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Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular MusicA B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y ZHOUSE, Son(b Eddie James House Jr, 21 March '02, Riverton MS) Blues singer/guitarist. Born on a plantation; he was a Baptist pastor early '20s; turned to music c'27. Served time at Parchman State Farm '28--9; worked with Charley Patton '29; recorded for Paramount '30; test pressings were made for ARC '33 but the company chose Charlie Patton's; he was recorded for the Library of Congress '41--2 (later on Arhoolie); often worked outside music and was inactive in music '48--64 when he was rediscovered, his vitality unimpaired: having had one career in music playing and singing solely for blacks, he had another performing solely for whites at colleges and festivals, perhaps the greatest surviving delta bluesman. He played at Newport Folk Festivals '64 and '69 (released on Vanguard), recorded for Blue Goose (Real Delta Blues '64), played Carnegie Hall '65, recorded for Columbia '65, at Cafe A-Go-Go NYC '65--6 (portion released on Verve), made short film Son House '69, recorded for the Roots label '69; other records were available on Liberty (at London's 100 Club) and Transatlantic (with Stefan Grossman), both '70. Compilations have been available on Yazoo and Biograph. He was mostly inactive in the '70s because of poor health. |