of "Walkin' Blues" showing up decades later) cut through the hisses and pops like a brick through a stained glass window.
It was those recordings that led Alan Lomax to his door in 1941 to record him for the Library of Congress. Lomax was cutting acetates on a "portable" recording machine weighing over 300 pounds. Son was still playing (actually at the peak of his powers, some would say), but had backed off of it a bit since Charley Patton died in 1934. House did some tunes solo, as Lomax asked him to do, but also cut a session backed by a rocking little string band. As the band laid down long and loose (some tracks went on for over six minutes) versions of their favorite numbers, all that was missing was the guitars being plugged in and a drummer's backbeat and you were getting a glimpse of the future of the music.
But just as House had gone a full decade without recording, this time after the Lomax recordings, he just as quickly disappeared, moving to Rochester, NY. When folk-blues researchers finally found him in 1964, he was cheerfully exclaiming that he hadn't touched a guitar in years. One of the researchers, a young guitarist named Alan Wilson (later of the blues-rock group Canned Heat) literally sat down and retaught Son House how to play like Son House. Once the old master was up to speed, the festival and coffeehouse circuit became his oyster. He recorded again, the recordings becoming an important introduction to his music and, for some, a lot easier to take than those old Paramount 78s from a strict audio standpoint. In 1965, he played Carnegie Hall and four years later found himself the subject of an eponymously titled film documentary, all of this another world removed from Clarksdale, MS, indeed. Everywhere he played, he was besieged by young fans, asking him about Robert Johnson, Charley Patton, and others. For young white blues fans, these were merely exotic names from the past, heard only to them on old, highly prized recordings; for Son House they were flesh and blood contemporaries, not just some names on a record label. Hailed as the greatest living Delta singer still actively performing, nobody dared call himself the king of the blues as long as Son House was around.
He fell into ill health by the early '70s; what was later diagnosed as both Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease first affected his memory and his ability to recall songs on-stage and, later, his hands, which shook so bad he finally had to give up the guitar and eventually leave performing altogether by 1976. He lived quietly in Detroit, MI, for another 12 years, passing away on October 19, 1988. His induction into the Blues Foundation's Hall of Fame in 1980 was no less than his due. Son House was the blues.
Title: The Complete Library Of Congress Sessions Plus Bonus Tracks (1941-1942)
Artist: Son House
Genre: Blues
Title: Legends Of Country Blues: The Complete Prewar Recordings (CD2)
Artist: Son House
Genre: Blues
Title: Legends Of Country Blues: The Complete Prewar Recordings (CD3)
Artist: Son House
Genre: Blues
Title: Father Of The Delta Blues: The Complete 1965 Sessions
Artist: Son House
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B, Soul, Blues, Acoustic
Title: Martin Scorsese Presents the Blues: Son House
Artist: Son House
Title: Son House Library of Congress Recordings 1941-1942
Artist: Son House
Title: Echoes From The Delta - Son House 1940-42 The Formative Years (Remastered)
Artist: Son House
Genre: Blues
Title: Son House Live At the Gaslight Cafe Jan 3rd 1965
Artist: Son House
Collections
Title: 100 Original Blues Kings
Genre: Blues
Title: Black History Month the History of the Blues
Genre: Blues
Title: The Best of the Blues Vol. 2
Genre: Blues
Title: Filthy Blues - 69 Licks
Genre: Blues
Title: Back To the Crossroads: The Roots of Robert Johnson
Genre: Blues
Title: Traxbox Vol. 3 (Trax Records Remastered)
Genre: Dancefloor, Dance Pop
Title: Classic Blues from Smithsonian Folkways
Genre: Blues
Title: 80s House Classics
Genre: Electronica, Dancefloor, Dance Pop
Title: Glow Reefer Glow (Blues Mix)
Title: Blues History
Genre: Blues
Title: Essential Blues, Vol. 2: 1920S - 1940
Genre: Blues
Title: Your Birthday Present - Unplugged
Genre: Pop
Title: Super Tracks & Great Singers Vol. 8
Genre: Electronica, Dancefloor, Dance Pop
Title: The Blues an Acoustic Anthology
Genre: Blues
Title: Bluesville the Best Folk Blues Album
Genre: Blues, World Music, Acoustic, Folk
Title: Ultimate Blues Collection Vol 3
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B, Soul, Blues
Title: Mississippi Moaners (1927-1942)
Genre: Blues
Title: Me and the Devil Blues Authentic Blues Masters
Genre: Blues
Title: Crossroads the Best of the Classic Blues
Genre: Blues
Title: Chicago Trax, Vol. 2
Genre: Dancefloor, Dance Pop
Title: Newport Folk Festival, Best Of The Blues 1959 - 68
Genre: Blues
Title: ABC Of The Blues CD 41
Genre: Blues
Title: Land Where The Blues Began
Genre: World Music, Country, Pop
Title: Let My People Go, Negro Spirituals CD2
Genre: Gospel
Title: Supernatural: Season 2
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B, Dancefloor, Pop, Pop Rock
Title: Uncut Jack White'S Blues
Title: Times Ain'T Like They Used To Be Vol. 3
Genre: Gospel, World Music, Country, Pop, Theatre/Soundtrack
Title: Times Ain'T Like They Used To Be Vol. 7
Genre: Blues, World Music
Title: Pure... Blues (CD1)
Genre: Blues
Title: The Rough Guide To Delta Blues
Genre: Blues
Title: The Rough Guide To Bottleneck Blues
Genre: Blues
Title: The Essential Blues (CD2)
Genre: Blues
Title: Indie Dance Classics (Back To The Old Skool) (CD1)
Genre: House, Indie Pop, Indie Rock
Title: Black Snake Moan (Original Soundtrack)
Genre: Theatre/Soundtrack
Title: The Best Blues Album In The World Ever (CD1)
Genre: Blues
Title: Plantation Blues Cotton Patch & Tobacco Belt Blues
Genre: Blues
Title: Jack White's Jukebox
Title: The Road To Robert Johnson And Beyond (CD1)
Genre: Blues
Title: Definitive Delta Blues (CD2)
Genre: Blues
Title: Definitive Delta Blues (CD3)
Genre: Blues
Title: Kennedy's Blues
Genre: Rock, Club/Dance
Title: Walking Blues
Genre: Blues
Title: 100 Blues Classics & Greatest Blues Hits (CD2)
Genre: Blues
Title: Living The Blues ~ Blues Roots 1930-1944
Genre: Blues
Title: The Blues: A Musical Journey (Martin Scorsese) (CD1)
Genre: Blues
Title: The Blues- A Musical Journey (Martin Scorsese) (CD4)
Genre: Blues
Title: The Perfect Blues Collection
Genre: Blues
Title: The House Of Hits: The History Of House Music
Genre: House
Title: The History Of The House Sound Of Chicago
Genre: House
Title: Fabric 30: Rub N Tug
Genre: Electronica, House, Techno
Title: Warehouse Days Of Glory (CD1)
Genre: Dancefloor, Pop, Dance Pop
Title: Legends Of The Blues Volume 1
Genre: Blues
Featuring albums
Title: Rough Guide To Blind Lemon Jefferson
Artist: Blind Lemon Jefferson
Genre: Blues, Country, Songwriter/Lyricist, Acoustic
Title: Marshall Jefferson/Les Parrains De La House
Artist: Marshall Jefferson
Genre: Electronica, House, Dancefloor, Dance Pop
Title: Legends of the Blues, Vol. 1
Artist: Louis Armstrong, Louis Armstrong Orchestra
Title: The History Of House Sound Of Chicago - Part 3
Artist: Various Artists
Genre: Electronica, House, Dancefloor
Title: Defected Presents For The Love Of House Volume 2
Artist: Various Artists
Genre: Electronica, Dancefloor
Title: The Best There Ever Was: The Legendary Early Blues Performers
Artist: Various Artists
Genre: Blues
Title: Son House & Great Delta Blues Singers 1928 - 1930
Artist: Various Artists
Title: American Folk Blues Festival '67
Artist: Various Artists
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B, Soul, Blues, Jazz
Title: People Take Warning! Murder Ballads & Disaster Songs 1913-1938
Artist: Various Artists
Genre: Country
Title: Sources - The Trax Records Anthology Compiled by Bill Brewster
Artist: Bill Brewster
Genre: Dancefloor, Dance Pop
Title: From Mississippi To Chicago the Blues Road Classic Blues
Artist: Various Artists
Genre: Blues
Title: Screamin' And Hollerin' The Blues - The Worlds Of Charley Patton (CD4)
Artist: Charley Patton
Genre: Blues
Title: Screamin' And Hollerin' The Blues - The Worlds Of Charley Patton (CD6)
Artist: Charley Patton
Genre: Blues
Title: The Ultimate Country Blues Collection
Artist: Leadbelly
Genre: Blues, Country, Songwriter/Lyricist, Acoustic
Title: Son House & the American Blues Heroes
Artist: Various Artists
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B, Soul, Blues
Title: Epic Americana: Pre-War Blues, Country & Folk
Artist: Various Artists
Genre: Blues, Country, Songwriter/Lyricist
Title: The House Sound of D.J. International 100
Artist: Various Artists
Genre: House, Dancefloor, Dance Pop
Title: Classic Delta and Deep South Blues from Smithsonian Folkways
Artist: Various Artists
Genre: Blues
Title: Black Snake Moan: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Artist: Various Artists
Genre: Theatre/Soundtrack
Title: The Land Where The Blues Began - The Alan Lomax Collection
Artist: Various Artists
Genre: Blues
Title: A Journey Through The Inner World Of Eric Clapton (CD3)
Artist: Eric Clapton, The Many Faces Of Eric Clapton
Genre: Blues, Blues Rock
Title: Tracker Smashup
Artist: Mashup Urban
Genre: Garage, Electro, Dancehall, Club/Dance, Latin, Theatre/Soundtrack, Trap