Howdy!

Cisco's Digital Home

Cisco often sang "I Ain't Got No Home" but now that has been remedied. Welcome to the small, but growing, Internet Home of Cisco Houston. This fine folksinger, the definitive interpreter of Woody Guthrie's massive songbook, as well as the genuine voice of the rails and plains, is an underappreciated giant. Our site offers photos, reviews, articles, essays and original writing about the life, career, and music of a great American troubadour, all in the hope of restoring an appropriate magnitude to his reputation.

This website was started in 2001. Now, over 20 years later, the stream of information is drying up. We've had some wonderful communication from folks who met him, or saw a concert, and have shared here what we learned and a little bit of what we suspect. There was no Wikipedia when we started this, so their content has followed ours, literally. And the very small number of pictures of Cisco, scanned by me years ago, have been recycled by innumerable music editors, gathering them from here, without attribution, to adorn their YouTube videos. But I'm glad to see them out there, and hope that it sends a few more folks our way. Not that we make any money out of this. Not a penny. But we hope to share the charm, the music, and the history, that Cisco so wonderfully exemplifies.

The folk music magazine Sing Out devoted a significant chunk of its October/November 1961 issue to the then recently deceased Cisco. Fine articles by Lee Hays and Bill Wolff convey a bit of the spirit of this man. Check the Photo Gallery for the pictures from that issue, as well as photos from all aspects of his life.

He died way too soon, though had he lived longer it's difficult to imagine how he would have adapted to the deification of every guy who sang and played a little guitar. Cisco seems to have been a simple working man, hoping to earn a buck, get along with everyone, work for good and help a fella when he needed it. But the loss of this voice, right when folk music veered into the same self-glorification and pompousness that afflicted all the performing arts, is a shame. We can't bring him back, but we hope to do a little something to keep his music and his persona alive.

Video and Audio files:

Cisco looking wonderful in a never-aired show called Music of America

Two lengthy audio recordings of live Cisco, well worth your time:

• Cisco in London, 1960 A performance recorded on his way home from his India trip.
• Cisco at UC Berkeley A wonderful 90 minute performace of many old favorites; the web site has a number of images not seen elsewhere.

We welcome any suggestions, contributions, or questions. You send it, we'll consider using it. Find Contact Info on the Who Are We page. Help us spread the word. And the music. And thanks for visiting.

Note: Throughout the site you will see thumbnail images. These are all links to a larger version of the same image.