House was born, the middle of three brothers, in Riverton, Mississippi, two miles from famed blues capital Clarksdale, Mississippi. Around age seven or eight, he was brought by his mother to Tallulah, Louisiana after his parents separated. The young Son House was determined to become a Baptist preacher, and at age fifteen began his preaching career. Despite the church's firm stand against blues music and the sinful world which revolved around it, House nevertheless became attracted to it and taught himself guitar in his midtwenties, inspired by the work of Willie Wilson. He began playing alongside Charley Patton, Willie Brown, Robert Johnson, Fiddlin' Joe Martin, Leroy Williams, and Howlin' Wolf, around Robinsonville, Mississippi and north to Memphis, Tennessee until 1942.
After killing a man, allegedly in self-defense, he spent time on Parchman Farm in 1928 and 1929.
Son House recorded for Paramount Records in 1930 and for Alan Lomax from the Library of Congress in 1941 and 1942. He then faded from public view until the country blues revival in the 1960s when, after a long search of the Mississippi Delta region by Nick Perls, Dick Waterman and Phil Spero, he was "re-discovered" in June, 1964 in Rochester, New York where he had lived since 1943; House had been retired from the music business for many years, working for the New York Central Railroad, and was completely unaware of the international revival of enthusiasm for his early recordings. He subsequently toured extensively in the US and Europe and recorded for CBS records. Like Mississippi John Hurt he was welcomed into the music scene of the 1960s and played at Newport Folk Festival in 1964, the New York Folk Festival in July, 1965, and the October, 1967 European tour of the American Folk Festival along with Skip James and Bukka White. In the summer of 1970, House toured Europe once again, including an appearance at the Montreux Festival; a recording of his London concerts was released by Liberty Records.
Ill health plagued his later years and in 1974 he retired once again, and later moved to Detroit, Michigan, where he remained until his death from cancer of the larynx. He was buried at Mt. Hazel Cemetery on Lahser south of Seven Mile. Members of the Detroit Blues Society raised money through benefit concerts to put a fitting monument on his grave. He had been married five times.
Unlike some blues guitarists of the 1920s and 30s, House was not a virtuoso although there is still much that is technically impressive about his playing. He more than made up for his lack of conventional technique with his powerful and innovative style featuring very strong, repetitive rhythms, often played with the aid of a bottleneck, coupled with singing that owed more than a nod to the hollers of the chain gangs. The music of Son House, in contrast to that of, say, Blind Lemon Jefferson, was emphatically a dance music, meant to be heard in the noisy atmosphere of a barrelhouse or other dance hall. House was an important influence on not only Muddy Waters but also Robert Johnson, who would later take his music to new levels. It was House who, speaking to awe-struck young blues fans in the 1960s, spread the legend that Johnson had sold his soul to the Devil in exchange for his musical powers. More recently, House's music has influenced rock groups such as the White Stripes, who covered his song Death Letter on their album De Stijl, and later performed it at the 2004 Grammy Awards.
Describing House's 1967 appearance at the De Montford Hall in Leicester, England, Bob Groom wrote in Blues World magazine,
It is difficult to describe the transformation that took place as this smiling, friendly man hunched over his guitar and launched himself, bodily it seemed, into his music. The blues possessed him like a 'lowdown shaking chill' and the spellbound audience saw the very incarnation of the blues as, head thrown back, he hollered and groaned the disturbing lyrics and flailed the guitar, snapping the strings back against the fingerboard to accentuate the agonized rhythm. Son's music is the centre of the blues experience and when he performs it is a corporate thing, audience and singer become as one.
Levee Camp Moan
Son House Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I had a good looking woman who lived in Hughes
I had a job on the levee
I had a good looking woman she lived in Hughes
You know that pretty little thing
She kept me with the government fleet blues
You know on every pay day
On every pay day
She'd be standing around the landing crying
She be saying why don't that big boat hurry and
Bring home that man of mine?
You know on every pay day
She could, she could hear the big boat when she blow
Well on every pay day
She could hear the big boat when she blow
But when I done not get the check
She told me she couldn't use me no more
But I said that's all right big girl
Honey, that's all right for you
Yeah, hoo
little girl that's all right for you
I say you treat me low down and dirty
See, baby, that's the way you's do
I packed up all my clothes
Left her settin' in the back door crying
Aye yeah I left her settin' in the back door crying
You know that done run the poor girl crazy
I believe she gonna lose her mind
You know don't come here honey
Throwing up your doggone hands
Don't come here baby
I said throwing up your doggone hands
You know I, I been your dog
Ever since that I been your man
But I said baby when you get lonesome
Set right down and write to me
Yeah -- yeah -- set right down you can write to me
You know I can read your little writing baby
Don't care where in this world I'll be
You know love
make you do things you don't want to do
You know love
make you do things you don't want to do
You know from love sometime
Will leave you feeling so sad and so blue
Oh, Listen here honey
Think about poor me some time
Yeah, hoo
think about poor me some time
You know I feel so bad
When you roll across my mind
You know if you never no more see me
You'll forever be on my mind
If I never no more see you
Yeah, you'll forever be on my mind
You know every time I think about you honey
I just can't keep from crying
Oh it's so hard
To love when they don't love you
Ah, yeah, yeah, when they don't love you
You can't do nothing baby when they do not want you
But I tell 'em look it here, baby
Your little trouble is coming home some day
Yeah just like I tell you
Your little trouble is coming home some day
I said you gonna be sorry
That you treated poor me this way
In "Levee Camp Moan," Son House sings about his life working on the levees and the woman he had at the time. He had a job on the levee, which was tough work, but also had a good-looking woman who lived in Hughes. However, their relationship was strained due to his job and not always receiving his pay on time. On every pay day, she would wait for him crying and saying why doesn't the big boat hurry up and bring her man home. Although she could hear the boat when it blew its horn, when House did not receive his pay, she told him she couldn't use him anymore.
Despite this treatment, House still loved the woman and sang about how love can make you do things you don't want to do. He also sings about leaving his woman and how it made her crazy. However, he still wants her to think about him and reminds her that her little trouble is coming home someday. The song highlights the difficulties of living and working on the levees and the toll it takes on personal relationships.
Overall, "Levee Camp Moan" is a song about the struggles of working on the levees and maintaining a relationship during this time. It showcases the challenges faced by those doing this work and how it can result in strained relationships due to the nature of the job.
Line by Line Meaning
You know I had a job on the levee
I worked on the levee
I had a good looking woman who lived in Hughes
My beautiful girlfriend lived in Hughes
You know that pretty little thing
She was a gorgeous woman
She kept me with the government fleet blues
She helped me stay in the government fleet blues job
On every pay day
Each payday
She'd be standing around the landing crying
She would be at the landing in tears
She be saying why don't that big boat hurry and Bring home that man of mine?
She would ask why the big boat hadn't brought me home yet
She could, she could hear the big boat when she blow
She could hear the big boat's whistle
But when I done not get the check
But when I didn't receive my paycheck
She told me she couldn't use me no more
She told me she didn't need me anymore
But I said that's all right big girl
I told her it was okay
Honey, that's all right for you
That's okay for you, honey
little girl that's all right for you
It's okay for you, little girl
I say you treat me low down and dirty
You treated me badly and unfairly
See, baby, that's the way you's do
That's how you are, baby
I packed up all my clothes
I gathered my clothes
Left her settin' in the back door crying
I left her crying at the back door
You know that done run the poor girl crazy
It drove the poor girl mad
I believe she gonna lose her mind
I think she's going to go crazy
Don't come here honey Throwing up your doggone hands
Don't come here with your hands up
You know I, I been your dog
I have been your loyal partner
Ever since that I been your man
Since I've been your man
But I said baby when you get lonesome
But I told her, baby, when you get lonely
Set right down and write to me
Sit down and write to me
You know I can read your little writing baby
I can read your small handwriting, baby
Don't care where in this world I'll be
It doesn't matter where I am in the world
You know love make you do things you don't want to do
Love makes you do things you wouldn't normally do
You know from love sometime
Sometimes because of love
Will leave you feeling so sad and so blue
You'll feel sad and depressed
Think about poor me some time
Think about me from time to time
You know I feel so bad
I feel terrible
When you roll across my mind
When I think of you
You know if you never no more see me
If you never see me again
You'll forever be on my mind
You'll always be on my mind
Oh it's so hard To love when they don't love you
It's difficult to love when they don't love you back
Ah, yeah, yeah, when they don't love you
Yeah, when they don't love you
But I tell 'em look it here, baby
But I tell them, look here, baby
Your little trouble is coming home some day
Your problems will come back to haunt you someday
I said you gonna be sorry That you treated poor me this way
You will regret the way you treated me
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: JAMES, PKA JR HOUSE EDDIE, SON HOUSE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Chuck Heppner
https://youtu.be/L7AxBoEBXEw
Son House - Levee Camp Moan
You know I had a job on the levee
I had a good looking woman who lived in Hughes
I had a job on the levee
I had a good looking woman she lived in Hughes
You know that pretty little thing
She kept me with the government fleet blues
You know on every pay day
She'd be standing around the landing crying
On every pay day
She'd be standing around the landing crying
She be saying why don't that big boat hurry and
Bring home that man of mine?
You know on every pay day
She could, she could hear the big boat when she blow
Well on every pay day
She could hear the big boat when she blow
But when I done not get the check
She told me she couldn't use me no more
But I said that's all right big girl
Honey, that's all right for you
Yeah - hooooo -- little girl that's all right for you
I say you treat me low down and dirty
See, baby, that's the way you's do
I packed up all my clothes
Left her settin' in the back door crying
Aye yeah I left her settin' in the back door crying
You know that done run the poor girl crazy
I believe she gonna lose her mind
You know don't come here honey
Throwing up your doggone hands
Don't come here baby
I said throwing up your doggone hands
You know I, I been your dog
Ever since then I been your man
But I said baby when you get lonesome
Set right down and write to me
Yeah -- yeah -- set right down you can write to me
You know I can read your little writing baby
Don't care where in this world I'll be
You know love . . . make you do things you don't want to do
You know love . . . make you do things you don't want to do
You know from love sometime
Will leave you feeling so sad and so blue
Oh, Listen here honey
Think about poor me some time
Yeah -- hooooo -- think about poor me some time
You know I feel so bad
When you roll across my mind
You know if you never no more see me
You'll forever be on my mind
If I never no more see you
Yeah, you'll forever be on my mind
You know every time I think about you honey
I just can't keep from crying
Oh it's so hard
To love when they don't love you
Ah, yeah -- yeah, when they don't love you
You can't do nothing baby when they do not want you
But I tell 'em look it here, baby
Your little trouble is coming home some day
Yeah just like I tell you
Your little trouble is coming home some day
I said you gonna be sorry
That you treated poor me this way
♢
Levee construction began in the 19th century in the U.S. on the Mississippi River and rivers like the Red and the Brazos. Work has pretty much continued on them since. In the 1920s and especially the 30s, government contractors brought laborers into camps to build the levees higher and higher. These camps were wild places where the only law was the boss. Murder and other crimes were common. It was yet another situation where black laborers were brutally exploited. Still, there was no shortage of men looking for jobs on the levees. Pay was better than sharecropping. At least when a worker got paid. They often didn’t.
♢
Whoa, Haw, and Gee are direction calls for the mule teams and other Draft animals. In the United States, the driver of draft animals sits on their left, so animals will turn right to the gee command, and left to the haw command. In England the driver stands to the right of the animals, reversing the relative directions they indicate (i.e., an English trained team of horses will "haw" to the right, while an American trained team will "haw" to the left - in both cases towards their driver.) As James Lloyd Clark points out, "Generally, work horses are not subject to a lot of international travel so the fear of great confusion on the farm is minimal." The American meanings are also used for dog sledding in Alaska and Canada.
The women hollering, "Who wants me?", were probably prostitutes. Women at levee camps did include prostitutes as well as the wives and girlfriends of the men.
♢
Songs:
Levee Camp Man - Gene Campbell
Levee Blues - Lucille Bogan
Levee Camp Blues - Son House
Levee Camp Holler
Levee Camp Moan - Texas Alexander
I'm All Out and Down - Lead Belly
Levee Camp Moan - Ma Rainey
Levee Camp Blues - Washboard Sam
♢
In 1941, Son House recorded Levee Camp Blues for the Library of Congress telling a story about a woman after the good pay of a man working on the levee:
Every evening she would be standing at the landing crying
Oh she would be standing at the landing crying
Why don’t that big boat hurry and bring home that man of mine
Way down the river you get to hear that big boat whistle blow
Oh, you could hear the big boat when she blow
Well when that doney got that check, I said, she couldn’t use me no more
I’m going away, I’m going to stay a great long time
I’m going, I’m going to stay a great long time
You know I ain’t coming back, honey, until you change your mind
Oh, don’t a man feel bad when the good old sun goes down
Whoo, I said when the good old sun goes down
I said he don’t have a soul, boy, his soul is in the ground
Charlie SideShow
I HAVE to listen this at least ten times a day. So strong, so beautiful!
doofus__
"Goin Down" Freddie King...try that a few times..
Sion Hanson
I can't believe this great mans voice. For 40 years I have said that Frank Sinatra was the greatest singer of all time. I had listened to SH about 35 years ago, but only recent rediscovered his genius. No other blues singer comes close. A voice and a guitar...he needs nothing else.
crayhead
Apparently you never heard of Skip James
T DB
What about the harmonica ?
antonio vanda
@T DB Alan Wilson from Canned Heat
Jørn Arve Pettersen
Son House´s Death Letter Blues open my ears to this brilliant man. Pure essence.
Charlie SideShow
Love this song! Son House was just amazing!
Howard O'Neill
absolute quality, Alan Wilson one of the finest harmonica players ever
Mario Fiorentini
his way of hammering the strings... pure emotion and rage