Track Listing

1. Death Letter
2. Pearline
3. Louise Mcghee
4. John The Revelator
5. Empire State Express
6. Preachin' Blues
7. Grinnin' In Your Face
8. Sundown
9. Levee Camp Moan
10. Pony Blues
11. Downhearted Blues
12. Motherless Children
13. President Kennedy
14. Yonder Comes My Mother

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #28593 in Music
• Released on: 1998-07-20
• Number of discs: 1

CD Description
Eddie James "Son" House, Jr. was originally legendary in blues circles for a small collection of live field recordings made by folklorist Alan Lomax in 1941 and 1942--and for having taught some important licks to both Robert Johnson and Muddy Waters. But much of his present blues immortality rests on 21 tracks recorded in 1965, after his "rediscovery" on the college blues circuit. Son House showed worshipful youngsters how his modal acoustic blues and stabbing style of bottleneck slide guitar, heard to best advantage on tracks like the chilling "Death Letter", earned him the title "Father of the Delta Blues".
The first nine tracks on THE ORIGINAL DELTA BLUES were issued in 1965 as THE LEGENDARY SON HOUSE, which has been repackaged endlessly under various titles. Theremaining two inclusions are outtakes from those sessions that previously appeared on the 1992's FATHER OF THE DELTA BLUES compilation.

Customer Reviews

Mississippi blues by the master
When the Mississippi blues giant, Eddie 'Son' House was rediscovered in 1964 he was 62 years old and had given up music some 16 years previously. Practice soon restored much of his original mastery and he was signed up the following year by John Hammond for a Columbia Records session. The LP that emerged comprised the first nine of these tracks, and represented a powerful come-back, with stand-out numbers 'Death Letter', 'Empire State Express', and 'Levee Camp Moan', as well as the unaccompanied 'John The Revelator'.

In 1992 a double CD was released, with the original nine tracks supplemented by an additional seven unreleased titles as well as five alternate takes. But what should have been an occasion for celebration turned out to be disappointing in the extreme. The new material was a pale shadow of that previously issued, and many critics thought it would have been better left in the vaults.

The present single CD includes just five of the originally unreleased titles, and so offers some kind of compromise, with the worst of the 'new' material being omitted. Of that retained, perhaps 'Pony Blues' disappoints the most. The delivery is extremely hesitant and stumbling, in direct contrast to Son's superb 1942 recording of this classic that he learned from his old friend Charley Patton. 'Motherless Children' suffers in the same way, and Son coughs and wheezes his way through a depressing version of 'Downhearted Blues'. Only 'President Kennedy', to the same melody as his 1942 'American Defense', and 'Yonder Comes My Mother' with, presumably, the added guitar of Al Wilson, in any way compare with the quality and power of the first nine tracks which more than justify the purchase of this mid-price CD.

The real stuff
Son House - the true founder of the Delta Blues and Robert Johnson's mentor. This album is from 1965, after his "rediscovery" by white folk fans, but his powers are as awesome as ever. The material is of variable quality, but the a capella versions of "John the Revelator" and "Grinnin' in Your Face" are effective in their starkness, and the opening track, "Death Letter Blues", is one of the most emotionally charged blues recordings of all time. House was not the greatest guitarist ever, but with this power it hardly matters. If you want to know why Robert Johnson sold his soul to the Devil, this is the place to go. "The Original Delta Blues", all right - it doesn't get any more real than this.

Short but sweet
Well, maybe "sweet" isn't the right word, but Columbia/Legacy's "The Original Delta Blues" is a really fine distillation of the label's double-disc set "Father Of The Delta Blues", containing 11 highlights from that comprehensive overview of blues legend Eddie "Son" House's 60s recordings.

These 55 minutes of music feature Son House and his National steel guitar, and Columbia have managed to include all of House's essential 60s songs.
The powerful a capella spiritual "John The Revelator" is here, as is the slashing slide guitar workout "Pearline", the sarcastic "Preachin' Blues", the bitterness of "Grinnin' In Your Face", and the fantastic 9 1/2-minute "Levee Camp Moan" with Canned Heat's Alan Wilson playing great harmonica fills behind House's clanging, percussive guitar riffs.

And then there's the awesome, razor-edged "Death Letter" ("I got a letter this morning / say, what d'y'reckon it read? / Said hurry, hurry, the gal you love is dead").
Music journalist Ted Drozdowski of the Boston Phoenix once wrote something like this about House:
"The voice of the great Son House not only sounds as though it could split the earth asunder, it is also the voice of a soul utterly alone".

I couldn't have said it better myself. Which is why I steal Mr Drozdowski's line.