The Story of the 1964 Blues House

Walking west up Miantonomi Avenue from Green End Pond in Middletown, Rhode Island during the last weekend in July 1964, you would have likely heard and seen something truly incredible. On the front lawn of a stately and ornate 1857 Italianate Villa, a group of Black men and women were chopping logs and chanting work songs. Another group of musicians, both Black and White, gathered on the welcoming wraparound porch, trading songs and telling stories. Right there, on that front porch was the most remarkable gathering of American roots musicians ever assembled in one place at one time. It was the birth of what we know now as The Blues House.

The Blues House (Photo by David Gahr)

As the story goes, Newport Folk Festival co-founder and Producer George Wein rented this off-premise campus for the weekend as a way to corral the various musicians that he’d brought up from around the country – most notably the deep South – many of whom had never been to the Northeast, and to make sure they didn’t get into too much trouble downtown.

George wrote about this in his memoir Myself Among Others, “Joyce had found this house and furnished it with beds from Vernon Court. The resulting residence, which we dubbed ‘The Blues House,’ was something to behold. These timeless blues legends were having a ball. It seemed that the house was full of song at all hours; Informal jam sessions would start in the afternoon and persist until the evening. Some of these artists hadn’t seen each other in years; Others had never previously met. Having them all together under one roof was a joyous arrangement.”

Mississippi John Hurt and Elizabeth Cotten (Photo by David Gahr)

Legends including Muddy Waters, Skip James, Elizabeth Cotten, Mississippi John Hurt, Sleepy John Estes, Jesse Fuller, Doc Watson, Robert Pete Williams, Yank Rachel, Mississippi Fred McDowell, Hammie Nixon, Reverend Robert Wilkins, Gaither Carter, Jimmy Driftwood, and Almeda Riddle were all in attendance in one place and at one time. Never since and never again. This was The Blues House.

Johnny Driftwood, Hobart Smith, Almeda Riddle, Mrs. General Dixon Watson, Doc Watson, and Mississippi John Hurt (Photo by David Gahr)

Reverend Robert Wilkins, Gaither Carlton, Skip James, Arnold Watson, Mississippi John Hurt, Yank Rachell, Sleepy John Estes, Hammie Nixon, and Doc Watson (Photo by David Gahr)

BONUS CONTENT

60 years later, Taj Mahal returns to the hallowed grounds of the Blues House for a special performance of “Catfish Blues.”

Photos by Rett Rogers