Cisco Houston

• Genre: Traditional Folk

About

There are some folks who tend to see Woody Guthrie as Batman and Cisco Houston as Robin because the two were always traveling around America and singing harmonies together at various migrant camps. But in all fairness, Houston was more like Aquaman. His tenor-to-baritone sung folk songs became the anthems of America's working class, ranch hands and hobos eventually finding their way into the young and politically active folk revival enthusiasts who were trying to change the world in the late-1950s and early-1960s. Besides recording his own material (which consisted of traditional standards and self-penned ditties), Houston sang backup harmonies on some of the earliest Woody Guthrie recordings for the Folkways label. He passed away after being diagnosed with cancer in 1961.

- Eric Shea