Music continually reveals to me the unpredictable and beautiful connections that we share between each other and the world around us.
In reading "Martin Scorsese presents...The Blues", the companion book to the Scorsese produced 2003 documentary of the same name, I learned that Delta blues legend Son House was rediscovered in my newly adopted hometown of Rochester, NY in 1964 after almost 20 years of anonymity working for the New York Central Railroad. After giving up on a musical career that started in Mississippi and went on to influence the entire genre along with its best players, House emerged from the shadows in the folk and blues revival of the 1960's and went on successfully re-recording and touring until his re-retirement in 1974. House died of cancer in 1988.
That got me thinking about one of my favorite Son House tunes "Death Letter" and how great both the original and the 1998 cover by a then eighteen year old Derek Trucks (with Warren Haynes on vocals) are.
Listen to the Derek Trucks version here.
Also, check out the White Stripe's live take on "Death Letter" which intersperses lyrics from another Son House classic "Grinnin' in Your Face" toward the end of the cut.
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