Henry
Townsend
 Henry
Townsend (pictured here with good friend Oliver
Sain) has recorded in every decade since the twenties.
Born in 1909 in Shelby Mississippi, he ran away from his
family to St Louis where, as a teenager he heard Lonnie
Johnson and other St Louis legends developing the blues
sound. Henry was influenced by local barber Henry Spaulding's
recording of "Cairo Blues" and his boyhood friend, David
Perchfield. An obscure St Louis blues legend named Dudlow
Joe took Henry around with him to the poolhalls and bars
and helped him learn the blues circuit. In
1929, an audition was arranged by a music store competitive
of Jesse Johnson's; Sam Woolf. Sam's shop was at 15th
and Biddle, and perhaps his only offering to the history
of the blues was Henry Townsend, for he recorded for Paramount
and Columbia in that year. Henry's music benefited from
associations with Roosevelt
Sykes and Walter Davis. In 1937 in, Big Joe Williams,
Robert
Nighthawk and Sonny
Boy Williamson traveled to Aurora Illinois with Henry
and other St Louisans to record one of the most influential
sessions of the Prewar period. The songs from this meeting
shaped the blues and influenced the direction of the genre.
Today Henry lives in a modest home in St Louis and fulfills
his role as the last remaining descendant of the early
blues. His latest release is The
"88" Blues, which makes 8 consecutive
decades of musical recordings! Want to learn more on this
St. Louis Blues Patriarch? Here's his most recent interview,
enjoy! |
