Son House -- Full Live Performance (November 15, 1969)
May 10, 2023 2:22 PM Subscribe
Son House -- Full Live Performance (November 15, 1969)
I had the high honor and distinct privilege to see this man in concert only a few months before this was filmed. It was in the Wintonia Tavern, a hole in the wall dive bar in the still standing Wintonia Hotel on Pike Street, just across I-5 from downtown Seattle. (What I don't remember is how I got in -- I was 19 at the time.) The place is now a private social club named Club Z. Son House first recorded in 1927 for Paramount Records, if I recall correctly and his running mates were Charley Patton and Willie Brown. The Willie Brown. That night will always be in the top five of my list of best concerts ever. He was a hopeless alcoholic and a bit drunk when he started. Here he is far more sober than when I saw him. The man I saw and heard sing was ten times as intense as who you see and hear here.
I had the high honor and distinct privilege to see this man in concert only a few months before this was filmed. It was in the Wintonia Tavern, a hole in the wall dive bar in the still standing Wintonia Hotel on Pike Street, just across I-5 from downtown Seattle. (What I don't remember is how I got in -- I was 19 at the time.) The place is now a private social club named Club Z. Son House first recorded in 1927 for Paramount Records, if I recall correctly and his running mates were Charley Patton and Willie Brown. The Willie Brown. That night will always be in the top five of my list of best concerts ever. He was a hopeless alcoholic and a bit drunk when he started. Here he is far more sober than when I saw him. The man I saw and heard sing was ten times as intense as who you see and hear here.
Son House -- Scary Delta Blues (Live)
Don't care for the title but I am not sure of the real song's name. A clip posted in part because a comment explains the context of the Howling Wolf link above. And I was wrong -- it was 1966
posted by y2karl at 3:05 PM on May 10, 2023 [2 favorites]
Don't care for the title but I am not sure of the real song's name. A clip posted in part because a comment explains the context of the Howling Wolf link above. And I was wrong -- it was 1966
posted by y2karl at 3:05 PM on May 10, 2023 [2 favorites]
On a related note - if you liked these, you may enjoy this piece from Smithsonian on Mississippi John Hurt.
posted by BWA at 4:13 PM on May 10, 2023
posted by BWA at 4:13 PM on May 10, 2023
One of the things I love about the internet is that, now, I can simply click a button to hear (and see) how precisely Jimmy Page ripped everyone off, without having to spend time and money searching for old records.
posted by not_on_display at 4:20 PM on May 10, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by not_on_display at 4:20 PM on May 10, 2023 [1 favorite]
It's true, we may not have flying cars, but we can summon up so many recordings from the past with just a search and a click, it's a miracle. And all for free! Maybe even with an accompanying video! I love living in the future.
posted by Rash at 4:38 PM on May 10, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by Rash at 4:38 PM on May 10, 2023 [1 favorite]
And now I come to find I was wrong (!) again -- about when saw Son House. Here is an audio only YouTube link from his concert for the Seattle Folklore Society that same year:
Son House Live in Seattle 1968
Another Son House video I posted explained in its comments that it and the clip with Howling Wolf and Son House were made by Alan Lomax in an ersatz roadhouse he created so as to provide the performers a comfortable down home atmosphere in which to perform. It seems to have disappeared as soon as I posted it, whether by my hand or another's I know not. In which I noted I was yet wrong* again about that year too -- as it was filmed in 1966. And now I can't find it. But then again I am a technopeasant. Apparently 4 life.
*But not for the first or even the 728,359th time, mind you.
posted by y2karl at 4:44 PM on May 10, 2023 [3 favorites]
Son House Live in Seattle 1968
Another Son House video I posted explained in its comments that it and the clip with Howling Wolf and Son House were made by Alan Lomax in an ersatz roadhouse he created so as to provide the performers a comfortable down home atmosphere in which to perform. It seems to have disappeared as soon as I posted it, whether by my hand or another's I know not. In which I noted I was yet wrong* again about that year too -- as it was filmed in 1966. And now I can't find it. But then again I am a technopeasant. Apparently 4 life.
*But not for the first or even the 728,359th time, mind you.
posted by y2karl at 4:44 PM on May 10, 2023 [3 favorites]
"I'd love a snake if I wasn't scared of him, but I don't trust him so much... (explains things about snakes)"
posted by ovvl at 5:13 PM on May 10, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by ovvl at 5:13 PM on May 10, 2023 [1 favorite]
Great post. You nailed it, y2karl, when you speak of the searing intensity of Son House. His 1968 never-done-better performance of "Death Letter blues is an all time musical high, "Pearline" is right up there too.
posted by dutchrick at 12:59 AM on May 12, 2023
posted by dutchrick at 12:59 AM on May 12, 2023
I so agree on both songs. Interestingly enough, Pearline, by the way, is to my mind a pre-blues songster tune of the same melodical family as Gus Cannon's Poor Boy Long Ways From Home, a traditional song from times immemorial also covered by Cat Iron, Fred MacDowell, John Hurt and R.L. Burnside, among many many others.
posted by y2karl at 9:30 AM on May 12, 2023
posted by y2karl at 9:30 AM on May 12, 2023
Son House's music is visceral, elemental, and evocative. Music from early 20th Century America is foundational. It gave shape and texture for the proliferation of Rock and Roll in the 1950s and 60s. I believe almost everything musical is derivative, but some musicians are like gateways inspiring performers in ways that transcend technical ability.
A few years ago I ran across "The Dinosaur Discs" on the web. This collection compiles several hundred musicians and singers from the first part of the 20th Century. I'm not sure if it still exists on the web, but I highly recommend it. This collection is a treasure.
The entire volume comprises 493 files arranged into 27 different folders @ 1.93GB.
posted by mule98J at 9:49 AM on May 12, 2023 [1 favorite]
A few years ago I ran across "The Dinosaur Discs" on the web. This collection compiles several hundred musicians and singers from the first part of the 20th Century. I'm not sure if it still exists on the web, but I highly recommend it. This collection is a treasure.
The entire volume comprises 493 files arranged into 27 different folders @ 1.93GB.
posted by mule98J at 9:49 AM on May 12, 2023 [1 favorite]
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posted by y2karl at 2:31 PM on May 10, 2023 [5 favorites]