Houston Stackhouse

The mentor of Delta slide virtuoso Robert Nighthawk, Houston Stackhouse never achieved the same commercial or artistic success as his famed pupil, and remained little known outside of his native Mississippi. Born in the small town of Wesson on September 28, 1910, he was a devotee of Tommy Johnson, whose songs he frequently covered; neither an especially gifted singer nor guitarist, he was quickly surpassed by the young Nighthawk, although the student repaid his debts by backing Stackhouse on a series of sessions cut during the mid- to late '60s. Outside of the rare European tour, Stackhouse was primarily confined to playing Delta border towns throughout the majority of his career; he died in Houston, Texas in 1980.