Son House - Revisited (2002) 2CD FLAC

Son House - Revisited (2002) 2CD FLAC

Revisited is a double-disc of live Son House recordings from the Mississippi delta blues legend's twilight years on the folk revival circuit. Disc one is a mid-'60s performance at Oberlin College; after a scholarly introduction by his then-manager Dick Waterman, House starts out in fine form, prefacing each song with long, discursive monologues that touch on a variety of topics. Highlights include terrific versions of his signature songs "Death Letter" and "Levee Camp Moan," but there's also a couple of extended tracks that wander fruitlessly, the nadir being the 10-minute "Son's Blues," a disjointed, tuneless mumble that sounds like House, a notorious imbiber, was half off his head. Disc two, recorded in 1965 at New York's Gaslite, suffers from very poor sound quality, and the performances tend more toward the distracted and half-baked. These discs are a belated official release of two long bootlegged concerts, but while the sound quality is improved (especially on the first disc), it can't be called genuinely good. With that caveat, fans will find this a worthwhile historical curio.

Eddie James "Son" House, Jr. (March 21, 1902 - October 19, 1988) was an American blues singer and guitarist, noted for his highly emotional style of singing and slide guitar playing. He was one of the most influencial Delta Blues artists

In 1964, a group of young white record collectors discovered House, who they knew of from his records issued by Paramount and by the Library of Congress. With their encouragement, he relearned his style and repertoire and enjoyed a career as an entertainer to young white audiences in the coffee houses, folk festivals and concert tours of the American folk music revival billed as a "folk blues" singer. He recorded several albums, and some informally taped concerts have also been issued as albums

Track Listing

Disc 1 - (Oberlin College)

1. Introduction By Dick Waterman
2. Monologue By Son House
3. Levee Camp Moan
4. Monologue By Son House
5. Death Letter
6. Monologue By Son House
7. Empire State Express
8. Monologue By Son House
9. Grinnin 'In Your Face
10. Monologue By Son House
11. Preachin 'The Blues
12. Monologue By Son House
13. Son's Blues
14. Levee Camp Moan Version 2
15. Monologue By Son House
16. John The Revelator

Disc 2 - (Gaslight Cafe / Wabash College)

1. Pony Blues
2. Motherless Children
3. Preachin The Blues
4. This Little Light of Mine
5. Son's Blues
6. I Shall Not Be Moved
7. Levee Camp Moan
8. Empire State Express
9. Pearline
10. Yonder Comes My Mother
11. Louise McGhee

Early blues afectionados, will want to check out this site. http://www.wirz.de/music/housefrm.htm