Houston Stackhouse
Houston Stackhouse (born September 28, 1910 in Wesson , Mississippi , † September 23, 1980 in Helena , Arkansas ) was an American blues guitarist and harmonica player. He never had the great musical and commercial success of other blues musicians from the south, but he was a central figure of the blues scene, also as a mentor of many later successful artists.
Life
Houston Stackhouse was born as Houston Goff in Wesson. Stackhouse only got to know his origins when he applied for a passport in the 1970s. He grew up on the Randall Ford Plantation, where he took the name of his foster father James Wade Stackhouse. Around 1925 the family moved a little further north to Crystal Springs, where his musical development began. In addition to local musicians, he was influenced by the recordings of Blind Lemon Jefferson , Lonnie Johnson and Blind Blake . The first instrument he learned was the harmonica. His musical career began in the mid-1930s with performances with the Mississippi Sheiks , Robert Johnson, Charlie McCoy, Walter Vinson, and others in Mississippi, Arkansas, and Louisiana. The most ongoing collaborations have been with Carey “Ditty” Mason and his cousin Robert McCullum, better known as Robert Nighthawk , whom he taught to play guitar.
In 1946 he moved to Helena, Arkansas, where he played a year in Robert Nighthawks' band, who also taught him to play the guitar. From that time on he only played guitar. After their split, he played with drummer James “Peck” Curtis, guitarist Joe Willie Wilkins, and pianists Robert Traylor and Pinetop Perkins. In 1948 the harmonica player Sonny Boy Williamson II joined the band, and the band performed all over the Delta. Stackhouse has also performed with most of the blues musicians who came to Helena on their tours (e.g. Jimmy Rogers , Sammy Lawhorn - both of whom he taught on guitar - Elmore James , Earl Hooker , Willie Love , Ernest Lane, and Roosevelt Sykes ) . Between 1948 and 1954 he worked daytime as an automobile worker at Chrysler's West Memphis (Crittenden County) plant.
Unlike many other musicians, Stackhouse stayed in the south, working during the day and playing at night. Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, he appeared again and again with traveling musicians (Boyd Gilmore, Houston Boines, Frank Frost , Baby Face Turner and others). In 1965 Sonny Boy Williamson II returned to Helena and included Stackhouse in his band, which appeared on the King Biscuit Time radio show by KFFA, in May Chris Strachwitz of Arhoolie Records recorded the group and released the recordings under Williamson's name as " King Biscuit Time ". In 1967 two field recorders recorded Stackhouse, once under the name Blues Rhythm Boys (with Peck Curtis and Robert Nighthawk) and once with his longtime companion Carey “Ditty” Mason. After his death he moved to Memphis. In the 1970s he became part of the blues revival, played at festivals and toured with the King Biscuit Boys. In 1976 he even traveled to Vienna , where he recorded for Wolf Records . At the end of the 1970s, he withdrew from the music business and moved back to Helena. Here he died on September 23, 1980 in Helena Hospital.
To honor him, one of the five stages at the Arkansas Blues and Heritage Festival is named after him (Houston Stackhouse Acoustic Stage).
Discography
- Cryin 'Won't Help You (1994)
- Big Road Blues (1999)
- Masters of Modern Blues (Robert Nighthawk, Houston Stackhouse)
literature
- O'Neal, Jim and Amy van Singel, Eds .: The Voice of the Blues — Classic Interviews from Living Blues Magazine. New York. Routledge, 2002.
- Evans, David, CD liner notes for Big Road Blues, Wolf Records, 1999.
Individual evidence
- ^ Encyclopedia of Arkansas Houston Stackhouse
- ↑ Cascade Blues Houston Stackhouse ( Memento of the original from June 10, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Cascade Houston Stackhouse ( Memento of the original from June 10, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ Encyclopedia of Arkansas Houston Stackhouse
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Stackhouse, Houston |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Goff, Houston (real name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American blues musician |
| DATE OF BIRTH | September 28, 1910 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Wesson , Mississippi |
| DATE OF DEATH | September 23, 1980 |
| Place of death | Helena |