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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 ZHOUSTON, Cisco(b Gilbert Vandine Houston, 18 Aug. '18, Wilmington DE; d 29 April '61, San Bernardino CA) Folksinger, guitarist. Raised on West Coast, learned guitar in high school, became itinerant during the Depression; travelled and sang with Woody Guthrie. Served in the Merchant Marine; then was active in the Almanac Singers (see the Weavers, Pete Seeger) and at the first Folkways recording sessions (CD Cisco Houston: The Folkways Years 1944--61 on Smithsonian/Folkways). Had one of several hit recordings on 'Rose, Rose, I Love You' '51, on Decca with Gordon Jenkins. During the '50s he performed at colleges and folk clubs, toured India with Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee for the State Department and ANTA (American National Theatre/Academy), performed in the UK and at the '60 Newport Folk Festival. He was one of those, like Guthrie and Seeger, who kept the flame of populist music burning when it was worth nothing commercially, living long enough before dying of cancer to see urban folk music make a new contribution to American popular culture, and to be admired by Bob Dylan, who met him while visiting Guthrie in New Jersey. LPs incl. American Folk Songs, Hard Traveling and Songs Of The Open Road on Folkways, Songs of Woody Guthrie and The Legendary Cisco Houston on Vanguard, Cisco Houston on Archive of Folk. Collected songs 900 Miles: The Ballads, Blues And Folksongs Of Cisco Houston published '65. With the advent of CD both the music of the past and its context received a fillip: That's Why We're Marching '96 on Smithsonian/Folkways placed Houston alongside Guthrie, the Almanacs, Josh White and others; he also featured in the unspeakably fascinating ten-CD anthology Songs For Political Action '96 on Bear Family, subtitled Folk Music, Topical Songs And The American Left 1926--1953, with a 200-page book examining that rocky road. |