(John William Henderson)
DISCOGRAPHY 1964-2018 (33CD)
DISCOGRAPHY 1964-2018 (33CD)
BIOGRAPHY
He claimed to have played with Yank Rachell, Sleepy John Estes, Blind
Boy Fuller and Big Joe Williams, among others, and to have been
acquainted with Robert Johnson. He also claimed to be the older cousin
of Elmore James, to have bought James his first guitar, and to have
taught him how to play slide. However, some of these claims are
unconfirmed.
By the mid 1930s he was based in Chicago, and working with Horace
Henderson's band at the Circle Inn, and with pianist Jimmy Walker at
the Square Deal Club. He may have first recorded for RCA Victor in
1937, but this is also unconfirmed, and by 1938 may have begun playing
electric guitar.
His first known recordings were in 1952 for Chance Records, recording
the tracks "Lonesome Ole Train" and "Homesick" which gave him his
stage name. During the late 1940s and 1950s he worked with both Sonny
Boy Williamson II (Rice Miller), and with Elmore James, and in the
early 1950s he worked in bands including Baby Face Leroy Foster,
Snooky Pryor, Floyd Jones, and Lazy Bill Lucas.
He was a longtime member of James' band from 1955 to 1963,
contributing to such tracks as "Dust My Broom," "The Sky Is Crying,"
and "Roll and Tumble." Elmore James is said to have died on Homesick's
couch, while the latter frantically searched for the former's heart
pills.
As a solo performer, he recorded for the Colt and USA labels in 1962,
including a cover version of Robert Johnson's "Crossroads". Homesick
James's slide guitar style, not as refined as Elmore James', traces
back to Johnson's.
He also recorded a 1964 album for Prestige Records, Blues On the
South Side (Prestige OBCCD 529-2), including another of his
best-known covers, "Stones In My Passway", and some tracks for
Vanguard that are available on the compilation album Chicago: The
Blues Today. One of his own songs, "Gotta Move" (also on Blues On
the South Side) was covered (as "Got To Move") both by Elmore James
and Fleetwood Mac