Houston Stackhouse (September 28, 1910 – September 23, 1980) was an American
Delta blues guitarist
A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselv ...
and
singer
Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...
. He is best known for his association with
Robert Nighthawk
Robert Lee McCollum (November 30, 1909 – November 5, 1967) was an American blues musician who played and recorded under the pseudonyms Robert Lee McCoy and Robert Nighthawk. He was the father of the blues musician Sam Carr. Nighthawk was in ...
.
He was not especially noted as a guitarist or singer, but Nighthawk showed gratitude to Stackhouse, his guitar teacher, by backing him on a number of recordings in the late 1960s. Apart from a brief tour in Europe, Stackhouse confined his performing to the area around the
Mississippi Delta
The Mississippi Delta, also known as the Yazoo–Mississippi Delta, or simply the Delta, is the distinctive northwest section of the U.S. state of Mississippi (and portions of Arkansas and Louisiana) that lies between the Mississippi and Yazoo ...
.
Biography
Stackhouse was born Houston Goff, in
Wesson, Mississippi
Wesson is a town in Copiah County, Mississippi, Copiah and Lincoln County, Mississippi, Lincoln counties, Mississippi, United States. The population was 1,925 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Jackson, Mississippi, Jackson Jackson, Mississippi ...
. He was the son of Garfield Goff and was raised by James Wade Stackhouse on the Randall Ford Plantation. He learned the details of his parentage only when he applied for a passport later in life.
In his teenage years he relocated with his family to
Crystal Springs, Mississippi
Crystal Springs is a city in Copiah County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 5,044 as of the 2010 census, down from 5,873 in 2000. It is part of the Jackson Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Geography
U.S. Route 51 runs through the ...
. He became inspired listening to local musicians and
records
A record, recording or records may refer to:
An item or collection of data Computing
* Record (computer science), a data structure
** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity
** Boot sector or boot record, ...
by
Blind Blake
Arthur Blake (1896 – December 1, 1934), known as Blind Blake, was an American blues and ragtime singer and guitarist. He is known for recordings he made for Paramount Records between 1926 and 1932.
Early life
Little is known of Blake's life. ...
,
Blind Lemon Jefferson and
Lonnie Johnson. By the late 1930s, Stackhouse had played guitar around the Delta states and worked with members of the
Mississippi Sheiks
The Mississippi Sheiks were a popular and influential American guitar and fiddle group of the 1930s. They were notable mostly for playing country blues but were adept at many styles of popular music of the time. They recorded around 70 tracks, ...
,
Robert Johnson
Robert Leroy Johnson (May 8, 1911August 16, 1938) was an American blues musician and songwriter. His landmark recordings in 1936 and 1937 display a combination of singing, guitar skills, and songwriting talent that has influenced later generati ...
,
Charlie McCoy
Charles Ray McCoy (born March 28, 1941) is a Grammy-winning American session musician, harmonica player, and multi-instrumentalist. In 2009, he was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. Based in Nashville, McCoy's playing is heard on r ...
and
Walter Vinson
Walter Vinson (February 2, 1901 – April 22, 1975) was an American Memphis blues guitarist, singer and songwriter. He was a member of the Mississippi Sheiks, worked with Bo Chatmon and his brothers, and co-wrote the blues standard "Sitting o ...
.
He also teamed up with his distant cousin
Robert Nighthawk
Robert Lee McCollum (November 30, 1909 – November 5, 1967) was an American blues musician who played and recorded under the pseudonyms Robert Lee McCoy and Robert Nighthawk. He was the father of the blues musician Sam Carr. Nighthawk was in ...
,
whom he taught to play the guitar.
Originally a
fan of
Tommy Johnson, Stackhouse often
covered
Cover or covers may refer to:
Packaging
* Another name for a lid
* Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package
* Album cover, the front of the packaging
* Book cover or magazine cover
** Book design
** Back cover copy, part of co ...
his songs.
In 1946, Stackhouse moved to
Helena, Arkansas
Helena is the eastern portion of Helena–West Helena, Arkansas, a city in Phillips County, Arkansas. It was founded in 1833 by Nicholas Rightor and is named after the daughter of Sylvanus Phillips, an early settler of Phillips County and the n ...
, to live near Nighthawk and for a time was a member of Nighthawk’s band, playing on
KFFA radio.
He split from Nighthawk in 1947 and performed on the KFFA radio program ''
King Biscuit Time
:''"King Biscuit Time" is also the name under which ex-Beta Band frontman Steve Mason releases his solo work.''
''King Biscuit Time'' is the longest-running daily American radio broadcast in history. The program is broadcast each weekday from ...
'', with the
drummer
A drummer is a percussionist who creates music using drum
The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel-Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one mem ...
James "Peck" Curtis, the guitarist
Joe Willie Wilkins
Joe Willie Wilkins (January 7, 1921 or 1923O'Neal, Jim (1979). "Joe Willie Wilkins – 1923–1979". ''Living Blues'' 42 (January–February 1979), pp. 8–9. – March 28, 1979)Huggins, Cilla (1979). "Joe Willie Wilkins". '' Blues Unlimited'' ...
and the pianists
Pinetop Perkins
Joe Willie "Pinetop" Perkins (July 7, 1913 – March 21, 2011) was an American blues pianist. He played with some of the most influential blues and rock-and-roll performers of his time and received numerous honors, including a Grammy Life ...
and Robert Traylor.
Sonny Boy Williamson II
Alex or Aleck Miller (originally Ford, possibly December 5, 1912 – May 24, 1965), known later in his career as Sonny Boy Williamson, was an American blues harmonica player, singer and songwriter. He was an early and influential blues harp st ...
then rejoined the program, and that combo performed across the Delta, using their radio presence to advertise their performances.
Stackhouse tutored
Jimmy Rogers
Jimmy Rogers (June 3, 1924December 19, 1997) was an American Chicago blues singer, guitarist and harmonica player, best known for his work as a member of Muddy Waters's band in the early 1950s. He also had a solo career and recorded several pop ...
and
Sammy Lawhorn
Sammy David Lawhorn (July 12, 1935 – April 29, 1990) was an American Chicago blues guitarist, best known as a member of Muddy Waters's band. He also accompanied many other blues musicians, including Otis Spann, Willie Cobbs, Eddie Boyd, ...
in guitar techniques. Between 1948 and 1954, he worked during the day at the
Chrysler
Stellantis North America (officially FCA US and formerly Chrysler ()) is one of the " Big Three" automobile manufacturers in the United States, headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan. It is the American subsidiary of the multinational automoti ...
plant in
West Helena, Arkansas
West Helena is the western portion of Helena-West Helena, Arkansas, a city in Phillips County, Arkansas, United States. As of the 2000 census, this portion of the city population was 8,689.
Historically, West Helena and its sister city Helena ...
, and played the blues in his leisure time. He did not move from the
South
South is one of the cardinal directions or Points of the compass, compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west.
Etymology
The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Pro ...
, unlike many of his contemporaries, and continued to perform locally into the 1960s with
Frank Frost
Frank Otis Frost (April 15, 1936 or 1938 – October 12, 1999) was one of the foremost United States, American Delta blues harmonica players of his generation.
Life and career
Most sources state that Frost was born in 1936 in Auvergne, Jackson C ...
,
Boyd Gilmore and Baby Face Turner. In May 1965, Sonny Boy Williamson II, who was by then back on ''King Biscuit Time'', used Stackhouse as an accompanist when he was recorded in concert by
Chris Strachwitz
Chris Strachwitz (born July 1, 1931) is a German-born American record label executive and record producer. He is the founder and president of Arhoolie Records, which he established in 1960 and which became one of the leading labels recording a ...
of
Arhoolie Records
Arhoolie Records is an American small independent record label run by Chris Strachwitz and is based in El Cerrito, California, United States (it is actually located in Richmond Annex but has an El Cerrito postal address.) The label was founded b ...
. The recording, entitled ''King Biscuit Time'', was issued under Williamson's name. Shortly afterwards, Williamson died. Stackhouse continued briefly on the radio program, back in tandem with Nighthawk.
In 1967,
George Mitchell recorded Stackhouse, Curtis and Nighthawk as the Blues Rhythm Boys in
Dundee, Mississippi
Dundee is a census-designated place and unincorporated community in Tunica County, Mississippi, United States. Dundee is south-southwest of Tunica. Dundee has a post office with ZIP code 38626.
It was first named as a CDP in the 2020 Census ...
. Nighthawk died shortly after the recording was made. Another field researcher,
David Evans, recorded Stackhouse in Crystal Springs. By 1970, following the deaths of Curtis and Mason, Stackhouse had moved to
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...
, where he resided with his old friend Wilkins and his wife, Carrie. At the height of the blues revival Stackhouse toured with Wilkins and with the Memphis Blues Caravan and performed at various
music festival
A music festival is a community event with performances of singing and instrument playing that is often presented with a theme such as musical genre (e.g., rock, blues, folk, jazz, classical music), nationality, locality of musicians, or h ...
s.
In February 1972, Stackhouse recorded the album ''Cryin' Won't Help You'' (released on
CD in 1994).
In his sole trip overseas, in 1976, he performed in
Vienna
en, Viennese
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, registration_plate = W
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, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
,
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
.
Stackhouse returned to Helena, where he died in September 1980, at the age of 69. A son, Houston Stackhouse, Jr., survived him.
The
acoustic stage at the annual
Arkansas Blues and Heritage Festival is named after Stackhouse.
Discography
Albums
*''Cryin' Won't Help You'' (1972, reissued 1994), Genes Records
Compilation albums
*''Masters of Modern Blues Volume 4: Robert Nighthawk and Houston Stackhouse'' (1967, reissued 1994),
Testament Records
*''Big Road Blues'' (1999), Wolf Records
Further reading
*O'Neal, Jim; van Singel, Amy, eds. (2002). ''The Voice of the Blues: Classic Interviews from'' Living Blues ''Magazine''. New York: Routledge.
See also
*
List of Delta blues musicians
The Delta blues is one of the earliest styles of blues music. It originated in the Mississippi Delta, a region of the United States that stretches from north to south between Memphis, Tennessee, and Vicksburg, Mississippi, and from east to west be ...
*
References
External links
*
Houston Stackhouse Mississippi Blues Trail
The Mississippi Blues Trail was created by the Mississippi Blues Commission in 2006 to place interpretive markers at the most notable historical sites related to the birth, growth, and influence of the blues throughout (and in some cases beyond) ...
Marker
Houston Stackhouseat
Discogs
Discogs (short for discographies) is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. While the site was originally created with a goal of becoming the la ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stackhouse, Houston
1910 births
1980 deaths
People from Wesson, Mississippi
Blues musicians from Mississippi
American blues singers
American blues guitarists
American male guitarists
Songwriters from Mississippi
American blues harmonica players
Slide guitarists
Singers from Mississippi
Delta blues musicians
20th-century American singers
20th-century American guitarists
Guitarists from Mississippi
20th-century American male singers
American male songwriters