HOUSTON BOINES

 

                                                                                                                        

                                                                                                                             

       

                                                                                                                             

Houston Boines (Hazlehurst, Mississippi, December 30, 1918 - November 8, 1970?) was an American harmonica player and singer. He recorded with Charley Booker and Ike Turner.

Houston (or it may have been Huston) remains an obscure, shadowy figure despite having broadcast on KFFS' King Biscuit Time during one of Sonny Boy's regular prolonged absence.

He was still living there when he was enlisted in the army in January 1941, almost one year before the United States entered World War II. It's unclear how long he was in the service. Charley Booker and Houston Stackhouse played with him after the War when he was still in Hazlehurst, but had only fleeting memories of him.

Boines played harmonica in Eddie Cusic's combo; The Rhythm Aces. In 1952 he cut a couple of sessions in Greenville, Mississippi, which let to the releases ''Monkey Motion'' / ''Superintendant'' and ''Going Home'' / ''Relation Blues'', both recorded for RPM in January 1952, (plus a belated mid-1960s release on Blues & Rhythm/Blue Horizon) - but his December 1953 session at Sun would appear to have been his (rather glorious) swansong.

Little Milton roomed with him around this time, recalling a stockily built man in his late forties, whom he took to Sun. He was vaguely remembered by Charlie Booker and Houston Stackhouse, both of whom played with him, but Little Milton, who'd actually brought him along to 706 Union remembered him best, recalling an "old man".

Stackhouse recalled that Boines was still playing harmonica in clubs until late in life. ''He used to be a terrible good harp player'', said Stackhouse, ''but he just faded on out. He'd drink so much''. Mississippi death records reveal that someone named Huston Boines died on November 8, 1970 in Jackson, and that could well be our man. Certainly, Houston Stackhouse confirmed that Boines died around that time. Those few memories underpinned by even fewer certain dates and a total of eight recordings are all that we know of him.

Version 3, edited by midlifefanclub on 29 December 2013, 11:27pm · View version history