Son House

Who Is He?

Son House (born Eddie James House Jr. near Lyon, Mississippi, in 1902) is one of the primal forces of the Delta blues. He played with a ferocity that few could match: a steel-bodied guitar slashed with a slide, a stomping rhythm, and a huge, cracked voice that carried the cadence of the preacher he once was and never entirely stopped being.

Two things make him singular. First, the intensity: House did not play the blues so much as testify it, and his recordings feel less like performances than confessions wrung out of a man. Second, the reach: he was a mentor and peer to the giants who shaped everything after him, and his fingerprints are on the blues that flowed down to rock and roll.

He recorded for Paramount in 1930, for the Library of Congress in the early forties, then disappeared for twenty years before folk-revival fans found him again in 1964. To understand where the blues comes from, you start here.

The Story

House's life was a long tug of war between the church and the blues, between salvation and the Saturday night. That tension is the engine of his music, and it runs through every chapter of a story that nearly ended in silence.

1. 1902–1927

   The young preacher

   Raised on the church, House became a Baptist preacher as a young man and long saw the blues as the devil's music. He came to the guitar late, in his mid-twenties, already carrying the fervor of the pulpit into every note.

2. 1930

   The Paramount sessions

   Traveling with Charley Patton, House cut a handful of sides for Paramount, among them "Preachin' the Blues" and "Dry Spell Blues." Fierce and hypnotic, they are now cornerstones of the Delta canon, though they sold poorly at the time.

3. 1941–1942

   The Library of Congress

   Folklorist Alan Lomax found House in Mississippi and recorded him for the Library of Congress, capturing him at the height of his powers on songs like "Death Letter" in embryo and "Government Fleet Blues." Then the trail went cold.

4. 1943–1963

   The vanished years

   House drifted north to Rochester, New York, left music almost entirely, and worked ordinary jobs. For two decades he was a name on old records, presumed by many to be long gone.

5. 1964

   The rediscovery

   A trio of young blues enthusiasts tracked House down in Rochester and coaxed him back to the guitar. Rusty at first, he quickly regained his fire and became a star of the folk-revival circuit.

6. 1965

   Father of Folk Blues

   Signed to Columbia, House recorded the sessions released as Father of the Delta Blues, definitive latter-day versions of "Death Letter," "Grinnin' in Your Face," and "John the Revelator" that introduced him to the world all over again.

7. 1974–1988

   The final years

   Declining health ended his performing in the mid-seventies. He died in Detroit in 1988, by then widely honored as a founding father of the blues and an inspiration to the rock musicians who had studied his records.

Start Here

House's catalog is small but towering. These four performances are the fastest way to feel the force of the man, from the slashing slide of "Death Letter" to the a cappella sermon of "Grinnin' in Your Face." Watch in order.

The Albums 3 to start with

House's recorded legacy comes in three great waves: the pre-war 78s, the Library of Congress field recordings, and the 1965 comeback. These three collections gather them. The rust-topped card is the best place to begin.

The Playlists

Two setlists: a First Listen of the signature performances to bring you in, and a Deep Cuts set of the pre-war sides and field recordings for when you want to sink into the roots. (Ideally, though, hear these collections whole.) Hit the button on either card to search it out.

Key Collaborators & Context

House was a largely solo performer, but his story is bound up with the Delta circle he came from, the labels and folklorists who caught him on record, and the young men who brought him back.

• Charley PattonDelta mentor and peerThe towering first star of the Delta blues, who brought House along to the 1930 Paramount session and shaped the world House stepped into
• Willie BrownGuitar partnerHouse's closest musical companion for years, a second guitar behind him on records and at countless Delta dances and juke joints
• Paramount RecordsPre-war labelCut House's first sides in 1930, the fierce 78s that became foundational Delta blues despite selling poorly in the Depression
• Alan LomaxFolklorist, Library of CongressSought House out in Mississippi in 1941 and 1942 and preserved his field recordings for the national archive
• Waterman, Spiro & PerlsThe 1964 rediscoverersThe young blues devotees Dick Waterman, Phil Spiro, and Nick Perls, who tracked House down in Rochester and returned him to the stage

Influences

House stood at a crossroads of the Delta blues, learning from the men beside him and passing the fire down to those who followed. These are the peers who shaped him and the giants he shaped in turn.

Interviews

The rediscovered House was a vivid talker, happy to reminisce about Patton, the Delta, and the long years away from music. The filmed footage from his folk-revival years is the best window into the man.

Going Deeper

Once the landmark recordings have you, House opens onto the whole world of the pre-war Delta and the folk revival that saved it.

• The Paramount 78s. the fierce 1930 sides, "Preachin' the Blues," "Dry Spell Blues," "My Black Mama," the raw bedrock of everything House became.
• The Library of Congress recordings. Alan Lomax's early-forties field sessions, House at his most unguarded, cut far from any studio in the heart of the Delta.
• The wider Delta circle. the records of Charley Patton and Willie Brown, the world House came from, and Robert Johnson and Muddy Waters, the world he helped create.
• The rediscovery live sets. concert and festival recordings from 1964 onward, where a man in his sixties plays with the force of the young preacher he had been.

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