Cisco Houston was one of the authentic voices of folk music, along with Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger. Cisco died of cancer in 1961 at age 42, and now he's basically forgotten. That shouldn't be. Here he is singing Woody Guthrie's Pastures of Plenty:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1BeSDn4qVU
And St. James Infirmary:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06BoBdzI7Lc
And The Cat Came Back:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmRA9k55dNg&playnext=1&list=PL1E8A790303746932&index=12
And, here he's with Sonny Terry, Woody Guthrie, and someone named Alek (yeah, no one knows who the hell Alek was), Glory:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPit0Xpc1QA
I thought I'd close with Tom Paxton's tribute song Fare The Well, Cisco, but I couldn't find one, but here is a pretty good cover (and please ignore the dangling guitar strings):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYBAaG-dul8
I forget--was Houston formally a member of the Almanac Singers? I'll go check, think he was...as much as anyone was formally an Almanacker.
ReplyDeleteYes, Houston was an on-and-off member, as were Josh, White, Sonny Terry, Brownie McGee and others. Later on, members Pete Seeger and Lee Hayes went on to form the folk group The Weavers with Ronnie Gilbert and Fred Hellerman.
ReplyDeleteHow could anybody forget a singer named Cisco Houston? One of the great names, four sure.
ReplyDeleteOr for sure, either one.
ReplyDeleteDude.
ReplyDelete(It won't surprise you, Jerry, I suspect, to learn I'm a nearly lifelong Weavers fanatic...even if I don't like Erik Darling much.)
Well, if you want to find a few folks who haven't forgotten him: http://www.ciscohouston.com
ReplyDeleteFirst time I ever heard the name.
ReplyDelete