Son House

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Clarksdale Moan , label of the only surviving copy, rediscovered in 2005

Son House (actually Eddie James House, Jr .; born March 21, 1902 in Riverton , Mississippi , † October 19, 1988 in Detroit , Michigan ) was an important blues singer and guitarist and influenced blues greats such as Robert Johnson and Muddy Waters .

Life

House was born on a plantation. As a teenager he turned to religion, and in his early twenties he was active as a Baptist pastor. However, he could not meet the moral requirements of the office, he drank a lot and had affairs with women. He spent some time in Louisiana in the early 1920s, but returned to Mississippi in 1926, discovered the blues, learned to play the guitar and played in juke joints and house parties , but he resigned.

In 1928 he shot a man - in self-defense , according to him - and was sentenced to forced labor at Parchman Farm , Mississippi State Prison, but was released a year later after re-examining the case. House moved to Lula, Mississippi, where he met Charley Patton and Willie Brown , with whom he often played together until Patton's death. Brown moved from Patton to House in 1930 as a sideman . In August 1930 House found the opportunity to take pictures for the first time. The recording session for Paramount Records was actually about Charley Patton's contract extension, but at the request of Art Laibley, Paramount's recording manager, Patton had brought more musicians with him, who all had the opportunity to record. Son House was able to record as well as Willie Brown, Louise Johnson and the gospel group Delta Big Four . House recorded eight tracks; all eight pieces were also published, but only a few copies of the records survived. The only existing copy of "Mississippi County Farm Blues" / "Clarksdale Moan" , the last still unknown of House's recordings for Paramount, which was long considered the "Holy Grail" of the blues, was only rediscovered after 75 years in September 2005 and re-released in 2006 .

In 1934, after the death of Charley Patton, he married his widow Bertha Lee that same year, with whom he lived until her death in the 1950s. In 1941 and 1942 Alan Lomax took him again for the Library of Congress. In 1943 House moved to Rochester , New York and withdrew from the blues.

After he was rediscovered in June 1964 by Dick Waterman, Nick Perls and Phil Spiro, Alan Wilson helped him to recreate the repertoire of songs that he had played and recorded in the 1930s and early 1940s but had since forgotten to work out. He performed at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965 and at the American Folk Blues Festival in Europe in 1967 . He went on tour in the USA and Europe and made recordings again from 1965, first for Columbia / CBS . As one of the few significant musicians of the pre-war blues still alive, he was also an important contemporary witness and was interviewed many times. In 1969 he was the subject of a documentary ("Son House").

For health reasons, Son House has not performed since 1971. In 1980 Son House was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame , and in 1997 into The Wire's legendary wirelist “100 Records That Set The World On Fire (While No One Was Listening)” . He died in Detroit in 1988, where he had lived since 1976.

plant

Son House played with such well-known musicians as Charley Patton , Willie Brown , Robert Johnson , Fiddlin 'Joe Martin and Leroy Williams .

Son House was not a virtuoso on the guitar; his playing was rhythmic, powerful and at times aggressive. This was complemented by his passionate, powerful and innovative presentation style. His religious stance found expression in his lyrics ("Preachin 'the Blues", "Judgment Day", "John the Revelator", "I Want to Live So God Can Use Me").

Discography

Albums

  • 1964: Blues from the Mississippi Delta Smithsonian Folkways Recordings
  • 1965: The Legendary Son House: Father of the Folk Blues Edsel
  • 1969: At Home: Complete 1969 Document
  • 1990: Complete Recorded Works of Son House & The Great Delta Blues Singers Document
  • 1992: Father Of The Delta Blues: The Complete 1965 Sessions Legacy
  • 1995: In Concert Magnum
  • 1995: Delta Blues and Spirituals [live] EMI Music Distribution
  • 2000: Live at Gaslight Cafe, 1965 Document
  • 2000: Complete Library Of Congress Sessions, 1941–1942 Travlin'Man
  • 2003: New York Central Live Acrobat
  • 2003: Heroes Of The Blues: The Very Best Of Son House Shout! Factory
  • 2005: King of the Delta Blues Fuel 2000

DVD

  • 1991: Masters Of The Country Blues - Son House And Bukka White

literature

  • Daniel Beaumont: Preachin 'the blues: the life and times of Son House , Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011, ISBN 978-0-19-539557-0

proof

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g Robert Santelli: The Big Book of Blues: A Biographical Encyclopedia. 1993, ISBN 0140159398 .
  2. ^ David Luhrssen: Blues in Wisconsin: The Paramount Records Story. In: Wisconsin Academy Review. 45, Winter 1998-1999, p. 21.
  3. ^ Edward Komura: Blues in the Round. In: Black Music Research Journal. Vol. 17, 1997.
  4. ↑ Rebecca Davis: Child is father to the man, How Al Wilson taught Son House to play Son House .- Blues Access 35 (1998), pp. 40–43 (with photos by Dick Waterman), PDF
  5. ^ CD Universe, All Music Guide

Web links

personal data
SURNAME House, son
ALTERNATIVE NAMES House, Eddie James Jr.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American blues musician
DATE OF BIRTH March 21, 1902
PLACE OF BIRTH Riverton , Mississippi
DATE OF DEATH October 19, 1988
Place of death Detroit , Michigan