Son House

Genres:	Blues • Music Videos & Concerts • Pop / Rock
Descriptive "tags":	blues • delta blues • classic blues • country blues • folk
Decades Active:	1960s • 1970s • 1980s • 1990s • 2000s
Links online:	BBC Music • IMDb • Wikipedia

Biography

Eddie James House Jnr., 21 March 1902, Riverton, Mississippi, USA, d. 19 October 1988, Detroit, Michigan, USA. Brought up in a religious home, Son House was drawn to the ministry in his youth, and took up the guitar, and the blues, as late as 1927. Throughout his life there was to be a tension between his religious feelings and his secular way of life (including the playing of blues). In 1928 he served a year in jail for manslaughter (in self-defence). In 1930, he met Charley Patton at Lula, where he was spotted by a Paramount talent scout. House, Patton, Willie Brown and Louise Johnson travelled north to a memorable recording session, at which House recorded three two-part blues (together with one untraced record, and a test located in 1985). All were the work of an extraordinary musician. House was no virtuoso, but he brought total conviction to his performances: his ferocious, barking voice, driving bass ostinato, and stabbing bottleneck phrases blended into an...

Read the Full Biography of Son House