Like many acoustic blues artists, Son House achieved fame late. His 1965 album, Father of Folk Blues put him on the map and gave him the ability to tour almost incessantly through the rest of the 60s. This live set was recorded in late 1964 at Wabash College in Indiana. The tapes are part of a larger collection of blues recordings held by House's manager, Dick Waterman.

Son House Forever on My Mind (Easy Eye Sound)

Five of the eight songs on this set were recorded for Father, but the live setting lends an immediacy that in hindsight is lacking in the studio versions. Another track from this tour ended up on a Takoma Records compilation back in 1980.

While this was recorded live, there isn't any audience reaction. This is probably due to the primitive recording setup and editing. Whatever limitations Waterman may have faced in the recording, the sound here is full and vibrant, with plenty of space for the strings to resonate and avoid that annoying tinny acoustic guitar sound that was so prevalent in the 90s Unplugged days (yes, I still find that stuff annoying).

This set is an interesting document of a singer who was about to find himself thrust into the spotlight. It's great that House and so many other blues artists finally got some semblance of their due in the 1960s. Unvarnished recordings like this one show just how much we almost missed--and emphasize just how much never saw the light of day. Gather round and settle in.

Jon Worley