Difference between revisions of "Son House" - New World Encyclopedia
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==Biography== | ==Biography== | ||
| + | [[Image:MSMap-doton-Clarksdale.png|right|150px|thumb|Location of Clarksdale, Mississippi]] | ||
===Early years=== | ===Early years=== | ||
The middle of seventeen brothers, Son 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 the blues. He taught himself guitar in his mid-20s after moving back to the Clarksdale area, inspired by the work of Willie Wilson. He began playing alongside [[Charley Patton]], [[Willie Brown (musician)|Willie Brown]], [[Robert Johson]], [[Fiddlin' Joe Martin]], and [[Leroy Williams]], around [[Robinsonville, Mississippi]] and north to [[Memphis, Tennessee]] until 1942. | The middle of seventeen brothers, Son 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 the blues. He taught himself guitar in his mid-20s after moving back to the Clarksdale area, inspired by the work of Willie Wilson. He began playing alongside [[Charley Patton]], [[Willie Brown (musician)|Willie Brown]], [[Robert Johson]], [[Fiddlin' Joe Martin]], and [[Leroy Williams]], around [[Robinsonville, Mississippi]] and north to [[Memphis, Tennessee]] until 1942. | ||
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===Second Career=== | ===Second Career=== | ||
| − | After a long search of the [[Mississippi Delta]] region by [[Nick Perls]], [[Dick Waterman]], and [[Phil Spiro]], he was "re-discovered" in June, 1964 in [[Rochester, New York]] where he had lived since 1943. House had been retired from the music business for many years. Working for the [[New York Central Railroad]], and was completely unaware of the international revival of enthusiasm for his early recordings. He subsequently toured extensively in the U.S. and Europe and recorded for CBS records. Like [[Mississippi John Hurt]], he was welcomed into the music scene of the 1960s and played at [[Newport Folk Festival]] in 1964, the [[New York Folk Festival]] in July, 1965, and the October, 1967 European tour of the [[American Folk Festival]] along with [[Skip James]] and [[Bukka White]]. He toured folk music houses throughout the U.S. in the late 60s, and in the summer of 1970, he toured Europe once again, including an appearance at the [[Montreux Jazz Festival]]. A recording of his London concerts was released by [[Liberty Records]]. | + | After a long search of the [[Mississippi Delta]] region by [[Nick Perls]], [[Dick Waterman]], and [[Phil Spiro]], he was "re-discovered" in June, 1964 in [[Rochester, New York]] where he had lived since 1943. House had been retired from the music business for many years. Working for the [[New York Central Railroad]], and was completely unaware of the international revival of enthusiasm for his early recordings. He subsequently toured extensively in the U.S. and Europe and recorded for CBS records. [[Image:Son-House-grave.jpg|thumb|250px|left|Son House' tombstone reads "Go away blues, and leave poor me alone.]] Like [[Mississippi John Hurt]], he was welcomed into the music scene of the 1960s and played at [[Newport Folk Festival]] in 1964, the [[New York Folk Festival]] in July, 1965, and the October, 1967 European tour of the [[American Folk Festival]] along with [[Skip James]] and [[Bukka White]]. He toured folk music houses throughout the U.S. in the late 60s, and in the summer of 1970, he toured Europe once again, including an appearance at the [[Montreux Jazz Festival]]. A recording of his London concerts was released by [[Liberty Records]]. |
Ill health plagued his later years, and in 1974 he retired again, later moving to [[Detroit, Michigan]], where he remained until his death from [[cancer]] of the [[larynx]]. He was buried at Mt. Hazel Cemetery on Lahser south of Seven Mile. Members of the Detroit Blues Society raised money through [[benefit concert]]s to put a fitting monument on his grave. He had been married five times. | Ill health plagued his later years, and in 1974 he retired again, later moving to [[Detroit, Michigan]], where he remained until his death from [[cancer]] of the [[larynx]]. He was buried at Mt. Hazel Cemetery on Lahser south of Seven Mile. Members of the Detroit Blues Society raised money through [[benefit concert]]s to put a fitting monument on his grave. He had been married five times. | ||
| − | House's innovative style featured very strong, repetitive rhythms, often played with the aid of a bottleneck, coupled with singing that owed more than a nod to the hollers of the [[chain gang]]s. The music of Son House, in contrast to that of artists such as [[Blind Lemon Jefferson]], was emphatically | + | ==Style== |
| + | [[Image:Fingandslide.jpg|thumb|250px|Resonator guitar played with a bottleneck]] | ||
| + | House's innovative style featured very strong, repetitive rhythms, often played with the aid of a bottleneck, coupled with singing that owed more than a nod to the hollers of the [[chain gang]]s. His singing remained strong and compelling well into to his second career. The music of Son House, in contrast to that of artists such as [[Blind Lemon Jefferson]], was emphatically dance music, often played on a [[resonator]] style guitar and meant to be heard in the noisy atmosphere of a barrelhouse or other dance hall. In his day, he was the leading exponent of the slide guitar style until Robert Johnson, his student, went beyond him. | ||
| − | Often overlooked in House's repertoire is a substantial body of religious music. Unlike some other bluesmen, Son House did not feel that he had to leave religion behind simply because he played the blues. | + | Often overlooked in House's repertoire is a substantial body of religious music. Unlike some other bluesmen, Son House did not feel that he had to leave religion behind simply because he played the blues. "The Bible is a good book to read," he told an audience in introducing his "John the Revelator." Even his straight blues performances often carried a moral and religious quality to them that other bluesmen lacked. "I'm going to change my way of living, so I won't have to cry no more," he said in "Death Letter." |
==Legacy== | ==Legacy== | ||
Son house was a major influence on the legendary Delta bluesman [[Robert Johnson]]. Johnson was still a teenager when he met house in the late 1920s. House was a pioneer of the slide guitar style that Johnson himself would come to epitomize. Indeed, House reported that did was not impressed with Johnson's musical ability at first, describing the future "King of the Delta blues" as "mouthy" and "a chatterbox." However, House also admitted that after learning the rudiments of his own style, Johnson left town for a few months and returned as a virtuoso. "Me and Willie (Brown) got up," he said, "and I gave Robert my seat. He set down... And when that boy started playing, and when he got through, all our mouths were standing open. All! He was ''gone''!" | Son house was a major influence on the legendary Delta bluesman [[Robert Johnson]]. Johnson was still a teenager when he met house in the late 1920s. House was a pioneer of the slide guitar style that Johnson himself would come to epitomize. Indeed, House reported that did was not impressed with Johnson's musical ability at first, describing the future "King of the Delta blues" as "mouthy" and "a chatterbox." However, House also admitted that after learning the rudiments of his own style, Johnson left town for a few months and returned as a virtuoso. "Me and Willie (Brown) got up," he said, "and I gave Robert my seat. He set down... And when that boy started playing, and when he got through, all our mouths were standing open. All! He was ''gone''!" | ||
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| − | |||
House claims that he tried to warn Johnson against going back out on the road, because of the rough life of a traveling bluesman. Later, House would contribute greatly to Johnson's legend by reported his own opinion that in Johnson had sold his soul to the Devil in order to gain his prowess on the guitar. Houses' song "Preachin' The Blues Part I & II" served as inspiration for Robert Johnson's '"Preaching Blues" and "Walking Blues." | House claims that he tried to warn Johnson against going back out on the road, because of the rough life of a traveling bluesman. Later, House would contribute greatly to Johnson's legend by reported his own opinion that in Johnson had sold his soul to the Devil in order to gain his prowess on the guitar. Houses' song "Preachin' The Blues Part I & II" served as inspiration for Robert Johnson's '"Preaching Blues" and "Walking Blues." | ||
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==External links== | ==External links== | ||
| + | *[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jN5vqEyV7g Death Letter video] | ||
| + | *[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZE5bjCNrPuw John the Revelator video] | ||
* [http://www.wirz.de/music/house.htm Illustrated Son House discography]. ''www.wirz.de''. Retrieved September 28, 2007. | * [http://www.wirz.de/music/house.htm Illustrated Son House discography]. ''www.wirz.de''. Retrieved September 28, 2007. | ||
* [http://music.yahoo.com/ar-252156-bio—Son-House Biography of Son House]. ''music.yahoo.com''. Retrieved September 28, 2007. | * [http://music.yahoo.com/ar-252156-bio—Son-House Biography of Son House]. ''music.yahoo.com''. Retrieved September 28, 2007. | ||
Revision as of 03:18, 4 October 2007
| Edward James "Son" House, Jr. | |
|---|---|
| Born | March 21 1902 (?) Riverton, Mississippi, U.S.A. |
| Died | October 19 1988 Detroit, Michigan, U.S.A. |
| Genre(s) | Delta blues Country blues Blues revival Slide guitar |
| Instrument(s) | Guitar |
| Years active | 1930 - 1974 |
Eddie James "Son" House, Jr. (March 21, 1902[1] – October 19, 1988) was an American blues singer and guitarist. A seminal Delta blues figure, House was an influential figure in the Delta blues in the 1920s and was a major influence on the playing and singing legendary bluesman Robert Johnson. He recorded for Paramount Records and the Library of Congress in the 1930s and early 40s, but retired from the music business for more than two decades until his rediscovery during the blues revival of the 1960s. He enjoyed substantial popularity in the late 60s until ill health forced him to stop performing. His guitar stylings and songs remain influential today.
Biography
Early years
The middle of seventeen brothers, Son 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 the blues. He taught himself guitar in his mid-20s after moving back to the Clarksdale area, inspired by the work of Willie Wilson. He began playing alongside Charley Patton, Willie Brown, Robert Johson, Fiddlin' Joe Martin, and Leroy Williams, around Robinsonville, Mississippi and north to Memphis, Tennessee until 1942.
After killing a man, allegedly in self-defense, he spent time at Parchman Farm in 1928 and 1929. The official story on the killing is that sometime around 1927 or 28, he was playing in a juke joint when a man went on a shooting spree. House was wounded in the leg, but shot the man dead. He received a 15-year sentence at Parchman Farm prison.[2]
House recorded for Paramount Records in 1930 and for Alan Lomax from the Library of Congress in 1941 and 1942. He then faded from public view until the country blues revival in the 1960s.
Second Career
After a long search of the Mississippi Delta region by Nick Perls, Dick Waterman, and Phil Spiro, he was "re-discovered" in June, 1964 in Rochester, New York where he had lived since 1943. House had been retired from the music business for many years. Working for the New York Central Railroad, and was completely unaware of the international revival of enthusiasm for his early recordings. He subsequently toured extensively in the U.S. and Europe and recorded for CBS records.
Like Mississippi John Hurt, he was welcomed into the music scene of the 1960s and played at Newport Folk Festival in 1964, the New York Folk Festival in July, 1965, and the October, 1967 European tour of the American Folk Festival along with Skip James and Bukka White. He toured folk music houses throughout the U.S. in the late 60s, and in the summer of 1970, he toured Europe once again, including an appearance at the Montreux Jazz Festival. A recording of his London concerts was released by Liberty Records.
Ill health plagued his later years, and in 1974 he retired again, later moving to Detroit, Michigan, where he remained until his death from cancer of the larynx. He was buried at Mt. Hazel Cemetery on Lahser south of Seven Mile. Members of the Detroit Blues Society raised money through benefit concerts to put a fitting monument on his grave. He had been married five times.
Style
House's innovative style featured very strong, repetitive rhythms, often played with the aid of a bottleneck, coupled with singing that owed more than a nod to the hollers of the chain gangs. His singing remained strong and compelling well into to his second career. The music of Son House, in contrast to that of artists such as Blind Lemon Jefferson, was emphatically dance music, often played on a resonator style guitar and meant to be heard in the noisy atmosphere of a barrelhouse or other dance hall. In his day, he was the leading exponent of the slide guitar style until Robert Johnson, his student, went beyond him.
Often overlooked in House's repertoire is a substantial body of religious music. Unlike some other bluesmen, Son House did not feel that he had to leave religion behind simply because he played the blues. "The Bible is a good book to read," he told an audience in introducing his "John the Revelator." Even his straight blues performances often carried a moral and religious quality to them that other bluesmen lacked. "I'm going to change my way of living, so I won't have to cry no more," he said in "Death Letter."
Legacy
Son house was a major influence on the legendary Delta bluesman Robert Johnson. Johnson was still a teenager when he met house in the late 1920s. House was a pioneer of the slide guitar style that Johnson himself would come to epitomize. Indeed, House reported that did was not impressed with Johnson's musical ability at first, describing the future "King of the Delta blues" as "mouthy" and "a chatterbox." However, House also admitted that after learning the rudiments of his own style, Johnson left town for a few months and returned as a virtuoso. "Me and Willie (Brown) got up," he said, "and I gave Robert my seat. He set down... And when that boy started playing, and when he got through, all our mouths were standing open. All! He was gone!"
House claims that he tried to warn Johnson against going back out on the road, because of the rough life of a traveling bluesman. Later, House would contribute greatly to Johnson's legend by reported his own opinion that in Johnson had sold his soul to the Devil in order to gain his prowess on the guitar. Houses' song "Preachin' The Blues Part I & II" served as inspiration for Robert Johnson's '"Preaching Blues" and "Walking Blues."
House's own slide playing, in fact, was rivaled only by Johnson; and his singing, if less nuanced than his protege's was more powerful. Having left far more recordings than Johnson did, his influence in some ways is even greater than Johnson's. The most successful slide players, from Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf in the 1950s, to the best white players of the next generation—Ry Cooder and Bonnie Raitt among them—all acknowledge a debt to him.
More recently, House's music has influenced rock groups such as 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 White Stripes also incorporated sections of a traditional song Son House recorded, John the Revelator, into the song Cannon from their eponymous debut album The White Stripes. Another musician deeply by Son House is John Mooney, both of whom learned from House was he was still living, as well as from his records.
Several of House's songs were recently figured in the motion picture soundtrack of "Black Snake Moan" (2006).
Discography
Son House's recorded works fall into four categories:
- A few (6-10 songs) recorded in 1930 for Paramount Records, for commercial release on 78s. "My Black Mama" parts 1 and 2 and Clarksdale Moan are among these.
- Alan Lomax's non-commercial recordings ("Library of Congress Sessions") in 1941 and 1942, a total of 19 songs.
- Studio recordings from 1965 and later following his "rediscovery."
- Live recordings, also from this period.
These have been collected, issued and reissued in a baffling array of ways.
Albums
- The Complete Library Of Congress Sessions (1964) Travelin' Man Cd 02
- Blues From The Mississippi Delta (W/Short) (1964) Folkways 2467
- The Legendary Son House: Father Of The Delta 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
- Proper Introduction to Son House (2004) Proper (contains everything recorded on years 1930, 1940 & 1941)
Notes
- ↑ His date of birth is a matter of some debate. Son House himself claimed 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.
- ↑ [1]. www.nationalguitars.com. Retrieved September 28, 2007.
External links
- Death Letter video
- John the Revelator video
- Illustrated Son House discography. www.wirz.de. Retrieved September 28, 2007.
- Biography of Son House. music.yahoo.com. Retrieved September 28, 2007.
- Video clip of Son House performing. www.cr.nps.gov. Retrieved September 28, 2007.
- "My Black Mama Part 1" MP3 file on The Internet Archive. www.archive.org. Retrieved September 28, 2007.
- The Mississippi Writers and Musicians Project of Starkville High School. www.shs.starkville.k12.ms.us. Retrieved September 28, 2007.
- 1980 Induction into Blues Foundation Hall of Fame. www.blues.org. Retrieved September 28, 2007.
- National Reso-phonic Guitar History, Part 3. www.nationalguitars.com. Retrieved September 28, 2007.
Credits
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