Delta Blues [Biograph] Son House Artist

This single-disc set collects {|Son House|}'s {|Library of Congress|} sessions for {|Alan Lomax|} in 1940 and 1941, and {|House|}'s huge rasping voice and vibrant slide guitar style are everywhere here, both on the solo selections and on a handful of... Read more

This single-disc set collects {|Son House|}'s {|Library of Congress|} sessions for {|Alan Lomax|} in 1940 and 1941, and {|House|}'s huge rasping voice and vibrant slide guitar style are everywhere here, both on the solo selections and on a handful of African-American {|string band|} pieces that find friends {|Leroy Williams|} (harmonica), {|Fiddlin' Joe Martin|} (mandolin), and {|Willie Brown|} (guitar) lending a hand. These intimate {|field recordings|}, which were tracked at Clack's Store near Cormorant, Mississippi, combined with {|House|}'s complete {|Paramount|} recordings from 1930, which amounted to three brilliant double-sided 78s ({|My Black Mama,|} {|Preachin' the Blues,|} and {|Dry Spell Blues|}), form the true heart of {|House|}'s recorded legacy, since his rediscovery sides for {|Columbia|} in the '60s catch him, quite honestly, with diminishing powers. {|Catfish Records|} got it exactly right by combining everything here with {|House|}'s powerfully dynamic {|Paramount|} 78s for 2000s {|Preachin' the Blues|} collection, and it remains the only truly essential {|Son House|} purchase. ~ Steve Leggett Less