Son House

For the Sun House, see Grace Hudson Museum.

Son House
Background information
Birth name	Edward James House, Jr.
Born	March 21, 1902(1902-03-21) (?) [1][2] Riverton, Mississippi, United States
Died	October 19, 1988(1988-10-19) (aged 86) Detroit, Michigan, United States
Genres	Delta blues, country blues, gospel blues
Instruments	Guitar
Years active	1930–1974

Eddie James "Son" House, Jr. (March 21, 1902 (?)^[1][2] – October 19, 1988) was an American blues singer and guitarist. House pioneered an innovative style featuring strong, repetitive rhythms, often played with the aid of slide guitar, and his singing often incorporated elements of southern gospel and spiritual music. House did not learn guitar until he was in his early twenties, as he had been "churchified", and was determined to become a Baptist preacher. He associated himself with Delta blues musicians Charlie Patton and Willie Brown, often acting as a sideman. In 1930, House made his first recordings for Paramount Records during a session for Charlie Patton. However, these did not sell well due to the Great Depression, and he drifted into obscurity. He was recorded by John and Alan Lomax for the Library of Congress in 1941 and '42. Afterwards, he moved north to Rochester, New York, where he remained until his rediscovery in 1964, spurred by the American folk blues revival. Over the next few years, House recorded several studio albums and went on various tours until his death in 1988. His influence has extended over a wide area of musicians, including Robert Johnson, John Hammond, Alan Wilson (of Canned Heat), Bonnie Raitt, The White Stripes, and John Mooney.

Biography

Early life

Mississippi State Penitentiary, where Son House was confined

The middle of three brothers, House was born in Riverton, two miles from Clarksdale, Mississippi. Around age seven or eight, he was brought by his mother to Tallulah, Louisiana, after his parents separated. The young Son House was determined to become a Baptist preacher, and at age 15 began his preaching career. Despite the church's firm stand against blues music and the sinful world which revolved around it, House became attracted to it and taught himself guitar in his mid 20s, after moving back to the Clarksdale area, inspired by the work of Willie Wilson.

After killing a man, allegedly in self-defense, he spent time at the Mississippi State Penitentiary (Parchman Farm) in 1928 and 1929. The official story on the killing is that sometime around 1927 or 1928, he was playing in a juke joint when a man went on a shooting spree. Son was wounded in the leg, and shot the man dead. He received a 15-year sentence at Parchman Farm prison, of which he served two years.^[3] He then moved to Lula, Mississippi, where he first met Charlie Patton and Willie Brown (around this same time, he also met Robert Johnson). The three began playing alongside each other during local gigs.^[4]

Recording

In 1930, Art Laibly of Paramount Records traveled to Lula to convince Patton to record several more sides in Grafton, Wisconsin. Along with Patton came House, Brown, and pianist Louise Johnson, who would all end up recording sides for the label.^[4] House recorded nine songs during that session, eight of which were released; but these were commercial failures, and House would not record again commercially in 35 years. House continued to play with Patton and Brown, even after Patton's death in 1934. During this time, House worked as a tractor driver for various plantations around the Lake Comororant area.

Alan Lomax first recorded House for the Library of Congress in 1941. Willie Brown, mandolin player Fiddlin' Joe Martin, and harmonica player Leroy Williams played with House on these recordings. Lomax returned to the area in 1942, where he recorded House once more. He then faded from the public view, moving to Rochester, New York in 1943, working as a railroad porter for the New York Central Railroad and as a chef.^[3]

Rediscovery

In 1964, after a long search of the Mississippi Delta region by Nick Perls, Dick Waterman and Phil Spiro, he ended up being "rediscovered" in Rochester. House had been retired from the music business for many years, and was unaware of the 1960s folk blues revival and international enthusiasm regarding his early recordings.

He subsequently toured extensively in the US and Europe and recorded for CBS Records. Like Mississippi John Hurt, he was welcomed into the music scene of the 1960s and played at the Newport Folk Festival in 1964, the New York Folk Festival in July 1965,^[5] and the October 1967 European tour of the American Folk Festival along with Skip James and Bukka White.

The young guitarist Alan Wilson (Canned Heat) was one of Son House's biggest fans. The producer John Hammond Sr. asked Alan Wilson, who was just 22 years old, to teach "Son House how to play like Son House," because Alan Wilson had such a good knowledge of the blues styles. The album The Father of Delta Blues - The Complete 1965 Sessions was the result.^[6] Son House played with Alan Wilson live. It can be heard on the album John the Revelator: The 1970 London Sessions.

In the summer of 1970, House toured Europe once again, including an appearance at the Montreux Jazz Festival; a recording of his London concerts was released by Liberty Records. He also played at the two Days of Blues Festival in Toronto in 1974.

Ill health plagued his later years and in 1974 he retired once again, and later moved to Detroit, Michigan, where he remained until his death from cancer of the larynx. He was buried at the Mt. Hazel Cemetery. Members of the Detroit Blues Society raised money through benefit concerts to put a monument on his grave. He had been married five times.

Style

House's innovative style featured strong, repetitive rhythms, often played with the aid of a bottleneck, coupled with singing that owed more than a nod to the field hollers of the chain gangs. Describing House's 1967 appearance at the De Montfort Hall in Leicester, England, Bob Groom wrote in Blues World magazine:

It is difficult to describe the transformation that took place as this smiling, friendly man hunched over his guitar and launched himself, bodily it seemed, into his music. The blues possessed him like a 'lowdown shaking chill' and the spellbound audience saw the very incarnation of the blues as, head thrown back, he hollered and groaned the disturbing lyrics and flailed the guitar, snapping the strings back against the fingerboard to accentuate the agonized rhythm. Son's music is the centre of the blues experience and when he performs it is a corporeal thing, audience and singer become as one.

Influence

House was the primary influence on Muddy Waters and also an important influence on Robert Johnson. It was House who, speaking to awe-struck young blues fans in the 1960s, spread the legend that Johnson had sold his soul to the Devil in exchange for his musical powers.

More recently, House's music has influenced the blues-rock group The White Stripes, who covered his song "Death Letter" (also reworked by Skip James and Robert Johnson) on their album De Stijl, and later performed it at the 2004 Grammy Awards. The version on De Stijl contains five of the verses from the Son House original. The eighth verse (one of the ones that was left off) was added to the song "Dead Leaves And The Dirty Ground" on their third album White Blood Cells.

The White Stripes incorporated sections of a traditional song Son House recorded—"John the Revelator"—into the song "Cannon" from their eponymous debut album The White Stripes. Jack White of The White Stripes has cited House's a cappella song, "Grinnin' in Your Face", as his favorite song.^[7]

Another musician deeply influenced by Son House is the slide player John Mooney, who in his teens learned slide guitar from Son House while House was living in Rochester, New York.

Several of House's songs were featured in the motion picture soundtrack of Black Snake Moan (2006).

Discography

78 RPM Recordings
Recorded May 28, 1930, in Grafton, Wisconsin, for Paramount Records.

• "Dry Spell Blues", Parts 1 and 2
• "Preachin' the Blues", Parts 1 and 2
• "My Black Mama", Parts 1 and 2
• "Clarksdale Moan" / "Mississippi County Farm Blues" (one known copy)
• "Walking Blues" (unreleased)

Singles

• "The Pony Blues" / "The Jinx Blues", Part 1 (1967)
• "Make Me a Pallet on the Floor" (Willie Brown) / "Shetland Pony Blues" (1967)
• "Death Letter" (1985)

Other albums (This list is incomplete. For a complete list, see external links.)

• The Complete Library of Congress Sessions (1964) Travelin' Man Cd 02
• Blues From The Mississippi Delta (W/ J.D. Short) (1964) Folkways Records
• The Legendary Son House: Father Of Folk Blues (1965) Columbia 2417
• In Concert (Oberlin College, 1965) Stack-O-Hits 9004
• Delta Blues (1941–1942) Smithsonian 31028
• Son House & Blind Lemon Jefferson (1926–1941) Biograph 12040
• Son House - The Real Delta Blues (1964-65 Recordings) Blue Goose Records 2016
• Son House & The Great Delta Blues Singers (With Willie Brown,) Document Cd 5002
• Son House At Home : Complete 1969 Document 5148
• Son House (Library Of Congress) Folk Lyric 9002
• John The Revelator Liberty 83391
• American Folk Blues Festival '67 (1 Cut) Optimism Cd 2070
• Son House - 1965-1969 (Mostly Tv Appearances) Private Record Pr-01
• Son House - Father Of The Delta Blues : Complete 1965 Sony/Legacy Cd 48867
• Living Legends (1 Cut, 1966) Verve/Folkways 3010
• Real Blues (1 Cut, U Of Chicago, 1964) Takoma 7081
• John The Revelator - 1970 London Sessions Sequel Cd 207
• Great Bluesmen/Newport (2 Cuts, 1965) Vanguard Cd 77/78
• Blues With A Feeling (3 Cuts, 1965) Vanguard Cd 77005
• Son House/Bukka White - Masters Of The Country Blues Yazoo Video 500 :
• Delta Blues and Spirituals (1995)
• In Concert (Live) (1996)
• Live At Gaslight Cafe, 1965 (2000)
• New York Central Live (2003)
• Delta Blues (1941–1942) (2003) Biograph Cd 118
• Classic Blues from Smithsonian Folkways Smithsonian Folkways 40134 (2003)
• Classic Blues from Smithsonian Folkways, Vol. 2 Smithsonian Folkways 40148 (2003)
• The Very Best of Son House: Heroes of the Blues Shout! Factory 30251 (2003)
• Proper Introduction to Son House (2004) Proper

Tributes and covers

• Gary Moore covered the song "Sundown" on his 2007 album Close As You Get.
• French singer-songwriter Francis Cabrel referred to Son House in the song "Cent Ans de Plus" on his 1999 album Hors-Saison. Cabrel cited the artist as one of a number of blues influences, including Charley Patton, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Robert Johnson, Howlin' Wolf, Blind Blake, Willie Dixon and Ma Rainey.
• Clips of House talking about the blues were used in the movie Black Snake Moan.
• Andrew Bird covered House's song, "Grinnin' " on his live album, Fingerlings 3.
• The song "Rhythm and Blues Alibi" by Gomez mentioned Son House.
• Dick Waterman related that when The Rolling Stones met Howlin' Wolf in 1965, they asked who the older man with him was, toward whom Howlin' Wolf was so respectful. They were awestruck to hear it was Son House, whom they knew as "the man who taught Robert Johnson".^[8]
• "Swamp Music" by Lynyrd Skynyrd paid tribute to Son House.
• John Mellencamp covered "Death Letter" and "John the Revelator" on his Trouble No More album.
• Gov't Mule covered "John the Revelator" on their Dose album and "Grinnin' in your Face" on the Gov't Mule album.
• "Death Letter" was covered on The Derek Trucks Band album, Out of the Madness.^[5]
• Rob Jungklas has a number entitled "Drunk Like Son House" on the 2003 album Arkadelphia.
• The White Stripes self-titled debut album was dedicated to Son House and De Stijl featured a cover of "Death Letter".^[5]
• City & Colour covered the song "Grinnin' In Your Face" on numerous occasions, where lead singer Dallas Green performed the song a cappella.
• Rory Gallagher covered the song "Empire State Express" on his 1990 album Fresh Evidence
• Eamon McGrath frequently works a cover of "Death Letter Blues" into his live show.
• Cassandra Wilson covered the song "Death Letter" on her 1995 album New Moon Daughter.^[5]
• Depeche Mode use a reworking of John the Revelator on their 2005 album, Playing the Angel.
• Ash Grunwald covered "Grinnin' In Your Face" on his Introducing Ash Grunwald album.
• "Death Letter" has also been covered by David Johansen, Diamanda Galas and James Blood Ulmer.^[5]

References

1. ^ ^{a b} His date of birth is a matter of some debate. Son House himself alleged that he was middle aged during World War I, and, more specifically, that he was 79 in 1965, which would mean that he was born around 1886. However, all legal records place his birth on March 21, 1902.
2. ^ ^{a b} Bluesnet.hub.org for further information relating to House's age
3. ^ ^{a b} Davis, Francis The History of the Blues: The Roots, the Music, the People From Charlie Patton to Robert Cray. p. 106-109
4. ^ ^{a b} Obrecht, Jas. Son House's Deep Mississippi Delta Blues. Jas Obrecht Music Archive. Retrieved 5-20-11
5. ^ ^{a b c d e} Du Noyer, Paul (2003). The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Music (1st ed.). Fulham, London: Flame Tree Publishing. p. 160. ISBN 1-904041-96-5. 
6. ^ Rebecca Davis: Child is father to the man, How Al Wilson taught Son House to play Son House.- Blues Access 35 (1998), p. 40-43 (with photos by Dick Waterman) [1]
7. ^ Documentary It Might Get Loud, 2009.
8. ^ Son House, Howlin' Wolf, The Rolling Stones, Dick Waterman. Bill Wyman's Blues Odyssey (DVD released 2003). Snapper Studios. 

External links

• Son House book website
• Illustrated Son House discography
• Biography of Son House on Yahoo!Music
• Video clip of Son House performing
• Son House's gravesite
• "My Black Mama Part 1" MP3 file on The Internet Archive
• Mississippi Writers and Musicians Project of Starkville High School
• 1980 Induction into Blues Foundation Hall of Fame
• National Reso-phonic Guitar History, Part 3
• House Discography at Smithsonian Folkways
• Biography of Son House by Cub Koda at AllMusic
• Works by or about Son House in libraries (WorldCat catalog)

Persondata
Name	House, Son
Alternative names
Short description	American Delta blues musician
Date of birth	March 21, 1902
Place of birth	Riverton, Mississippi
Date of death	October 19, 1988
Place of death	Detroit, Michigan