The Velvet Forum

Yes, incredible performer. I guess i've got maybe half his recordings on a Yazoo double LP.

Niiiiiiice! I got Patton's "Complete Recordings" 5 disc set maybe half a year ago, I love the hell out of it. Let me recommend Son House, too, if you haven't travelled there before. Intense as anything you've ever heard.

Is there much Son House stuff available? - I just have the 1965 Columbia LP. Intense is right! His version of John The Revelator - words fail me.
I got another blues LP today in a similat vein (probably because of this thread!) - Big Joe Williams, 1963 'archive of folk music' release - sounds pretty good, only listened to a couple of tracks so far...

Hello, I'm new to the forum... I've really enjoyed being able to download some of these incredible recordings (esp. Warhol Tapes!). Would it ruin to integrity of the forum if I took a cd-r of these to the local indie record shop, I kind of want to show off.

Hi Jerome, and welcome! - i'm not a moderator or anything (i just post a lot).
I don't think there would be a problem with you playing a CD-R in a shop, or of you copying it to all your friends etc. If you feel like there might be some kind of moral dilemma you could post another poll to see what other people think...

Simon, 'Delta Blues' on Snapper's Complete Blues series has just about all of Son House's 30's and 40's recordings on one disc. Should be nice and cheap too.

simonm wrote:Is there much Son House stuff available? - I just have the 1965 Columbia LP. Intense is right! His version of John The Revelator - words fail me.

Simon, he didn't record a hell of alot but what's out there is fantastic; two more discs and you've got the cornerstone of his output. First, his earliest recordings (1930) are on a disc called "Masters Of The Delta Blues" credited to "Charley Patton and Friends." Only seven tracks survive from this period and all are included here. They're all great, his best work. Sound quality is marred by the fact that these only exist on rare, scratchy 78's, but the performances are killer. I prefer him to Robert Johnson. I should say, ALL the artists on this comp are great, it's a really good disc.

His next known recordings were for the Library Of Congress in '41-42, and fill a whole disc by themselves. These are really good, too. (Actually, I've yet to hear anything bad by him.) Some of the cuts were recorded on the porch of a general store, you can hear a steam train chugging by.

And that's all there is until the mid sixties, when he was "rediscovered" by hardcore blues scholars and coaxed back into performing. He'd put down the guitar after his partner Willie Brown died, and left the South to work for a railroad line in New York. The album you have is the best of that period, the only studio album I think. But there's also a handful of college gigs that were recorded and released. Some were filmed, and the one performance I've seen was unbelievably good. Intense is really the only word that does him justice, he's so damn compelling and powerful. He'd throw his head back, roll his eyes into the back of their sockets and, with his fingers flying and banging across the strings, just cut loose in that commanding, unforgettable voice. Gives ya chills.

Chance wrote:But there's also a handful of college gigs that were recorded and released. Some were filmed, and the one performance I've seen was unbelievably good.

FYI, thanks to the recent tribute to ole Peelie in MOJO recently, you may be glad to know he did a Peel sessions sometime in 1970. Not sure if its in circulation or not though.

jimjim wrote:

Chance wrote:But there's also a handful of college gigs that were recorded and released. Some were filmed, and the one performance I've seen was unbelievably good.

FYI, thanks to the recent tribute to ole Peelie in MOJO recently, you may be glad to know he did a Peel sessions sometime in 1970. Not sure if its in circulation or not though.

Jan 11 1970 to be exact...

[quote="simonm"]Is there much Son House stuff available? - I just have the 1965 Columbia LP. Intense is right! His version of John The Revelator - words fail me.



Agreed! 'John The Revelator' is some great gospel blues. It's interesting that so much of the early blues can be had for so cheap. I read somewhere that a lot of the copyrights have expired and virtually anyone can release them.