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Music CD - Son House: Father of the Delta Blues: The Complete 1965 Sessions
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Music CD: Father of the Delta Blues: The Complete 1965 Sessions
Artist: Son House
List Price: $19.98
Our Price: $13.75
Your Save: $ 6.23 ( 31% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Sony
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Tracks:
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1. Death Letter
2. Pearline
3. Louise McGhee
4. John The Revelator
5. Empire State Express
6. Preachin' Blues
7. Grinnin' In Your Face
8. Sundown
9. Levee Camp Moan
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Binding: Audio CD
EAN: 0074644886726
Label: Sony
Manufacturer: Sony
Number Of Discs: 2
Publisher: Sony
Release Date: 1992-06-30
Studio: Sony
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: The Father of the Delta Blues
Comment: I`ve written reviews for releases by Charley Patton and Robert Johnson,the importance of those recordings are well understood and that leads us to Edward"Son"House.Although others made their mark no one had more influence over the blues scene in the 30`s than this man.A combination of preacher and bluesman,Son was always in conflict because of his secular upbringing and the freedom and experiences that being a traveling blues singer could and did offer.
Although he only recorded a few sides in the early 30`s and then again in the early 40`s,that was it.Soon after he moved up north taking a job as a porter on the railways of the northeast.Fast forward to the early 60`s when he was tracked down and asked to perform,which he did,basically re-learning the guitar and then landing gigs at coffee houses and colleges then later festivals around the U.S. and Europe.In 1965 when he recorded these tracks he was at the height of his powers....with a hard often violent playing style and powerful voice he brought the delta blues style he helped create into the present with powerful performances of such classics as Death Letter,Grinnin in Your Face,Preachin Blues,Pony Blues and the list goes on.
With sound quality as an excuse for not wanting to listen to recordings of 78`s from 60 or 70 years ago,these discs are of the highest fidelity so the choice is yours.
Essential and worth every penny,you should make this part of your collection....the blues has never sounded better than this.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Desert Island CD of the first rank!
Comment: The Blues- either you get it or you don't. If you're one of the ones who does and you don't have this, then you need to stop whatever you're doing and get this. NOW. It's just that damn good. It's just that damn great! This is one of the CDs that gets me through the high times, the low times and all time in-between.
For me it ultimately comes down to two guys: Skip James and Son House. The two embody the differing poles of early blues aesthetic: James' eerie falsetto keen, odd/moribund lyrics (I'd rather be the Devil) minor key-tuned guitar and intricate finger work, under-stated and introspective; then you got House's deep and (utterly masculine) hollerin' vocals, his combative slide work on his National Steel resonator, his frenetic performances- visceral.
Both men had a deeply spiritual bent.
Now then, there are purists and then there are PURISTS. Some reviewers may say that the later Son House (these studio recordings) is lacking the ferocity and skill and power/delivery of his earlier self (the Lomax Library of Congress recordings and the Paramount recordings from the 30's). They may be right but I don't think so. I'm not knocking his earlier recordings- I swear by everything the man did. It's a tradeoff, basically- sound quality vs. intensity is one way of putting it, though, again I disagree: I think the man was just as gigantic on these two CDs as he was back in the day... And you can tell that his soul, his voice, his anima, had been tempered by the passing years. His intensity seems focused and buttressed to me, not worn out. He sounds like the most alive man I have ever heard.
These two CDs beyond are great, though I like the first better. The classic, "Preachin Blues," puts fire in your guts. "Death Letter," (maybe the best blues tune ever crafted) is jilting and hair-raising. Both takes. The same for "Levee camp Moan." The a capella versions of "John the Revelator" are marvelous. "Louise McGhee" is sublime.
Now- On some of the later alternate takes, House loses a bit of luster... The man coughs a little towards the end, but so what. Alan Wilson's harp never gets in the way, and works well. The Charley Patton cover is a fine time.
I've blathered about enough. I hope I've persuaded you a little- read on. My two cents: All of this is essential. ALL. You just don't hear stuff this good. It will have you humming along, singing at work, tapping your foot. It will make you want to learn to play the blues (and there's hope for you! Incidentally, House didn't learn guitar 'til he was 24- picked it up in a matter of weeks, so they say).
Pick this up.
Customer Rating:
Summary: HoosierDaddy
Comment: When it comes to the delta blues,this is it!Son House(Eddie James House Jr.)These recordings are a major plus for your collection.I'm trying too find the words to express this review but I can't, just buy it and injoy!
Customer Rating:
Summary: Son House is the real deal. Listen and learn
Comment: Son House taught Robert Johnson the slide blues. Son House taught Muddy Waters. When Son House started performing at Blues festivals again in the mid 1960s, some of Muddy's younger band members would start to go off for a smoke or whatever when the old man came on stage. Muddy wouldn't let them. Muddy Waters would tell all his band members to be quiet and pay attention when the man played because even compared with Muddy, this was the real deal. Rediscovered in Rochester, New York, relearning to play the guitar, (how this country abuses the masters that come from its people, particularly its Black people), put back on the stage by the folk revival's blues section. People outside of the blues life focus on the guitar playing or the rhythm of the singing, but where the power comes from is the feeling and the words that are put together, the life and the meaning of the blues. Son House in his youth and his old age, on this and his other sides, always gave it.
So Like Muddy Waters, I would like you to know that
Son House is the real deal.
Listen and learn
Customer Rating:
Summary: Essential listening of the highest order
Comment: First of all, this is not a pop record. I give it five stars, not because it makes you want to dance and party all night long, but because these recordings are so incredibly intense and so essential to anyone who want to learn about the origins of modern popular music.
Son House was an elderly gentleman in his sixties when these recordings were made, in the spring of 1965 in New York City. Some of these songs were first recorded in 1930, and most people claim that these "rediscovery" recordings do not quite match the power and ferocity of House's earlier sides.
Maybe they don't, quite, and maybe Son House's guitar playing has slowed down a bit, although his health was still quite good when these songs were comitted to tape.
But to me this is still the best place to start. The sound is clean an clear, unlike House's 1941-42 recordings and very much unlike his original 1930 Paramount masters. Son's voice is clear and strong, without the slur that marrs some of his 60s and 70s recordings. And his guitar playing is solid and powerful.
Most of these tracks features just Son House and his large steel-bodied National guitar, played usually with a metal slide, but on a few cuts, House is accompanied by Alan Wilson (later of Canned Heat) on either guitar or harmonica. This pairing works especially well on the 9½-minute "Levee Camp Moan" where Wilson plays harmonica fills which bolster the sound without ever becoming obtrusive.
This man is without a doubt the most intense performer I have ever heard, overshadowing even the might of the Howlin' Wolf. Son House's voice cuts through the air like a knife, belying his age, and he plays his guitar like a stringed drum, snapping the strings and coaxing mornful wails from the copper slide.
The nine tracks on disc 1 were the ones originally issued. They feature the incredible intensity of "Death Letter" and "Grinnin' In Your Face", the powerful call-and-response slide guitar workout "Pearline", and of course "Preachin' Blues", "John The Revelator" and the epic "Levee Camp Moan".
Disc 2 contains alternate takes of all of these tracks, plus several previously unissued recordings such as House's rendition of Charley Patton's "Shake It And Break It" and the tracitionals "Motherless Children" and "Yonder Comes My Mother (when the roll is called up yonder)", as well as a re-recording of "Pony Blues" and Son House originals "Downhearted Blues" and "'A' Down The Staff".
The fact that this two-disc set features several alternate takes, and a total of 21 songs, should deter no-one. This is one of the very few totally essential albums for anyone with even the remotest interest in traditional Delta blues, and this is the very best place to start appreciating the power and glory of the great Son House.
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Editorial Reviews:
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According to legend, it was Son House's blistering bottleneck guitar that prompted Robert Johnson to pick up a six string. House's potent early recordings from 1930 and 1941 to 1942 showcased his raw, emotionally powerful style, but never received the acclaim of Johnson's. When he was rediscovered during the '60s blues revivalist movement, House's voice still possessed wall-shaking intensity and his idiosyncratic slide guitar still had bite. These 21 recordings (including five alternate takes) offer superior fidelity and significant room for House to stretch out. The first disc features his classic "Preachin' Blues," a stirring a capella "Grinning in Your Face," and a nine-minute "Levee Camp Moan," with Canned Heat's Al Wilson on harp. Disc two (outtakes and alternates) includes an odd homage to President Kennedy and a riveting version of the spiritual "Motherless Children." --Marc Greilsamer
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