Son House (1902-1988) lived the life of several souls, with the talent of one, the resentment of another, and the misfortune of the next. There was a religious lens to his movements: one which birthed enormous transgressional shame and almost certainly cultivated that inimitable melancholy in 1928. This is House’s never-before-heard 1964 return, recorded shortly before ‘Father of Folk Blues’ (1965). It presents the artist augmenting and inverting his slide guitar sound while gushing inventively over despair. The excellent production focuses on clarifying Son House’s dizzying charm through the metallic guitar and bruised voice. This is perhaps the biggest blues release of the year.
26/30
A favourite: ‘Empire State Express’
‘Forever On My Mind’ is out now via Easy Eye Sound.
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