Henry 'Mule' Townsend (October 27 1909, Shelby, Mississippi – September 25 2006, Mequon, Wisconsin) was an American blues singer, guitarist and pianist.
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Career
He grew up in Cairo, Illinois and later moved to St. Louis, Missouri where he started recording with some of the early blues pioneers. He first recorded in 1929 and remained active up to 2006. Townsend was also one of the only artists known to have recorded in every decade for the last 80 years. By the mid 1990s, Townsend and his one-time collaborator Yank Rachell were the only active blues artists whose performing lives stretched back to the 1920s.[1] In 1985 he received the National Heritage Fellowship in recognition of being a master artist. In 1995 he was inducted into the St. Louis Walk of Fame. Townsend died, at the age of 96, on September 25 2006 at St. Mary's Ozaukee Hospital, Mequon; just hours after having been the first person to be presented with a 'key' in Grafton's Paramount Plaza Walk of Fame.
See also
External links
- Blue Shoe Times outlining Henry's Life
- The Blue Shoe Project non-profit organization
- Henry James Townsend's Myspace profile
- Illustrated Henry Townsend discography
- Townsend's Entry at the St. Louis Walk of Fame
- Interview with Henry Townsend on Paramount Recordings
- Streaming audio interview with Mr. Henry Townsend
References
- ^ Russell, Tony (1997). The Blues - From Robert Johnson to Robert Cray. Dubai: Carlton Books Limited, p. 177-8. ISBN 1-85868-255-X.
