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Son House - Heroes of the Blues: The Very Best of Son House Audio CD

A fair review of the Son House "Heroes of the Blues: The Very Best of Son House" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Son House reviews here, or go back to the Son House tabs.

Son House Band: Son House
Title: Heroes of the Blues: The Very Best of Son House
Rating:
Release Date: 2003-09-09
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: My Black Mama Part 1 2: Walking Blues (Unissued Test) 3: Dry Spell Blues 4: Country Farm Blues 5: Levee Camp Blues 6: Walking Blues 7: Shetland Pony Blues 8: Delta Blues 9: Special Rider Blues 10: Depot Blues 11: American Defense 12: Am I Right Or Wrong 13: Walking Blues (Death Letter) 14: Grinnin' In Your Face 15: Empire State Express 16: John The Revelator

Doin' The Devil's Work
Hurt was `discovered' in the early 1960's by young, mainly white, folk singers looking to find the roots of American music. I recently reviewed Mississippi John Hurt's The Last Sessions in this space. Well, Hurt was not the only old black country blues player `discovered' during that period. There is a now famous still picture (as well as well as video performance clip, I wonder if it is on YouTube?) of Hurt along with the legendary Skip James and the musician under review Son House jamming at the Newport Folk Festival in 1963. That was a historic (and probably one of the last possible) moments to hear these legends of country blues in one spot together.

And why was House on that stage with Hurt and James? Well, the short answer is that old flailing National steel guitar. However, the real answer is that like Hurt he represented a piece of American music that was fast fading away, at least in its original form -the country blues. Can anyone beat the poignancy of Death Letter Blues or bitterness of Levee Moan? Or when House gets preachy on John the Revelator and other old time religious songs of shout and response. The tension between being a preacher man and doing the `devil's work (playing the blues) is more clearly felt in House's work than in Hurt's.

House's repertoire is not as extensive as Hurt's and there is a little sameness of some of the lyrics but when he is hot watch out. There is another famous film clip of him alone flailing away at the guitar almost trance-like, sweating buckets doing Death Letter sitting down in a chair on stage under the hot lights. That is the scene you want to evoke when you listen to these selections. And do listen.


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Listen & Learn, Son House is for Real Are You?
Son House taught Muddy Waters. Son House taught Robert Johnson the slide blues. 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, House made recordings that reproduced his old masterpies, with a wrier sense of meaning than before.

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.


Great Music
In fact that series has inspired me to check out several new artists, but Son House has to be the most versatile and interesting. I was introduced to Son House through npr's series on the blues.

My only real problem with this album involves the production values. I have to assume that the intent on the earlier tracks was to give the listener some of the experience of listening to scratchy old 78's-- when I was child we still had an old victrola so I've already had that experience. Now I would rather hear the music than the hiss and pop of the needle.


Good overview, but not the best possible track selection
That's a big plus, and this is great music, but I would still recommend the "Martin Scorsese Presents The Blues" album, which has a stronger track list. Like the "Martin Scorsese Presents The Blues" volume dedicated to Son House, this CD includes songs from House's entire career.

This CD includes several of Son House's most legendary songs, including the superb early-40s Library of Congress version of "Walking Blues", the a capella spiritual "John The Revelator", and the awesome "Death Letter". But it misses out on key tracks like "Levee Camp Moan", "Preachin' Blues", and the slide guitar-fest "Pearline", and even though no Son House-collection can merit less than four stars, this is not one of the best.


New to Son House? This is the place to start...
This 'best of' collection wonderfully captures glimpses of the three major periods of House's career: his debut 1930 Paramount session, his early 1940s field recordings made by Alan Lomax and his rediscovery in the 1960s. Eddie 'Son' House was one of the most intense and commanding of the early Mississippi Delta bluesmen, and he was also one of the greatest. With informative notes by Mark Humphrey and Robert Crumb's distinctive cover artwork, the set is a loving tribute to one of the genre's greatest and most powerful voices.


You can see a complete list of all Son House discography, or go back to the Son House tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.

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