Preachin' the Blues

Son House was deeply conflicted: a former Baptist preacher torn between the holy pulpit and the secular blues. During his legendary 1930 Grafton session, he channeled that inner turmoil directly into the microphone for "Preachin' the Blues." Playing a heavy, steel-bodied National resonator guitar, House attacked the strings with a copper slide, creating a loud, aggressive, metallic rhythm. He delivered the lyrics with the fierce, rhythmic shouting of a Sunday sermon, openly mocking religious hypocrisy. It was a terrifyingly powerful, unvarnished performance that deeply impressed a young Robert Johnson, who later acknowledged House as a major influence.