Search - Son House :: Live at the Gaslight Cafe NYC 1965

A must have for the avid fan of Son House.........

Brian Kerecz | PA, USA | 09/18/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Eddie James "Son" House was born in 1902 and was one of the earliest blues musicians in the 1920's playing with Charlie Patton and even serving as an early mentor to Robert Johnson until Johnson left town and "sold his soul to the devil" for his amazing skills.



It is amazing that with such a paucity of recordings, this Baptist bluesman's status could forever be forged in the annals of American music as legendary. Son House recorded a mere 7 Paramount sides in 1930, some field recordings by Alan Lomax in 1941 & 1942, and some sessions in 1965 after his "rediscovery." He put the guitar down around 1942 because, as he stated in an interview in the 1960's, all of his friends were dying, from Charlie Patton to Robert Johnson......he simply thought he would be next if he kept on playing. And so he put his guitar down for 20 plus years.



Outside of the three times he officially recorded in the field or in studio sessions, there is not a lot of material for the avid fan of Son House. Luckily for us, we have recordings such as "Live at the Gaslight in 1965." He may not have the white-hot intensity of the 1930 Paramount sessions, but the intensity is there nonetheless. And we are witness to a soft spoken Son House as he talks very softly between songs.......for me, this is what I enjoy the most even though the music is fantastic. He doesn't say much, but his soft spoken words contrast starkly with his singing and presence. Listening to this album is like finding a treasure, a treasure to be savored and enjoyed partly because it is a testament to one of the all time great names in the genre of the blues. And partly because sadly, there is simply a dearth of recordings by Son House. When the audience applauds in gentle claps, you get the distinct impression that they do not know how great the figure in front of them will ultimately prove to be.



Enjoy the songs on this album.....they were made by a master who to this very day is the epitome of delta blues.



4 1/2 stars."

Listen and Learn

Tony Thomas | SUNNY ISLES BEACH, FL USA | 03/03/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Even if he hadn't influenced anyone, even if historically he was a 19 year old kid from Shirley, Long Island, even if this recording at just been waxed last night, this is good, essential blues listening, you won't want to stop listening, you wont stop seeing the scenes of the blues that the songs make, you won't stop swaying at the power and swing of his guitar playing and singing. On here, my song is Preachin the Blues. I know you will have yours.Son House taught Robert Johnson the slide blues. Son House taught Muddy Waters. When Son House started performing at Blues festivals again in the mid 1960s, some of Muddy's younger band members would start to go off for a smoke or whatever when the old man came on stage. Muddy wouldn't let them. Muddy Waters would tell all his band members to be quiet and pay attention when the man played because even compared with Muddy, this was the real deal. Rediscovered in Rochester, New York, relearning to play the guitar, (how this country abuses the masters that come from its people, particularly its Black people), put back on the stage by the folk revival's blues section, House made recordings that reproduced his old masterpies, with a wrier sense of meaning than before.People outside of the blues life focus on the guitar playing or the rhythm of the singing, but where the power comes from is the feeling and the words that are put together, the life and the meaning of the blues. Son House in his youth and his old age, on this and his other sides, always gave it.So Like Muddy Waters, I would like you to know that
Son House is the real deal.
Listen and learn"