Henry Townsend and Roosevelt Sykes Blues Piano and Guitar: Washington University, Graham Chapel, 1973

Henry Townsend and Roosevelt Sykes
Blues Piano and Guitar: Washington University, Graham Chapel, 1973
Omnivore Recordings

Having recently been delighted by Omnivore's expanded reissue of Henry Townsend's wonderful Nighthawk album, "Mule," Omnivore has brought out this album of previously unissued performances recorded at a concert at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. Roosevelt Sykes was one of the greatest blues pianists of all time and recorded prolifically on his own and backing other musicians, while Townsend had a recording career that spanned nine decades. The two first met in St. Louis in the 1920s with Sykes gave Townsend pointers on playing the piano. In 1930, Sykes took Townsend and Walter Davis to a Paramount recording session. In 1931, Sykes and Townsend traveled to Louisville, Kentucky. The two remained lifelong friends and this concert performance was the first of several reunions before Sykes passed away in 1983.

Based on this recording, this was a magical evening with both artists performing a diverse group of numbers from their repertoire. Both were also at the top of their game. Townsend sounds and plays with considerable vigor on these recordings. He strongly reworks Clifford Gibson's "Tired of Being Mistreated," his own "Henry's Worry Blues," and with his wife, Vernell joining on a vocal, "Why We Love Each Other So." Then there is also a fine rendering of "Sloppy Drunk," and a superb rendition of "Tears Come Rollin' Down" with Vernell taking the lead vocal. He switches to piano for "All My Money Gone."

Sykes' performances open with his "Night Time Is the Right Time," and among his strong performances are "Driving Wheel," "The War Is Over" (also known as "Sunny Road") which is one of two performances on which Townsend adds his guitar behind Sykes piano and vocal, "Ice Cream Freezer," "Sweet Home Chicago" and an R-rated "Dirty Mother For You (You Don't Know)." Among his other performances is a barrelhouse boogie-woogie of "Boot That Thing," and an exuberant, robust rendition of Fats Waller's "Honeysuckle Rose."

This two-disc release, with 30 performances, captures the two at the top of their form. LeRoy Jodie Pierson, who produced this release with Cheryl Pawelski, contributed the liner notes along with several rare photographs to this outstanding release.

I received my review copy from a publicist. This review appeared in the March-April 2018 Jazz & Blues Report (Issue 383). Here is a video of Roosevelt Sykes playing.

Henry Townsend Mule

Henry Townsend
Mule
Omnivore

Henry Townsend was the only blues artist to record in every decade from the 1920s to the first decade of the 21st Century. It was a career that had him record for Paramount and other labels before the depression, later participate in sessions with legends like John Lee 'Sonny Boy' Williamson, and Walter Davis, and then record for Folkways and Prestige before Adelphi issued an album in 1975. "Mule" was issued originally by Nighthawk Records in 1980 and warmly received by blues aficionados. Leroy Pierson, one of the co-producers of the original recordings and this reissue stated that the intention was to create an album worthy of his unique genius and secure him the recognition someone of his talent and historical purpose deserves. Omnivore has reissued this on CD augmenting the 13 recordings on the original recording. It also represented the transition of Townsend from being a blues guitarist and singer to becoming primarily a blues pianist.

I have the original vinyl LP, but it has been some time since I listened to it. Listening to this music again is a joy. Townsend's sober, thoughtful blues evokes his old partner, Walter Davis, more than anyone else even when his piano displays some of Roosevelt Sykes' influence. The opening "Bad Luck Dice" echoes some train blues as well as St. Louis Jimmy's "Goin' Down Slow," with his bittersweet singing and piano accompaniment. "Nothing But Trouble" is a slow minor-key blues where he lightly moans about his woman being somewhere else in another man's arm. Henry wrote "Tears Come Rollin’ Down" for Walter Davis. He remakes it here with a wonderful vocal from his wife, Vernell. Then there is the melancholic "Hard Road to Travel," also performed in his restrained style.

Yank Rachell, who adds mandolin to several tracks, plays supporting, rhythmic guitar behind Henry's pinched note playing on the peppy "Talkin’ Guitar Blues." Henry proclaims he is "I’m Just An Ordinary Man" waking up every morning with the same thing on his mine with the moody tone accentuated by his rumbling bass and single note arpeggios. After the piano solo "Alley Strut," Henry and Vernell share the vocal on "Can't You See," an appealing update of Jesse Thomas' "Another Friend Like Me," with Henry on guitar. Yank Rachell adds his mandolin behind Henry's guitar on the Walter Davis-styled "Dark Clouds Rising."

Among the previously unissued tracks are "The Other Night," with an energetic boogie-inflected piano, and the somber "Going Back To My Baby," with Norman Merritt adding guitar in a Townsend-influenced manner behind Townsend's piano and vocal. Henry is on guitar on "Goin’ Back Down South," which sounds lyrically to be an adaptation of  a John Lee 'Sonny Boy' Williamson recording. Yank Rachell is heard on second guitar. Townsend's music may not have the immediate appeal of a Big Joe Williams, Roosevelt Sykes or Lonnie Johnson, but his direct, sober performances and craftsmanship as a songwriter make for some superb blues listening, with the bonus of the additional songs.

I received my review copy from a publicist. This review appeared in the November-December 2018 Jazz & Blues Report (Issue 381), although I have made minor changes. Here is Henry Townsend recorded in 2011.

The Devil's Music 1979 BBC Television

The British Broadcasting Company in 1979 presented a fascinating look at the origins and history blues, The Devil's Music. With a narration presented by Alexis Koerner, the program presented a number of filmed performances by then still living blues performers like Houstoin Stackhouse, Sonny Blake, Sam Chatmon, Fenton Robinson, Big Joe Williams, Henry Townsend and others. Giles Oakley wrote a book providing a history of the Blues under the title The Devil's Music. The soundtrack of recordings made for the series was originally available on vinyl on the Red Lightnin' label and later on a CD box on Indigo Records that I reviewed and 2004 and included on this blog in 2013, http://inabluemood.blogspot.com/2013/02/devils-music-soundtrack-to-bbc-tv.html. 

In my review of the soundtrack I concluded "This is a fascinating collection of field recordings with some really exceptional performances interspersed with other entertaining ones. Add to this some live recordings of Memphis Slim and Sonny Boy Williamson in Europe in 1963 and one had a rather attractive box set, which I believe is bargain priced. Now if someone would only make the BBC-TV series available on dvd." While not available on DVD, the series is on youtube which I have linked here. While my CD box set review suggested there were  5 episodes there were only 4.

Episode 1

Episode 2

Episode 3

Episode 4

The Walter Davis Project

The Walter Davis Project is an important new album on Electro-Fi Records that brings together new performances by several blues artists that celebrate the music of the pioneering blues pianist-vocalist-songwriter. Davis was one of the most recorded blues artists (over 200 sides in a 22 year old span), an indication of his popularity amongst African- American record buyers, although his name is probably not well known among many who listen to blues today. Davis' music was what producer, and pianist, Christian Rennenberg termed one of the "citified down home Blues singers" that included Tampa Red, Bumble Bee Slim and Big Bill Broonzy, although he music was a bit more sober and reserved than others were capable of. His songs were 

German pianist Christian Rennenberg put together The Walter Davis Project. In the booklet he explains how he was first introduced to the music of Walter Davis. Then when he was driving various blues musicians from town to town he became educated about Davis. There was Willie Mabon who had a love-hate relationship since back in the States he had to play Davis' songs all the time. As ambivalent as Mabon was, Sunnyland Slim was a Davis fanatic and this led to his immersion in the music of Davis. Besides other pianists like Blind John Davis and Henry Gray, Billy Boy Arnold and Jimmy Rogers were others that helped feed the passion for Davis. 

I will not summarize every detail about what led to this CD as his liner notes does that superbly. It did lead to him recording with Billy Boy Arnold, Jimmy McCracklin, Keith Dunn and Charlie Musselwhite as well as secured a track from Bob Corritore of Henry Townsend. Arnold, Dunn and Musselwhite were fans of Walter Davis' music, but Townsend and McCracklin had deep personal ties to Davis. Townsend played guitar with Davis, being on many recordings particularly those after World War 11, while McCracklin (as revealed during an interview appended after the 17 selections of music) was Davis' godson and deeply influenced musically by Davis.

Rennenberg has a nice two-page analysis of Davis' music noting in certain respects its similarity to certain Delta blues guitarists. His playing built upon licks, phrases and riffs and was very modal in his approach. Davis almost rarely soloed and rarely played uptempo, with the focus on supporting his own lyrics which were focused on relationships and only rarely full of the bragging and swagger of some blues artists. 

Henry Townsend opens this collection up with a recording Nothin' But the Blues, that is pretty close to Davis' style of music. Townsend's piano recordings over the past couple decades of his life will give some a sense of Davis' sound. Rennenberg himself has attempted to channel Davis' approach as well and provides accompaniment on the other selections while the various singers so justice to a variety of Davis' compositions. The lyrics certainly are striking today as sixty years ago. For example not only did they put Ashes In My Whiskey, they also put strychnine in his glass as Keith Dunn sings so ably. Davis was amongst the earliest to record a cover of Robert Johnson's Sweet Home Chicago, which McCracklin reprises here against Rennenberg's rolling piano and Steve Gannon's guitar. Rennenberg himself does his take on Davis playing the dozens. Other choice performances include Charlie Musselwhite's world weary vocal on Friends We Must Part, and we may never see each other anymore and Billy Boy Arnold's Please Remember Me, with some really nice playing from Rennenberg.

Walter Davis was an important and influential individual in the history of the blues who has been overlooked in recent years. Honestly his music will not be for everybody's tastes. There are always artists that one simply may not get or like. Some of this is listening and some is what one's listening background is. For those into 'rocking blues,' Walter Davis' music may be something that are not ready for or simply that does not have appeal for. For others, the substance and depth in Davis' blues will reward close listening. The excellent performances on The Walter Davis Project hopefully will provide an introduction for many into this significant body of blues and hopefully lead them to explore Davis' substantial recorded legacy. Electro-Fi is to be thanked for this important and exceptional release.

I received my review copy from Electro-Fi. For those wanting a good sample of Walter Davis's recordings, check out Please Remember Me which is available as a CD on Amazon from third-party sellers as well as a download (also available as a download on itunes).

Here is Henry Townsend on piano playing in a fashion influenced by Walter Davis.

Here is Walter Davis' original recording of "Ashes in My Whiskey."

Devil's Music - Soundtrack to BBC TV History of the Blues

The Devil’s Music was the title of a 1976 BBC 5-part documentary series that resulted from Giles Oakley’s travels to the United States. It was accompanied by a nice history of the blues by Oakley also titled The Devil’s Music as well as some lps on the Red Lightnin’ label. While this writer has never seen the BBC television series, he has read Oakley’s book (which I believe De Capo may have republished) and had the original recordings, a double lp set The Devils Music, and a single lp, More Devil’s Music. Those ops are reissued on CD by the British Indigo label along with some live recordings by Memphis Slim and Sonny Boy Williamson from the 1963 American Folk Blues Festival Tour in Indigo Records 3 cd box, The Devils Music.

The first two volumes contain recordings made during by Oakley and his BBC crew while visiting the Us and range from the legendary Mississippi bluesmen, Sam Chatmon doing Stop and Listen Blues, Big Joe Williams performing Highway 49, and Bukka White’s powerful Aberdeen Mississippi. Some of the performers around Memphis and Helena Arkansas are also featured as two former King Biscuit Time guitarists; Houston Stackhouse and Joe Willie Wilkins are heard. Stackhouse’s performances include Tommy Johnson’s Cool Drink of Water while Wilkins does Mr. Downchild, a tune associated with Sonny Boy Williamson. 

Harmonica player Sonny Blake is heard on Sonny Boy’s Bring It On Home. Also heard are Laura Dukes, once a singer with the Memphis Jug Band, and pianist Mose Vinson. Chicago blues are represented with performances by The Aces, Fenton Robinson (on which Bill Heid can be heard on keyboards), Good Rockin’ Charles, Elmore James imitator Joe Carter and Billy Boy Arnold. Pianist Little Brother Montgomery and singer Edith Wilson provide a nod to early blues recordings in the performances. 

St. Louis is represented by the final twelve performances including six by James De Shay, whose recordings of Pony Blues, Mistake in Life, Hold That Train and Elmore James’ Crossroads are live club recordings, that are not hi-fi. These are is only recordings DeShay made. Other recordings include some more Big Joe Williams (including a raucous Sloppy Drunk) and Henry Townsend (with the bittersweet Tears Come Fallin’ Down being outstanding). The late blues queen Victoria Spivey closes the field recordings with a remake of her hit, T.B. Blues. 

This is a fascinating collection of field recordings with some really exceptional performances interspersed with other entertaining ones. Add to this some live recordings of Memphis Slim and Sonny Boy Williamson in Europe in 1963 and one had a rather attractive box set, which I believe is bargain priced. Now if someone would only make the BBC-TV series available on dvd.

This review originally appeared in the April 2004 DC Blues Calendar, the DC Blues Society newsletter  I edited for many years. I have made a few minor revisions. Amazon lists this as available from various sellers. I purchased this.

St. Louis' Rich Blues History Beautifully Recalled

Devil at the Confluence: The Pre-War Blues Music of St Louis Missouri
Authored, Illustrated & Designed by Kevin Belford
2009: Virginia Publishing, St. Louis Missouri.

Devil at the Confluence: The Pre-War Blues Music of St Louis Missouri
Authored, Illustrated & Designed by Kevin Belford
2009: Virginia Publishing, St. Louis Missouri.

 I remember a LP compilation of pre-World War II blues, “Lake Michigan Blues,” that was on the Nighthawk label. It collected a nice mix of 16 recordings, many of which presaged what we would know as Chicago blues. Reading the liner notes in discussing folks like John Lee ‘Sonny Boy’ Williamson, Yank Rachell, Robert Lee McCoy (Aka Nighthawk) and Henry Townsend, I observed the fact that these folks were living in St. Louis at the time they went up to Chicago to record some sides that became a strong part of the foundation of the post-war Chicago Blues. Still, the important role of St. Louis based artists in blues history has been generally ignored or not given much attention.

A new book “Devil at the Confluence: The Pre-War Blues Music of St Louis Missouri,” specifically aims to address this neglect of blues history. This book brings together the history of St. Louis blues artists and their musical contributions. Furthermore, this book is a visual feats as well. Kevin Belford did not simply draft the text, but laid-out and marvelously illustrated this volume in which his discussion of the history and artists is complemented by collages of photos, painting, press clippings and more. It is on most striking books visually as well as being an important contribution to the blues literature.

St. Louis is where the two largest rivers in the United States, the Missouri and the Mississippi, join and flow south. Its placement made it ideal for development of new ideas and musical creation. Traditional music research often focuses on the primal source (ideally one) and overlooks St. Louis’ pivotal role in the blues and other forms of American music. This simplistic focus on mythical sources then leads Henry Townsend’s birth and few months in Mississippi as more important to characterizing his music than the rest of his life lived in Cairo, Illinois and St. Louis. Townsend didn’t start playing until he heard Lonnie Johnson as a pre-teenaged boy. It is this imbalance that Belford corrects. “Adding the St. Louis part of the blues story should not mean rewriting American musical history” but rather provide a more complete history and understanding of the music. St. Louis’ importance in the rise of pre-blues and pre-jazz is widely acknowledged, but the blues history overlooked and that is aim he has here.

The early part of the book focuses on St. Louis pre-blues music which includes a discussion of the concert bands, ragtime players and composers, as well as noting three infamous murders that become crafted into folk ballads that are well known from “Duncan and Brady” (also known as ‘Looking For the Bully”); “Frankie and Johnny;” and “Staggerlee.” While the former number never made it to Tin Pan Alley’s publishing machines, the latter did. Besides mentioning these songs, the actual stories behind them are revealed. St. Louis, Missouri and the surrounding area are well known for their importance of ragtime, which mixed folk and formal music. Also early St. Louis jazz is discussed, noting historical accounts of jazz was played before what are considered the first jazz records and the musicians, both Black and White, whom played in the bands in St. Louis. In 1923, Kansas City bandleader Bennie Moten came to St. Louis to record along with singer Ada Brown and Mary Bradford, but despite the word blues in most song titles, most of these sides are not considered part of the blues legacy by many blues historians, and neither are some of the white bands like Gene Rodemich who recorded a number of titles with blues in them.

“The first recordings of St. Louis blues are of female singers mostly and a few of the great St. Louis jazz bands.” From the slums, Josephine Baker emerged and starting at the Booker T. Washington Theater where she played for tips, she became an international celebrity in Paris. Katherine McDonald recorded two songs with a pianist, Miles Davis (unrelated to the jazz icon); while Priscilla Stewart made a number recordings, many with the great pianist Jimmy Blythe. Eva Taylor started at St. Louis’ Orpheum Theater before marrying pianist and Clarence Williams and moving to New York where she made numerous recordings. Virginia Liston recorded with Louis Armstrong and Clarence Williams before returning to St. Louis. Then there was Irene Scruggs, whose two page spread provides a concise summary of her recordings and career including that she toured on the TOBA circuit performing with Lonnie Johnson, Little Brother Montgomery and the King Oliver Band and in the fifties moved to Europe and likely died overseas. We learn that she was also known as Little Sister, Dixie Nolan, and Chocolate Brown. In addition to a reproduction of her image from a record ad, their are reproductions of an Okeh ad for “My Daddy’s Calling Me” and “You Got What I Want,” which was issued as by “Chocolate Brown.

At this time you had bands working on the steamboats going up and down the Mississippi such as Fats Marable and they produced such important musicians and bandleaders as Dewey Jackson and Charlie Creath. Creath’s Jazz-O-Maniacs included at different times William Blue, Pops Foster and Gene Sedric (of Fats Waller Band fame). What is important is that a variety of artists from St. Louis, jazz bands and female singers of all stripes from St. Louis recorded and nearly every session by them included at least one blues-titled song. An impressive factor as was that the performers were not lone wolfs but “seem to have known and worked with each other in a camaraderie of diverse styles that today is divided into vaudeville or jazz or blues categories.”

St. Louis blues itself arose from “artists [who] grew up listening to piano players at house parties or guitarists in poolhalls and barbershops. The typical musician worked a regular job and played their blues with a network of clubs, parties and bands around the city.” Belford doesn’t simply discuss the musicians. he notes facilitators like Jesse J. Johnson, who opened a record store, managed bands and was the connection between the musicians (including his brother James Stump Johnson and wife Edith) and the record companies. Johnson was the person who helped Victoria Spivey, Lonnie Johnson and so many to get recorded and promoted. Lonnie and his brother James moved to St. Louis after a flu epidemic. In 1925, Lonnie won a blues contest for months on running at the Booker T. Washington Theatre leading to what would be a prodigious recording career. Victoria Spivey’s career took off after she came to St. Louis to audition for Jesse Johnson and in addition to a short summary of her and Lonnie’s careers, Belford discusses pseudonyms they may have used on other recordings and some of the musicians they were associated with.

It is easy to get caught in the details and lose the sense of the story being told. There will be performers he discusses that should be known to knowledgable blues enthusiasts like Henry Townsend, Charlie Jordan, Henry Brown, Roosevelt Sykes, Mary Johnson, Clifford Gibson, Peetie Wheatstraw, Big Joe Williams, Speckled Red, Walter Davis,Teddy Darby, and St. Louis Jimmy, as well lesser known names like Alice Moore, Edith Johnson, JD Short, and The Sparks Brothers. Robert Nighthawk lived in St. Louis when the Victor Recording Company had him, Big Joe Williams, Henry Townsend and John Lee ‘Sonny Boy Williamson’ travel to Chicago to make recordings that foreshadowed the post-war Chicago blues style. While Dr. Clayton is included in Belford’s discussion as having lived in St. Louis, Belford may have been unaware that (as he told me) Robert Lockwood, Jr., was living in St. Louis at the time and traveled with Dr. Clayton for a session after which Lockwood recorded under his own name for Bluebird on this trip. Belford cogently notes that St. Louis artists Roosevelt Sykes, Lonnie Johnson, Peetie Wheatstraw and Walter Davis among the most prolific recording blues artists of the pre-World War 11 era.

In the latter pages there is a brief of the post-war scene, although perhaps not in the same detail, and there is an appreciation of the role of Charlie O’Brien, a police officer, and Bob Koester, then a college student and jazz fan, in uncovering and documenting the blues history summarized here. A 14-track CD, “The St. Louis Blues Legacy,” is included with selections from the Delmark catalog presenting some of the artists discussed by Belford. “Devil at the Confluence” accomplishes its intended purpose of bringing to the front and center the great contributions of artists associated with St. Louis on the blues tradition. “Devil at the Confluence” is a significant contribution to the blues literature.

I believe this book is a limited edition. I purchased it from amazon.com.

Remembering Robert Johnson

In 1991, the Smithsonian Institution's annual Folklife Festival presented, as one of the featured presentations of the Festival, The Roots of Rhythm and Blues: A Tribute to the Robert Johnson Era. I was fortunate enough to attend and had the pleasure to see a number of captivating workshops and performances. I still recall folklorist and scholar Worth Long asking Robert Lockwood and Johnny Shines about songs Robert Johnson performed but never recorded. That was the first time I heard of Hacksaw Harney who Robert Lockwood Jr said was one of the few guitarists other than his step-father who impressed Lockwood. There was marvelous music whether Ruth Brown on the first day singing accompanied by Robert Lockwood, or Vernell Townsend (accompanied by husband Henry) singing Stormy Monday as if Walter Davis had recorded that number. Of the artists I had not heard previously, Eddie Cusic stood out with his straight-ahead Delta style blues. Some music from that festival was issued on a Sony-Legacy album which only hinted at the music performed and collected. I reviewed it back in 1992 and here is my review as printed in Jazz and Blues Report out of Cleveland. (www.jazz-blues.org)

Roots Of Rhythm And Blues A Tribute To The Robert Johnson Era

Sony - Columbia

This release from Sony/Columbia, in conjunction with Smithsonian/Folkways, documents the program that was part of the 1991 Smithsonian Folklife Festival. Those fortunate enough to attend the festival will remember some of these performances and the workshops, oral history and performers not represented here. In addition to associates of Robert Johnson, like the late Johnny “Ned” Shines, Robert Jr. Lockwood, David ‘Honeyboy’ Edwards and Henry Townsend, a variety of delta blues and traditional African American performers were presented including Lonnie Pitchford, Jessie Mae Hemphill, and others. In addition to festival performers, there are ringers here. While Phil Wiggins appeared at the Festival, John Cephas did not. While I originally thought Cephas and Wiggins’ fine Brownsville Blues was from an earlier festival, I have been told this is a studio performance with dubbed-in applause. Toshi Reagon is heard on another studio recording, albeit without dubbed crowd noise. The centerpiece of the performances are several loose jams credited to Johnny “Ned” Shines (with these being his last “official recordings”) and ensemble. The ensemble includes Townsend on piano, Lockwood on guitar, Shines’ young associate Kent DuChaine on guitar, Lonnie Pitchford on bass guitar and Phil Wiggins on harmonica. There was another jam session with Honeyboy and Larry Wise replacing Lockwood and Wiggins, but nothing from that jam is represented here. Certainly the jam recordings are historic, although the music has some rough edges, with Pitchfords’s bass, Townsend’s piano and Lockwood’s strong authoritative playing keep things from getting too chaotic. The album opens with a very ragged Sweet Home Chicago, on which Shines’ singing sounded tired. The other songs, including his B.B. King influenced Loved and Lost (a retitled version of Have to Pay the Cost) are better performances. Also interesting are Shines’ three short acappella performances including a street vendor’s cry, Watermelons, and the traditional Tell Me How You Want Your Rolling Done. Documentation of these archaic song forms is invaluable whether by Shines, former Parchman Farm inmate David Savage, heard on two field hollers, or some retired railroad workers singing while demonstrating lining tracks. Lockwood and Edwards turn in workmanlike solo performances, Lonnie Pitchford’s three Robert Johnson numbers are adeptly performed, but solo performances by Henry Townsend (sounding like Walter Davis on the superb All My Money’s Gone on piano), and Jessie Mae Hemphill (a very strong Train, Train) stand out. Also included is a solo harmonica feature by Phil Wiggins, and several religious performances from the Moving Star Hall Singers. There were a number of strongly delivered performances not included, ostensively because of technical problems attributable to the hot, humid weather that made keeping in tune a real adventure. Barry Lee Pearson and Bernice Reagon places the performances in their social and historic context. While not indispensable, this makes available a variety of performances and performers not otherwise likely to be found on a major label, and has value beyond that of a festival souvenir.

Henry Townsend & The Real St. Louis Blues

Arcola Records is a small label out of Seattle that has been building a very interesting catalog of downhome blues focusing on previously unissued recordings by significant stylists in older blues traditions. One of the recent additions to the catalog is the late Henry Townsend’s The Real St. Louis Blues. Townsend, who when he died had probably the lengthiest career on record in blues history, first recording in 1929 and recording in the 21st Century. In the pre-World War 11 era played (and recorded) with many legends including James ‘Stump’ Johnson, Lonnie Johnson, Henry Spaulding, Roosevelt Sykes, Walter Davis, Charlie Jordan, John Lee ‘Sonny Boy’ Williamson and Big Joe Williams and his recording career extended from 1929 to the 21st Century and developed a distinctive style on both guitar and piano.
The recordings on this set derive from recordings that Arcola’s Bob West produced in August, 1979 at Henry’s home in St. Louis (and West playing second guitar on a couple tracks) and a Baldwin Piano Store in the city, and provide a pretty fair representation of Townsend as a bluesman displaying his rhythmic driving guitar and deep alley piano style matched with his doleful vocals. His style gives his rendition of Jesse Baby Face Thomas’ You’ll Never Find Another Man Like Me, titled here as Can’t You See (and credited to Henry) a bit more somber in its tone. His piano blues feature a steady bass and thundering right hand runs and complement his somber singing on Mercy, a take on a traditional blues theme; So Long, So Long, a somber goodbye song; Sad Story, a minor key blues, reminiscent of Walter Davis, that is a marvelous piece of blues storytelling as his woman says she is going away; and Let Her Go, a marvelous performance in the vein of St. James Infirmary as if Walter Davis sang it. Crying Won’t Make Me Stay (one of the songs on which West seconded Townsend) brings together the going down the big road blues theme with going and his woman’s crying won’t make him stay, which Townsend’s plaintive vocal delivers so convincingly. This is a marvelous collection of blues performances and absolutely recommended to fans of acoustic blues, although this reviewer recognizes that Townsend’s sober and thoughtful approach to the blues won’t be to everyone’s taste. Arcola should be available from better online retailers if one cannot locate this material in stores.

Here is a link to Henry's wikipedia entry

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Townsend_(musician)