Eddie ‘Son’ House was a Delta Blues singer of deep intensity and dark passion. He started out working as a preacher but turned to blues performance in his mid-20s after which he quickly developed a unique style by applying the rhythmic drive, powerful delivery, and emotional intensity of his preaching to the newly learned idiom.
He became something of a mentor to Robert Johnson and Muddy Waters, having first recorded for Paramount in 1930, and then been recorded by the peripatetic Folklorist Alan Lomax in 1940 and 1942 for the Library of Congress. When reissued on album, this had greatly impressed young Blues fans such as Al Wilson as some of the deepest, toughest Delta Blues ever waxed.
By the time of the Blues revival in the early 1960s, it was assumed that Son House was dead, or at any rate lost beyond any hope of rediscovery and rehabilitation. After a lengthy search he was eventually tracked down to Rochester, New York. He hadn’t owned an instrument for years; moreover, he suffered from a hand tremor, compounded by alcoholism. House was about 62 years old by then, and had absolutely no idea that he had fans who were in awe of him.
It took some coaxing and cajoling led by the likes of Al Wilson but in April 1965, Son recorded this album for Columbia/ CBS, under the production auspices of John Hammond Senior. Hammond was an industry legend, having discovered and signed Billie Holliday and Bob Dylan. The resulting album, originally released as Father of the Folk Blues, and also reissued as Death Letter, is widely regarded as one of the finest albums of the ‘rediscovery’ era, and is nothing less than an essential example of the Delta Blues genre, helping to underscore Son House’s importance and his place in the Delta Blues pantheon.
TRACKS
CD1
1. Death Letter Blues
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
CD2
1. Death Letter Blues
2. Levee Camp Moan (Alternate Take
3. Grinnin' In Your Face (Alternate Version)
4. John The Revelator (Alternate Take)
5. Preachin' Blues (Alternate Take)
6. President Kennedy
7. A Down The Staff
8. Motherless Children
9. Yonder Comes My Mother
10. Shake It And Break It
11. Pony Blues
12. Downhearted Blues