Houston blues musician Little Joe Washington dies

Little Joe Washington (Bill Olive photo, for the Chronicle.) Little Joe Washington (Bill Olive photo, for the Chronicle.) Photo: Bill Olive, Freelance Photo: Bill Olive, Freelance Image 1 of / 27 Caption Close Houston blues musician Little Joe Washington dies 1 / 27 Back to Gallery

Houston blues player Little Joe Washington performed for more than 40 years, but his musical recordings were limited to a few hard-to-find albums. He moved quietly and frequently, as much a ghost as a legend. Washington - whose personal blues included a 10-year period he barely remembers, addictions and periods of homelessness - died after an extended illness Wednesday, said Jomonica Phoenix, his friend and caretaker. He was 75.

Washington's skeletal frame and world weary visage gave the impression that he was fading long before he did. He repeatedly found his way to local hospitals in his last years, but he'd rally and continue performing until the end.

In the late-'90s he became a popular performer on stages at venues such as Boondocks, the Continental Club and Blue Iguana. There Washington was a volatile presence on stage, playing guitar with his teeth and his crotch, banging out notes on a battered keyboard, and throwing himself around, and sometimes off, the stage.

Washington could be brilliant and awful, frequently playing fragments of songs before stopping abruptly.

His personality was similarly hot and cold. Eccentric and shifty, Washington often burned bridges with those close to him, including other performers and those who provided lodging and money.

But he was one of the last remaining performers from a bygone golden era for Houston blues. Washington performed with the likes of Lightnin' Hopkins, Albert Collins and Johnny Copeland. He was close with Joe "Guitar" Hughes. His association with Hughes, paired with his frame, which didn't top five-feet-five-inches, earned him the nickname that became shorthand for his talented and troubled myth around Houston.

Washington may have peaked at 65. After years of wandering and years of abusing himself, in 2004 he took the stage at the Fuji Rock Festival in Japan, a mammoth three-day event that included such acts as Lou Reed, PJ Harvey and the White Stripes. The show came amid a period of particular productivity for Washington, who found fairly regular work around Houston.

An album, "Houston Guitar Blues," was finally released in 2003. It was largely made up of songs Washington had played for years, but didn't get around to recording. The record reflects the breadth of Washington's talent. He plays some boogie blues on "Hard Way," gospel-tinged Southern soul on "Someone Loves Me" and swinging blues on "I Feel Alright." "Bossa Nova Part 2" is one of the most interesting tracks on the album - its style self-explanatory.

"Houston Guitar Blues" is the most readily available document of Washington's music, though it recently fell out of print.

Tomas Escalante, owner of Sig's Lagoon, said it's been "one of my top sellers" over the years.

"I have trouble keeping it in stock," he said. "If they keep making them, it'll sell forever here."

Still the most exciting way to see Washington perform died with him: performing with the reckless abandon with which he also lived his life.