Mississippi Blues Trail – Tunica County, Mississippi
The Mississippi Blues Trail marker commemorating Son House is on Old Highway 61, southeast of Harrah’s Parkway South, in Tunica County, Mississippi.
The GPS location of this marker is: N34° 50.739′ W 90° 17.706′
The marker reads:
“SON HOUSE – Eddie James “Son” House (1902-1988) plumbed the emotional depth of the blues perhaps more than any other Delta blues artist. A preacher at times, a barrelhousing bluesman at others, House was fiercely torn between the sacred teachings of the church and the secular lure of the blues life. House, who lived in the Robinsonville-Lake Cormorant area in the 1930s and early ’40s, was a major influence on both Robert Johnson and Muddy Waters.”
This site is also significant in blues history as the location of Clack’s Grocery Store, where Alan Lomax recorded Son House in 1941. Clack’s Grocery Store is no longer standing.
To get the complete early Son House recordings, up to 1942, including the Paramount Records sides and the Alan Lomax recordings made at Clack’s Grocery, one of our Recommended Recordings is Legends of County Blues. a 5 CD box set on JSP Records, which also includes the complete early recordings of Skip James and Booker “Bukka” White, along with the complete recordings of Tommy Johnson and Ishmon Bracey.
Here are some videos of Son House:
Seattle 1964, part 1
Seattle 1964, part 2
Death Letter Blues, 1967
Death Letter Blues
Son House with Buddy Guy, CBS Studios, New York, 1968
This 1966 performance is from a Howlin’ Wolf documentary. It shows Howlin’ Wolf taking Son House to task for his excessive drinking.
Recommended Recordings and Recommended Books
Legends of Country Blues – a 5 CD box set from JSP Records featuring the complete early recordings of Son House, the Paramount Records sides and the Alan Lomax recordings 1941-42, along with the complete early recordings of Skip James and Booker White, and the complete recordings of Tommy Johnson and Ishmon Bracey.
Mojo Working: The Original Delta Blues by Son House, from the 1965 Columbia Records sessions.
This CD contains selections from the 1965 Son House sessions for Columbia Records.
Father of the Delta Blues: The Complete 1965 Sessions by Son House
This CD contains the complete 1965 Son House sessions for Columbia Records.
Preachin’ The Blues: The Life & Times of Son House by Daniel Beaumont.
This is the best biography of Son House that we have read.
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