A Lifetime of Blues

We first learned of Bluesman Willie Houston last summer at the Empire Blues Festival. We are quoting what we wrote about him then for it was our perception of this legend last summer that motivated us to tell you his story.

Between sets, we noticed an older gentleman quietly taking in the scene. Somehow we sensed he was someone special. He had an aura of integrity about him... of the sort that is earned by remaining true to your dreams no matter how difficult that may be.

We learned soon enough that this was Willie Houston and he took to the stage with the Blues Prowlers Band. Lord! There's some serious talent in that band! As for Willy, at 78-years-old, his voice rang strong and true. He imparted a little tickle of delight to each person present.

Though we only spoke for a moment, we considered it an honor to have meet this man. And to Willy, we would like to extend our heartfelt thanks for all the joy you have brought to this world.

At the time, we thought this was one of the greats and that somehow we were the only ones who had not heard of him. We later learned that after a lifetime devoted to the blues, the seventy-eight-year-old musician was just beginning to gain the well-deserved recognition that had eluded him.

Some call him Colorado’s Elder Statesman of the Blues. Others call him ”The Bluesman.” A more fitting moniker than the latter could not be found. From his young years in the Louisiana cotton fields to the present, Willie Houston has seen, felt and sung the blues.

Perhaps that's why his music grabs you and won’t let you go. As Willie puts it, music comes from within. “The notes never change on that instrument. They stay there. It’s gotta come from yourself. The way you feel, the way you think, how you grew up and the hard times you had and the things you did.”

"Everybody started from the cotton fields" Houston said. "We’re all from down there -- Blind Lemon, Muddy Waters, Lightnin' Hopkins, John Lee Hooker. B.B. King, we all pulled cotton." Willie said. Therein lies the magic of real Delta blues. You feel the hardships, the doing without, the hope that one day things will be better and the simple pleasures that got them through expressed in song.

Born in 1927, just two years before the start of the Great Depression, Willie and his family toiled in the cotton fields at a plantation in Great Cane Louisiana. As Willie explains it, Abe Lincoln gave the blacks freedom, but he didn’t give them rights. So while the Civil War freed black families from the plantation, lack of education and economic conditions forced them to remain in the cotton fields. And the depression forced the white families into the fields beside them.

“A nickel meant you had money. If someone offered me a nickel to do something I would do it because I knew if I had a nickel, I could get me something worthwhile,” Willie said. “Nowadays, a million dollars doesn’t seem like much.”

Click here to view the Willie Houston photo gallery

Willie Houston holding an old handmade guitar in his back yard

Willie Houston being filmed by Bob Merco of Leapin Lizzard Productions at the Empire Blues Fest

Willie playing at the
Walnut Room

Willie being filmed at
The Empire Blues Fest

Floodwaters and the need to work on the farm made it difficult to go to school. Food was scarce. Meals consisted of a piece of bread and molasses to take to school and maybe some beans when he got home. “We saved the chicken for Sunday dinner and we never had any beef. In the summer mom would can blueberries and other wild fruits and dry beans for us to eat in the winter. That’s how we all got by,” Willie said.

Willie’s musical career started as a young child playing the old washtub. He would flick it and it would make a tone. Then he would slap it somewhere else and it made another tone. “I said how about that, I’m making music. And my mother said if I kept that up that 'one day you going to be a professional'.” When he was 8 or 9 and he got what he calls a juice harp. Many of the nickels he refers to were earned by playing it.

As with all of the great blues musicians such as BB King, Muddy Waters, and Aretha Franklin, Willie got his start singing the spirituals in church. And when they moved from singing the spirituals to the blues, they all got the same lecture: That they were doing the devil’s work .

"It's not!" he exclaims. “We were singing about history. Singing is like writing a book. We were telling a story. We’re talking about what we're going through. And if they don't understand it, it's just too bad. It's me and the good Lord. He gives me the talent and he tells me to use it."

As the depression worsened, he left Louisiana and moved to Joplin, Missouri when he was seventeen-years-old. He was still singing in the churches when he met a fellow named Bruce who offered to teach him to play the guitar for a beer. Bruce disappeared and Willie was drafted into the ARMY for two years. When he got out he decided he was going to devote his life to music.

“I went to a fellow named Haskall Saddler and told him I wanted to learn the guitar and that it shouldn’t take me long. He said ‘We’ll see,’” Willie laughed. “I started playing with bands and was told I needed to learn to play with the band. I was good but my timing was off. Several people told me my timing was off and I shouldn’t be playing with a band until I could get it right. Everyone couldn’t be wrong, so I laid off and got my timing right. Timing was the hardest thing for me to learn.

“I started playing again, but I didn’t sing. Someone said I played too well to not add vocals. He said tell your story. So I sang a Muddy Water’s song, Mamma’s Boy. The ladies all went crazy and I was a hit.”

As we said earlier, recognition has been elusive for Willie. For every well-known Bluesman like BB King, Johnny Lee Hooker or Muddy Waters there were literally hundreds of delta bluesmen from that same era that didn’t go to Memphis or Chicago. They were never heard by the likes of Alan Lomax or had a chance to record for the Library of Congress.

How does he compare to such greats? Well, according to Willie, “ I feel I can play as well as BB King and Muddy Waters. I just never got the recognition. A lot of people have told me that.” Then he winks and says, “Never down yourself. Never tell yourself you’re not as good as someone else, or you won’t be. I never think I’m too old for anything. One day, I’ll have that recognition.”

Another setback on the road to recognition was Rock and Roll. When Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, Ricky Nelson and the like took to the stage in the sixties, blues vanished from the scene. “The clubs told me I had to learn rock, so I gave it up. BB King and Muddy Waters tried to change and it just didn’t sound right. I got back into blues in the seventies and started playing the clubs, house parties, Elks and the little stuff like that to get going again.”

Now it seems that the ever elusive recognition has arrived. His self-titled CD on the Fasttrack label has attracted attention from radio stations, newspapers and blues fans alike. The opening track Sally Mae has been released on the Colorado Blues Society’s 2004 compilation disc. Independent filmmaker and producer Bob Merco has completed filming of his 2-year long project on the life and times of Bluesman Willie Houston entitled Junk, Blues and Collard Greens and the day after we conducted this interview, Willie was nominated in the best blues category in Westword.

With his new band – of which Willie made it a special point to call us after the interview and say “Be sure to talk about Hubert and the band. They are great guys. They are in my corner and pitching for me and I love them” -- The Blues Prowlers, consisting of Hubert “Blues” Lawhorn on bass and vocals, Jim Beckstein on Keys and vocals, Rocco “D” Franco on guitar and Kenny Hoffman on drums, Willie is bringing the Delta to a rapidly growing number of fans.

Willie attributes much of his newfound recognition to his manager, George (Hubert "Blues" Lawhorn). “He is very good and trustworthy. He offered me his whole life. He brought me a long way.”

With 79 years of experience, Willie has dignity, humility, compassion and a joy for life. When the credit is due him, he will give it to you. There is no ego here. Just a man who loves his music as much as the people he performs for. They say you get back what you give. Perhaps that is why the respect his band has for this man is so noticeable when they welcome him to the stage.

He has sage advice, interesting insights and unique views to offer. And he still has his dreams. The national stage is still on the agenda. “I’ve never had missed meal cramps looking for a gig. I’ve never been on the road… but I would like to.”

Along that line, he has somewhat conflicting words of advice for new bands. “Write a song that will get people’s attention,” he says, “not pay-to-play or spending your money touring the country trying to get noticed. Write a song that will get their attention.”

There have been lessons learned. He used to play the clubs and house parties for free. “I’m happy on stage. I love it, but I’m no chippy. I played a house party one time and they didn’t pay anything. I was glad to be there. My friend said to me, ‘I want you to stop that. They are talking about you. They say you will play all night for a glass of whiskey. They don’t appreciate you if you don’t charge.” Willie passes that advice along. You may need to build a name, but don’t sell yourself short.

Asked if there were any defining moments in his career, Willie replied, “When you did that review of me at Empire. You discovered me.” When we pointed out that he had received media prior to our review, he said, “You were different. No one has ever said that. You got other people to look. I want you to write that down.” And with that comes another word of advice to performers. “Always do your best. You never know who is out there. I didn’t know you were there and watching. That’s how you get discovered. One person could make you a millionaire.”

What’s next for Willie? There is no sign of slowing down. In addition to all the clubs, there are performances at the People’s Fair, the Greeley Blues Festival, Hudson Gardens and a new CD about six months off. That national stage is still in his plans.

We say it is long overdue. Willie Houston is a legend and it would be a tragedy if the rest of America was to miss out on the wealth he has to offer through his blues.

Copies of the DVD by Lonesome Lizard Film Products are available by calling Bob Merco at 303-287-7473 or by e-mailing him at supermerc81@netzero.com. For more info on Willie Houston, visit www.williehouston.com