Although Houston Stackhouse may not have been as successful as some blues musicians from the Delta, he was still a pivotal figure on the southern blues scene from the 1930s to the 1960s. Not only was he a familiar face at juke joints throughout the Delta, but he was highly respected among other musicians and served as a mentor to many. He also achieved fame as a member of the King Biscuit Boys, who played on station KFFA out of Helena, Arkansas. 

Houston Stackhouse was born Houston Goff on September 28, 1910.  He was the son of Garfield Goff from Wesson, Mississippi, but was raised on the Randall Ford Plantation by James Wade Stackhouse. He only found out about his birth father in the 1970’s while trying to receive a passport. Stackhouse discovered a love for music on the Ford plantation from fiddler Lace Powell. He also had several uncles with musical ability that influenced him. Stackhouse’s musical career began in 1925 when he moved a few miles north to Crystal Springs. It was here that he met the Johnson Brothers, Lonnie Johnson and Blind Blake, who taught him about music.  In the mid to late 1930s, he played throughout Mississippi, Arkansas and Louisiana, working with musicians such as Robert Johnson and Charlie McCoy. However, his most enduring partnerships were with Carey “Ditty” Mason and his cousin Robert McCollum, better known as Robert Nighthawk.

In 1946, Robert Nighthawk asked Stackhouse to join him in Helena. He became a member of Nighthawk’s band that promoted Mother’s Best Flour. In 1947, he joined with drummer James “Peck” Curtis, who was working on KFFA’s King Biscuit Time along with guitarist Joe Willie Wilkins and pianists Robert Taylor and Pinetop Perkins. In 1948, Sonny Boy Williamson rejoined the show and the group performed all over the Delta, using radio spots to promote their appearances.

Over the next few years, Stackhouse continued to perform and played with important musicians that passed through Helena. These included Elmore James, Earl Hooker and Roosevelt Sykes. While he was employed as an active musician at night, Stackhouse worked days at the Chrysler plant in West Memphis between 1948 and 1954. Unlike many other bluesmen of his time, Stackhouse remained in the South and continued to perform locally, as well as working regular jobs. In 1965, Sonny Boy Williamson returned to Helena and enlisted Stackhouse to join him again on King Biscuit Time. In May of that same year, the group was recorded live by Chris Strachwitz of Arhoolie Records. These recordings would be released under Williamson’s name. Sonny Boy Williamson died shortly after that recording and Stackhouse continued briefly on the program with former partner Robert Nighthawk. In 1967, field researcher George Mitchell recorded Stackhouse at Dundee, Mississippi. His group, which was called the Blues Rhythm Boys, consisted of himself, Peck Curtis and Robert Nighthawk. That was the final recording of Nighthawk, who died a few months later.

Houston Stackhouse moved to Memphis around 1970, where he lived with Joe Willie Wilkins and his wife Carrie. He toured with Wilkins throughout the the next decade performing as the King Biscuit Boys. They traveled with the Memphis Blues Caravan and played various festivals, including a lone overseas trip to Vienna, Austria in 1976. Outside of playing for the first two Delta Blues Festivals in Greenville, he largely retired from music after his European tour and moved back to Crystal Springs, Mississippi. Stackhouse eventually returned to Helena though, but passed away on September 23, 1980 at the Helena Hospital, having outlived most of his peers. He was survived by  a son named Houston Stackhouse, Jr. On September 26, 2012, Houston Stackhouse was honored with a Mississippi Blues Trail marker.

Sources:

Harris, Jeff (2013, September 19) Houston Stackhouse (1910-1980) AKA as Houston Goff. Encyclopedia of Arkansas. Retrieved May 10, 2021.  https://encyclopdediaofarkansas.net/entries/houston-stackhouse-4329/

Mississippi Blues Commission (n.d.) Houston Stackhouse Retrieved May 10, 2021 from https://msbluestrail.org/blues-trail-markers/houston-stackhouse