Son House has long been regarded as one of the most authentic Delta bluesmen. His music and performances were as intense as music gets, and his influence stretches from Robert Johnson to John Mooney, both of whom were his pupils. Daniel Beaumont’s book, Preachin’ the Blues: The Life and Times of Son House, is the first full-length biography of the mercurial musician. House’s career encompasses the heyday of Delta blues in 1930s and 1940s Mississippi and its resurgence as part of the folk revival of the 1960s.
Beaumont gives a fine portrayal of House’s life and music in both eras. His writing is straightforward and extensively researched. He lets the reader know what House’s life as a black musician in pre-Civil Rights Mississippi was like, and he delves comprehensively into House’s music and recording sessions. There are some great stories about well-known fellow bluesmen and travelers Charlie Patton and Robert Johnson as well as more obscure ones such as Willie Brown. Beaumont also gets into House’s mind and motivations too. As great a musician as he was, House was a conflicted man. He had been a preacher and had difficulty justifying singing “the devil’s music” on one hand and being a religious man on the other. He also seemed ambivalent about his fame and making music in the 1960s after he started his career again.
Beaumont devotes much analysis to these issues and more without patronizing or making cultural assumptions. This reserve serves him well as he spend almost half the book detailing House’s career after his “rediscovery” by white blues fans in the 1960s. Here, Beaumont presents a fair assessment not only of House’s career post-1960s but also of the different viewpoints of the folk revival, the “rediscovery” of these musicians, and the way all this was seen both then and now. Beaumont unearths previously unknown facts about House’s life and offers several new interviews with people who knew and played with him after he left Mississippi and ended up in Rochester, New York. This biography of one of the essential musicians of blues music is a required read for blues lovers and a good primer for those whose interest in this music isn’t as deep.
