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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
Product Description
(1965 'Columbia')(97:44/21) Nach seiner 'Wiederentdeckung': die kompletten CBS-Aufnahmen einschließlich 12 unveröffentlichter Titel. Vielleicht die besten Countryblues-Aufnahmen nach '45 / THE great Mississippi Delta blues singer and guitarist rediscovered! Contains 12 previously unreleased recordings. Digitally remastered. Sounds great.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
An important influence on Muddy Waters and also on Robert Johnson, this Delta blues legend recorded for Paramount Records in 1930 (A Proper Introduction to Son House: Delta Blues) and for Alan Lomax (The Complete Library of Congress Sessions 1941-1942). Rediscovered in the blues revival movement of the sixties, he still sang the blues the same way and was able to deliver astonishing performances such as the ones captured on this CD.
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
It sticks in my craw a little that you're as likely to hear Son House mentioned as an influence on Robert Johnson (or indeed Jack White) as you are to hear him mentioned in his own right. He had a more laid-back style of playing, but his voice is twice that of Johnson's. For my money, he's the best blues singer of all.
This collection, then, is a pleasing collection of the recordings he made after his re-discovery, and is well worth the purchase. Highlights include Death Letter Blues, a scintillating a capella Grinning In Your Face and Sundown. Download these, and if you like them you can buy this album knowing you won't be disappointed.
This collection, then, is a pleasing collection of the recordings he made after his re-discovery, and is well worth the purchase. Highlights include Death Letter Blues, a scintillating a capella Grinning In Your Face and Sundown. Download these, and if you like them you can buy this album knowing you won't be disappointed.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
23 reviews
71 of 74 people found the following review helpful
Skip the single disk version. Get the whole thing.
16 April 2002
Format:Audio CD
The problem is after listening to Son House everything else seems decidedly low-octane. Compared to something like Death Letter Blues, the so-called angst of the latest boy band isn't really something for a reasonable person to get worked up about.
His lyrics always obey the "show 'em, don't tell 'em" aesthetic. When he sings "Late in the evening, I went out on the outskirts of town; I choose me a seat, and watch the evening sun go down" you know exactly how he's feeling.
So Son House is a must. The only question is what to buy first. House recorded three main times: seven sides for Paramount in the 1930's, nineteen songs for Alan Lomax in the 1940's, and then this studio session in the 1960's. I'd say that this two disk version of the Vanguard stuff is essential. (I bought the single disk version and regretted it.) The complete Alan Lomax field recordings are on a disk called "Complete Library of Congress Recordings 1941-1942". The Paramount stuff is best heard on the Document CD "Complete Recorded Works". There are some other compilations (Delta Blues, Preachin' The Blues, etc.) but they don't give you the complete picture.
I'd say buy this Vanguard stuff first. As you move back in time the performances get more fiery, but the sound quality gets much, much worse. So start here until you get yourself acclimatized.
(Also check out his buddy Charley Patton.)
His lyrics always obey the "show 'em, don't tell 'em" aesthetic. When he sings "Late in the evening, I went out on the outskirts of town; I choose me a seat, and watch the evening sun go down" you know exactly how he's feeling.
So Son House is a must. The only question is what to buy first. House recorded three main times: seven sides for Paramount in the 1930's, nineteen songs for Alan Lomax in the 1940's, and then this studio session in the 1960's. I'd say that this two disk version of the Vanguard stuff is essential. (I bought the single disk version and regretted it.) The complete Alan Lomax field recordings are on a disk called "Complete Library of Congress Recordings 1941-1942". The Paramount stuff is best heard on the Document CD "Complete Recorded Works". There are some other compilations (Delta Blues, Preachin' The Blues, etc.) but they don't give you the complete picture.
I'd say buy this Vanguard stuff first. As you move back in time the performances get more fiery, but the sound quality gets much, much worse. So start here until you get yourself acclimatized.
(Also check out his buddy Charley Patton.)
34 of 35 people found the following review helpful
Desert Island CD of the first rank!
9 Feb 2005
Format:Audio CD
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.
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.
24 of 25 people found the following review helpful
Son House is the real deal. Listen and learn
3 Mar 2004
Format:Audio CD
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
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