Some Blues You Just have to Hear Series - Eddie James Son House

Eddie James “Son” House, Jr. was born in Riverton, Mississippi on March 21, 1902, the middle of three brothers. Around 1909 his parents separated and his mother and the three boys moved to Tallulah, Louisiana. House picked cotton as a teenager and by the age of 15 was preaching sermons in the Baptist Church. By the time he was 20, he was the pastor of a small country church south of Lyon. He left the church to follow a woman (10 years his senior) with whom he had been having an affair.

House was a self-taught guitarist who furthered his ability with the help of a little known local musician named James McCoy. He was inspired by the slide guitar work of Willie Wilson. He developed quickly as a guitarist and within a year was playing with Delta musician Rube Lacy.

In 1928 during a party House shot and killed a man, claiming self-defense, after the man shot him in the leg. He was sentenced to 15 years at Parchman Farm Prison but was released after just 2 years when a Clarksdale judge re-examined the case. The judge advised him to leave the area and he moved to Lula where he met bluesman Charley Patton. In 1930 Patton, House, Willie Brown (guitarist) and Louise Johnson (pianist) gathered in Grafton, Wisconsin for a recording session with Paramount Records.

House continued playing solo and with Brown and Patton (died in 1934) during the thirties. After moving to Robinsonville, Mississippi, he met a young Robert Johnson. After Johnson learned to play the guitar, he began playing with House and Brown, picking up some of their styles. In 1941 House, Brown, Joe Martin, and Leroy Williams were recorded by folklorist Alan Lomax for the Library of Congress. House did not make another commercial record until the “blues revival of the 1960s.

In 1943, House moved to Rochester, New York and worked for the New York Central Railroad. He worked outside of music for sixteen years. In the early and mid 1960s he started playing again. That led to touring and more recording. Among the artists who were influenced by him were Muddy Waters, Robert Johnson, Howlin’ Wolf, Elmore James, and Robert Nighthawk.

From the early 1970s, House was plagued by ill health. His playing became infrequent and then stopped all together in 1974. He moved to Detroit, Michigan and lived out the rest of his life. Son House died on October 19, 1988 from cancer of the larynx. He was buried at the Mt. Hazel Cemetery and members of the Detroit Blues Society held benefit concerts to raise money to put a fitting monument on his grave.