Houston Stackhouse

Born September 28, 1910, in the modest Mississippi community of Wesson, Houston Stackhouse served as mentor to Delta slide virtuoso Robert Nighthawk. Yet Stackhouse never reached the commercial heights or creative stature of his celebrated pupil and stayed largely unrecognized beyond his home state. An admirer of Tommy Johnson, he performed that artist’s material on a regular basis. Lacking strong abilities as either vocalist or guitarist, he was soon eclipsed by the younger Nighthawk, though the protégé later reciprocated by accompanying Stackhouse on mid- to late-1960s recording dates. Beyond the occasional European appearance, Stackhouse spent nearly his entire career performing in towns along the Delta’s fringes. He died in Houston, Texas, in 1980.