Big Al Calhoun - Harmonica Blues With Henry Townsend

Size: 111.5 MB
Time: 48:42
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2001
Styles: Harmonica Blues
Art: Full

01. Black Panther (3:49)
02. Good Morning Little Schoolgirl (3:22)
03. Al's Boogie Woogie (2:12)
04. Buy Me An Airplane (2:57)
05. Shake Your Boogie (4:05)
06. Medley: It's Too Late Brother/My Babe (3:04)
07. That's All Right (3:38)
08. Betty Lou (3:34)
09. Can't You See (3:06)
10. Love Was In Out Hearts (4:21)
11. Wake Up Old Maid (3:10)
12. Tears Come Rollin' Down (4:17)
13. Tin Pan Alley (3:28)
14. Old Story Blues (3:32)

Big Al Calhoun picked up the harmonica when he was a small boy living on a large sharecropper plantation in Mississippi. When he heard Sonny Boy Williamson on the radio, he started to play the blues. On the plantation he heard many of the great blues musicians of that time, both live and on records, and he played with some of them, notably Eddie Cusik. This session features Big Al on amplified harmonica and vocals. He's joined by long-time collaborators Henry Townsend on electric guitar and vocals, and Vernell Townsend on vocals. The music was recorded in August, 1979 in St. Louis.

Harmonica Blues With Henry Townsend MP3
Harmonica Blues With Henry Townsend FLAC

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Henry Townsend & Roosevelt Sykes - Blues Piano And Guitar: Washington University, Graham Chapel, 1973

Size: 256,1 MB
Time: 107:29
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2019
Styles: Piano Blues, Acoustic Blues
Art: Front

01. Sloppy Drunk Again (Live) (3:00)
02. Tired Of Being Mistreated (Live) (3:42)
03. Lost A Good Woman (Live) (3:57)
04. Henry's Worry Blues (Live) (3:07)
05. How Can It Be (Live) (4:13)
06. The Way Henry Feel (Live) (3:55)
07. Got To Reap What You Sow (Live) (2:18)
08. Why We Love Each Other So (Live) (3:54)
09. Night Time Is The Right Time (Live) (3:28)
10. Driving Wheel (Live) (3:48)
11. Boot That Thing (Live) (3:08)
12. Thanks But No Thanks (Live) (3:29)
13. Ride The Boogie (Live) (2:38)
14. Dirty Mother For You (Don't You Know) (Live) (5:34)
15. Dresser Drawers (Live) (3:33)

CD 2:
01. Done Got Tired (Live) (5:12)
02. The War Is Over (Live) (3:48)
03. Life Is A Puzzle (Live) (3:21)
04. Gulf Port Boogie (Live) (3:48)
05. Guitar Boogie (Live) (4:48)
06. Honeysuckle Rose (Live) (2:52)
07. Love Me Once More (Live) (3:05)
08. Tears Come Rollin' Down (Live) (4:40)
09. Red Eyed Jesse Bell (Live) (4:08)
10. Ice Cream Freezer (Live) (3:46)
11. All My Money Gone (Live) (3:09)
12. What You Did Last Night (Live) (2:17)
13. Sweet Home Chicago (Live) (3:47)
14. Ready, Willing And Able (Live) (2:13)
15. Dangerous Man (Live) (2:37)

Old friends Roosevelt Sykes and Henry Townsend shared the spotlight in a February 3, 1973 reunion concert with the two St. Louis blues legends celebrating their contrasting styles and personalities. Where Townsend’s rough country-blues meditations, as well as his more polished, post-war electric guitar work, asked for quiet and understanding, Sykes’ bawdy, barrelhouse piano scrambles usually sent the crowd into complete hysterics.

A piece of history only now seeing the light of day, the rousing live 2-CD set Blues Piano and Guitar documents this seminal summit with sublime clarity, crystalizing every whoop and holler and salvaging the charming onstage banter. Their friendship dated back to the 1920s, when Townsend sought out the Sykes brothers to learn how to master the piano. Over the following decades, their paths often converged professionally and personally, just as they did that glorious night at Washington University, recorded with loving care by Nighthawk Records co-founder Leroy Jody Pierson and friend Steve Fuller.

Revered as much for his longevity as his estimable chops, Townsend is one of the few artists to have ever recorded in nine consecutive decades, having worked with the likes of Big Joe Williams, Walter Davis and Robert Nighthawk, among others. All of it helped earn the man called “Mule” induction into the Blues Hall of Fame in 1999, as well a National Heritage Award from the National Endowment for the Arts in 1987. Meanwhile, Sykes parlayed his rip tides of rolling ivories into blues stardom and a long, successful recording career for various labels under different names.

An essay penned by Pierson packaged with this release, which also includes rare photos, profiles the careers of both men with exacting detail and economy of words, as Blues Piano and Guitar emerges as a powerful testament to both their individual musical prowess and their natural chemistry onstage. Both take solo turns throughout, playing their hits and supporting each other’s bluesy forays. Paired up, they lurch and softly stomp through “Done Got Tired” and “The War is Over,” where their easy, tangled interplay slowly unravels.

On their own, the gregarious Sykes rolls and rumbles through racy, bump-and-grind numbers such as “Ice Cream Fever,” “Dirty Mother for You (Don’t You Know)” and “Dresser Drawers” with burly force and a wicked, off-color sense of humor, while Townsend carefully plucks out spare, acoustic laments like “Tired of Being Mistreated” and “Lost a Good Woman” with tasteful, earthy licks. On “Sloppy Drunk Again,” Townsend unapologetically waxes poetic about the joys of drinking, even if he sounds lonesome and low-down. With wife Vernell offering resolute female vocals, Townsend brightens up on “Why We Love Each Other So” and “Tears Come Rolling Down,” songs which suggest a strong romantic bond between the two that hadn’t wavered one bit.

Their joy is palpable, as Sykes feverishly churns through “Ride the Boogie” and “Gulf Port Boogie,” before Townsend matches Sykes’ raucous energy with his own high-stepping “Guitar Boogie.” Known as “The Honeydripper,” Sykes slowly drizzles earnest sweetness over “The Night Time is the Right Time” and swaggers through “Sweet Home Chicago” in anticipation of the night’s end. They would reunite several more times before they passed away, but it’s hard to imagine they ever had a more enjoyable time together. ~Peter Lindblad

Blues Piano And Guitar

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Henry Townsend - 'Mule' (Expanded Edition)

Size: 179,2 MB
Time: 76:56
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 1980
Styles: Piano Blues
Art: Front

01. Bad Luck Dice (3:12)
02. Nothing But Trouble (3:51)
03. Things Have Changed (3:46)
04. The Old Man's Soul (3:58)
05. Tears Come Rollin' Down (2:39)
06. It's A Hard Road To Travel (3:09)
07. Talkin' Guitar Blues (3:27)
08. I'm Just An Ordinary Man (2:54)
09. Alley Strut (2:35)
10. Can't You See (4:23)
11. Dark Clouds Rising (4:48)
12. The Train Is At The Station (3:20)
13. Overstayed My Time (3:48)
14. The Other Night (Bonus Track) (4:27)
15. Broken Home Blues (Bonus Track) (4:00)
16. Going Back To My Baby (Bonus Track) (3:28)
17. Nice And Kind (Bonus Track) (3:55)
18. Goin' Back Down South (Bonus Track) (4:01)
19. Turned On And Off (Bonus Track) (4:20)
20. Look Over Yonder (Bonus Track) (2:25)
21. Since You've Come Back Home (Bonus Track) (4:20)

Legendary St. Louis country bluesman’s 1980 album remastered from original tapes with 8 previously unissued tracks.

Henry Jesse “Mule” Townsend made his first recordings for Columbia Records in 1929. His history incorporates much of the St. Louis blues story and provides insight into the development of the ensemble style of postwar Chicago blues. He was born in Shelby, Mississippi in 1909 and moved to St. Louis circa 1921 and began playing guitar a few years later under the tutelage of pioneer figures Dudlow Joe, Son Ryan, and Henry Spaulding. In 1931 he recorded for both Paramount Records and Victor/Bluebird, an association with the latter lasted until 1938. His vocal performances appeared credited to Henry Townsend, Jesse Townsend, and Henry Thomas, but it was in his role as accompanist that Henry reached his widest audience, appearing on dozens of Walter Davis, Big Joe Williams, Pinetop Sparks, Roosevelt Sykes, Sonny Boy Williamson, and Robert Nighthawk sides including classics like “Baby Please Don’t Go” (Big Joe Williams) and “Every Day I Have The Blues” (Pinetop Sparks).

Henry’s close association with Robert Nighthawk and Sonny Boy Williamson gave him an important role in the very beginnings of the Chicago ensemble style which Robert Nighthawk, Sonny Boy Williamson, and Big Joe Williams originated. After Henry’s discharge from the army in 1944, he moved to Chicago (following Nighthawk and Williamson) and found himself performing with Little Walter, Othum Brown, and Eddie Boyd. He returned to St. Louis in 1947 and renewed his long association with Walter Davis. They recorded for Bullet Records of Nashville in 1949 and Victor in 1952. In the ’60s he made an album for the Prestige Bluesville imprint and a mid-’70s album appeared on Adelphi.

“Mule” appeared in 1980 on the St. Louis Nighthawk Records label. The label was to turn its attention to reggae after 1980, but had started as a blues label in 1976 releasing a series of blues compilation albums leading up to “Mule.” From the original album: “The production of this record was undertaken with two goals in mind: to create, finally, an album worth of Henry Townsend’s unique genius, and thus secure for him the recognition that an artist of his stature and historical importance deserves. We at Nighthawk have become convinced that Henry is perhaps the greatest living country bluesman.”

'Mule'

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Henry Townsend, Piano Slim, Vernell Townsend - St. Louis Blues

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 56:48
Size: 130.1 MB
Styles: Piano blues, St. Louis blues
Year: 1994/2015
Art: Front

[2:15] 1. Baby Please Don't Go
[3:43] 2. Baby Tell Me, What's On Your Mind
[3:37] 3. Good Bye, Baby
[2:40] 4. Cairo
[3:00] 5. I Hate To Leave
[3:27] 6. What Tomorrow Brings
[2:38] 7. As She's Gone, I'm Looking Right In My Heart
[2:46] 8. Trying To Be Satisfied
[3:50] 9. Going Back Home
[4:19] 10. M & O
[3:34] 11. Going Down Slow
[3:53] 12. Early In The Morning
[2:13] 13. Sloppy Drunk
[2:59] 14. Tired Of Being Mistreated
[4:30] 15. I Like To Make Love
[4:21] 16. Something Got To Change
[2:53] 17. You Got Me Up

H. Towsend was the last St. Louis Blues musican who could play the original St. Louis guitar & piano styles! When he came to Europe in 1981, he made a studio recording with his wife Vernell! On this Cd are some songs by Piano Slim, a piano player from St. Louis. This Cd is St. Louis Blues!

St. Louis Blues mc
St. Louis Blues zippy

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Henry Townsend - My Story

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 54:04
Size: 123.8 MB
Styles: Piano blues
Year: 2001
Art: Front

[4:38] 1. Less Than A Man
[5:39] 2. Tell Me
[4:20] 3. World Full Of People
[3:52] 4. No Fuss And Fight
[4:11] 5. Dreaming
[4:22] 6. You Should've Told Me
[5:37] 7. My Story
[5:17] 8. Help Me Darling
[4:34] 9. Screaming And Crying
[4:09] 10. Put Me On Hold
[2:31] 11. Goodbye
[4:48] 12. Repentance Blues

Acoustic Bass – Sho Komiya; Guitar [Dobro] – Jimmy D. Lane (tracks: 8,12); Guitar [Slide] – Ron Edwards; Piano, Guitar, Vocals – Henry Townsend.

Analogue Productions touts the fact that, with his latest CD, My Story, blues singer Henry Townsend has now released a recording, in one form or another, in every decade since the late 1920s. To me, the more impressive point is that Townsend has been singing the blues for over 70 years, so his many recordings over that time span would reveal someone who can not only sing the blues, but understands them and has most probably lived them too. Now, that’s something to crow about.

I hadn’t heard of Henry Townsend prior to listening to My Story. A quick perusal of my All Music Guide To The Blues informed me that he was born in Selby, Mississippi in 1909, which would make him about 90 when this disc was recorded. After traveling to St. Louis in the mid '20s, he began to record for Columbia, among others, and has been in and out of the studios ever since. (Unfortunately, his body of work is still rather sparse, a fact that I hope this CD will go a long way toward ameliorating.) Townsend’s not just a singer, but a very talented songwriter too, as evidenced by the fact that all of the tunes on My Life are self-penned. (After all those long years of banging along, trying to eke out a living singing the blues, can you think of a better title for this album?) With the aid of musicians Sho Komiya on bass, Ron Edwards on slide guitar, and, on two songs, Jimmie D. Lane on dobro, Townsend, who plays both piano and guitar here, lays out a vivid tutorial of just what singing the blues is all about. ~John Crossett

My Story mc
My Story zippy

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Henry Townsend - The 88 Blues

Size: 147,8 MB
Time: 63:34
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 1998
Styles: Memphis Blues, Piano Blues, Acousti Blues
Art: Full

01. I Believe In Love (5:20)
02. No Doggin' (5:38)
03. She's Gone (1:30)
04. You've Changed (3:54)
05. Drivin' On The Highway (1:19)
06. Search Your Heart (4:48)
07. It's Got To End Somewhere (4:01)
08. Hear Me Cryin' (4:39)
09. Train Comin' (4:18)
10. Gone Too Long (5:12)
11. Change Your Name (5:41)
12. Leave You Alone (3:53)
13. The Way You're Actin' (6:17)
14. The 88 Blues (3:31)
15. Baby Please Don't Go (3:27)

Influenced by Roosevelt Sykes and Lonnie Johnson, Henry Townsend was a commanding musician, adept on both piano and guitar. During the '20s and '30s, Townsend was one of the musicians that helped make St. Louis one of the blues centers of America.
Townsend arrived in St. Louis when he was around ten years old, just before the '20s began. By the end of the '20s, he had landed a record contract with Columbia, cutting several sides of open-tuning slide guitar for the label. Two years later, he made some similar recordings for Paramount. During this time, Townsend began playing the piano, learning the instrument by playing along with Roosevelt Sykes records. Within a few years, he was able to perform concerts with pianists like Walter Davis and Henry Brown.
During the '30s, Townsend was a popular session musician, performing with many of the era's most popular artists. By the late '30s, he had cut several tracks for Bluebird. Those were among the last recordings he ever made as a leader. During the '40s and '50s, Townsend continued to perform and record as a session musician, but he never made any solo records.
In 1960, he led a few sessions, but they didn't receive much attention. Toward the end of the '60s, Townsend became a staple on the blues and folk festivals in America, which led to a comeback. He cut a number of albums for Adelphi and he played shows throughout America. By the end of the '70s, he had switched from Adelphi to Nighthawk Records.
Townsend had become an elder statesmen of St. Louis blues by the early '80s, recording albums for Wolf and Swingmaster and playing a handful of shows every year. That's the Way I Do It, a documentary about Townsend, appeared on public television in 1984. During the late '80s, Townsend was nearly retired, but he continued to play the occasional concert until his death in 2006. ~Bio by Kub Koda

The 88 Blues

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Henry Townsend & Friends - Henry's Worry Blues

File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Source: LL (from CD)
Released: 2000
Styles: Blues
Time: 73:46
Size: 169,9 MB
Covers: Front,CD,Tray

Tracks 1-17 : Henry Townsend
Tracks 18-22: J.D. Short
Tracks 23-24: Joe Stone

(3:07) 1. Henry's Worry Blues
(3:00) 2. Mistreated Blues
(2:56) 3. Long Ago Blues
(2:59) 4. Poor Man Blues
(2:45) 5. Doctor, Oh Doctor
(3:18) 6. Jack Of Diamonds Georgia Rub
(2:52) 7. No Home Blues
(3:13) 8. Take a Chance
(2:44) 9. She's Got What I Want
(2:50) 10. My Sweet Candy
(2:52) 11. Sick With the Blues
(3:19) 12. Don't Love That Woman
(3:15) 13. She's Got a Mean Disposition
(3:29) 14. Lose Your Man
(3:26) 15. All I've Got's Gone
(2:57) 16. A Ramblin' Mind
(2:49) 17. Now I Stay Away
(3:13) 18. Telephone Arguin' Blues
(2:49) 19. Lonesome Swamp Rattlesnake
(3:23) 20. Snake Doctor Blues
(2:58) 21. Barefoot Blues
(3:14) 22. Grand Daddy Blues
(3:08) 23. It's Hard Time
(2:58) 24. Back Door Blues

Henry Townsend has had an astoundingly long blues career, one that began in St. Louis in the 1920s and still continues eight-decades later in the 21st century. This interesting compilation, attributed to Henry Townsend & Friends, collects 17 of Townsend's early 78 sides from the 1920s and '30s, adding in five by J.D. Short from the same period, and two more by Joe Stone, who is probably Short working under a different name for contractual reasons. To call Townsend and Short friends might be stretching the meaning of the word a bit, since Short is rumored to have stabbed Townsend during an altercation, while Townsend, in turn, is said to have shot Short during a later dispute between the two. Definitions of friendship aside, the music here is country blues right at the cusp of turning into something more urban, particularly when Townsend abandons the guitar for piano on a couple of tracks. Short (who could also play piano, but doesn't on this collection) sounds like he may have been a more aggressive guitar player than Townsend, and his rhythms show a tense, staccato drive, where Townsend has a more laconic sound. There isn't a tremendous amount of variety here, though, as Townsend, in particular, seems to return to the same generic blues melody for several of his cuts. In the end, Henry's Worry Blues probably has the most appeal as an archival document, since both Short and Townsend went on to record more interesting material later in their careers. -- AllMusic

Henry's Worry Blues

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Sonny Boy Williamson I - Bluebird Blues: The Secret History Of Rock & Roll

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 72:22
Size: 165.7 MB
Styles: Chicago blues
Year: 2003
Art: Front

[2:58] 1. Good Morning School Girl
[3:03] 2. Blue Bird Blues
[2:57] 3. Sugar Mama Blues
[2:33] 4. Got The Bottle Up And Gone
[2:46] 5. Early In The Morning
[2:54] 6. Whiskey Headed Blues
[3:31] 7. Decoration Blues
[3:12] 8. Deep Down In The Ground
[2:46] 9. I Been Dealing With The Devil
[2:56] 10. My Little Machine
[2:50] 11. Jivin' The Blues
[2:59] 12. Western Union Man
[3:09] 13. My Baby Made A Change
[3:03] 14. Mattie Mae Blues
[3:13] 15. Sloppy Drunk Blues
[3:02] 16. Million Years Blues
[2:42] 17. My Black Name Blues
[2:36] 18. She Was A Dreamer
[2:45] 19. Sonny Boy's Jump
[2:38] 20. Elevator Woman
[2:54] 21. Hoodoo Hoodoo
[2:33] 22. Mellow Chick Swing
[2:26] 23. Polly Put Your Kettle On
[2:47] 24. Alcohol Blues
[2:56] 25. Better Cut That Out

Bluebird Blues focuses on 25 excellent performances by John Lee Williamson (aka Sonny Boy Williamson I, not to be confused with Rice Miller aka Sonny Boy Williamson II). These tracks were originally recorded between May 1937 through November 1947 for RCA Victor and include the staples "Sugar Mama Blues," "Blue Bird Blues," and one of the most recorded tunes in both blues and rock, "Good Morning, School Girl." Joining the versatile prewar harmonica wizard on numerous tracks are Big Joe Williams, Robert Lee McCoy, Henry Townsend, Yank Rachell, Blind John Davis, Big Bill Broonzy, Willie Dixon, and Eddie Boyd. If the only Sonny Boy you're familiar with is Rice Miller, give Sonny Boy I equal space in your collection. This is a great disc to start with. ~Al Campbell

Bluebird Blues: The Secret History Of Rock & Roll mc
Bluebird Blues: The Secret History Of Rock & Roll zippy

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Kenny Wayne Shepherd - The Legends EP Vols. I, II, III & IV

Kenny Wayne Shepherd and his group exploded on the scene in the mid-'90s and garnered huge amounts of radio airplay on commercial radio, which historically has not been a solid home for blues and blues-rock music, with the exception of Stevie Ray Vaughan in the mid-'80s. Shepherd was born June 12, 1977, in Shreveport, Louisiana. The Shreveport native began playing at age seven, figuring out Muddy Waters licks from his father's record collection (he has never taken a formal lesson). At age 13, he was invited on-stage by New Orleans bluesman Brian Lee and held his own for several hours; thus proving himself, he decided on music as a career. He formed his own band, which featured lead vocalist Corey Sterling, gaining early exposure through club dates and, later, radio conventions. Shepherd's father/manager used his own contacts and pizzazz in the record business to help land his son a major-label record deal with Irving Azoff's Giant Records. Ledbetter Heights, his first album, was released two years later in 1995 and was an immediate hit, selling over 500,000 copies by early 1996. Most blues records never achieve that level of commercial success, much less ones released by artists who are still in their teens. Although Shepherd -- who has been influenced by (and has sometimes played with) guitarists Stevie Ray Vaughan, Albert King, Slash, Robert Cray, and Duane Allman -- is definitely a performer who thrives in front of an audience, Ledbetter Heights was impressive for its range of styles: acoustic blues, rockin' blues, Texas blues, Louisiana blues. The only style that he doesn't tackle is Chicago blues, owing to Shepherd's home base being smack dab in the middle of the Texas triangle. Released in 1998, Trouble Is... earned a Grammy nomination and Live On followed a year later. In 2004 The Place You're In was released on Reprise Records, and was the first album to feature Shepherd doing the majority of the lead vocals (singer Noah Hunt handled the lead vocals on the previous two albums). Shepherd's next project saw him traveling in the American South with a documentary film crew and a portable recording studio as he backed up several veteran blues players on their home turf. The resulting album and film, 10 Days Out: Blues from the Backroads, appeared in 2007 before Live! In Chicago followed in 2010. That November, Shepherd joined Jimmy Fallon's house band on TV for an evening, and performed with the same Fender Stratocaster that Jimi Hendrix had played at Woodstock. Although Shepherd had kept busy in the intervening years, 2011's How I Go was his first studio album proper in a seven-year period. In an attempt to revive the success enjoyed with 1998's Trouble Is..., he once again recruited Noah Hunt on vocals, as well as former Talking Heads keyboard player and guitarist Jerry Harrison, who had produced the sessions for that platinum-selling album. Shepherd followed How I Go with 2014's Goin' Home, a tribute to his musical heroes that featured contributions from artists such as Ringo Starr and Keb' Mo'. ~ Steve Huey & Richard Skelly

Album: The Legends EP Vol. I
Size: 142 MB
Time: 20:44
File: FLAC
Released: 2007
Styles: Electric Blues, Blues Rock
Art: Front

01. Honky Tonk (Live With Buddy Flett) (3:13)
02. Tina Marie (Live With Bryan Lee) (4:21)
03. Prison Blues (Live With Cootie Stark & Neal 'Big Daddy' Pattman) (4:36)
04. I'm Leavin' You (Live) (8:33)

The Legends EP Vol. I

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Album: The Legends EP Vol. II
Size: 146 MB
Time: 22:22
File: FLAC
Released: 2007
Styles: Electric Blues, Blues Rock
Art: Front

01. Potato Patch (Live With Jerry 'Boogie' McCain) (5:45)
02. Born In Louisiana (Live With Clarence 'Gatemouth' Brown) (6:25)
03. Chapel Hill Boogie (Live With John Dee Holeman) (5:49)
04. Cleveland Mississippi (Live With Buddy Flett) (4:20)

The Legends EP Vol. II

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Album: The Legends EP Vol. III

Size: 142 MB
Time: 21:25
File: FLAC
Released: 2008
Styles: Electric Blues, Blues Rock
Art: Front

01. Tears Came Rollin' Down (Live With Henry Townsend) (3:14)
02. Knoxville Rag (Live With Etta Baker) (1:47)
03. Big Daddy Boogie (Live With Neal 'Big Daddy' Pattman) (5:15)
04. U-Haul (Live With Cottie Stark) (4:59)
05. Dollar Got The Blues (Live With Bryan Lee) (6:08)

The Legends EP Vol. III

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Album: The Legends EP Vol. IV

Size: 184 MB
Time: 28:06
File: FLAC
Released: 2008
Styles: Electric Blues, Blues Rock
Art: Front

01. Red Rooster (Live With Howlin' Wolf Band) (6:20)
02. Sittin' On The Top Of The World (Live With Hubert Slim & Howlin' Wolf Band) (3:56)
03. Spoonful (Live With Howlin' Wolf Band) (5:18)
04. Grindin' Man (Live With Muddy Waters Band) (8:02)
05. Shotgun Blues (Live) (4:28)

The Legends EP Vol. IV

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Henry Townsend - Original St. Louis Blues Live

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 57:50
Size: 132.4 MB
Styles: Piano blues
Year: 2015
Art: Front

[2:13] 1. Sloppy Drunk
[3:28] 2. M&O Blues
[3:54] 3. Come On In My House
[3:32] 4. All My Money Gone
[4:22] 5. Old Clock Tickin'
[2:32] 6. 44 Blues
[3:56] 7. Why We Love Each Other
[3:12] 8. Going Down Slow
[3:05] 9. Cairo Blues
[4:16] 10. Rollin And Tumblin
[1:54] 11. Guitar Talkin'
[3:59] 12. When The Sun Rise
[2:54] 13. I Cry All Night
[3:53] 14. Got To Go
[2:48] 15. Moanin And Cryin'
[5:31] 16. I'm Sorry My Heart
[2:11] 17. Biddle Street

Henry Townsend was the last living real St. Louis blues artist. These recordings, made while on a trip to Europe, are documents of a blues style that no longer exists!

"When Henry Townsend passed at age 86 in 2006, the music world lost the last surviving member of the early blues community of St. Louis. But audiences everywhere get to enjoy him again in top form in this loving tribute from Wolf Records, captured live on the label’s home turf in Austria 21 years before he died. Lovingly dubbed “Mule” because of his sturdy build, was born in Mississippi and raised in Cairo, Ill., but ran away from home at age 10 to the future home of the Gateway Arch. Equally gifted on piano and guitar, he walked into a recording studio for the first time at age 20, and was the only musician of his generation to be captured on disc in every decade from the 1920s through the 2000s, with his music appearing on most of the major labels of his time, including Paramount, Columbia, Bluebird and Brunswick.

Townsend’s piano style – influenced by Roosevelt Sykes, with whom he toured — fused St. Louis shuffles with barrelhouse, ragtime and jump, while his guitar picking drew comparisons to Charley Patton because of his unconventional style. His tenor vocal delivery harkened back to blues shouters, and his vivid memories provided invaluable material for researcher Paul Oliver, whose work in the ‘50s and ‘60s exposed the history of the blues to a worldwide audience. Recorded in Linz, Lienz and Kufstein, Austria, on three consecutive nights in November 1980, this session captures Townsend in solo acoustic performance alternating from song to song on each instrument, assisted by wife Vernell, a blues and gospel singer in her own right, who handles vocals on two cuts. He’s on guitar for the familiar “Sloppy Drunk,” written by Sonny Boy Williamson, to kick off the set, accompanied by the audience with eager rhythmic clapping before delving into the Willie Brown classic, “M&O Blues,” on the keys." ~Marty Gunther

Original St. Louis Blues Live mc
Original St. Louis Blues Live zippy

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Henry Townsend - Mule

Size: 106,3 MB
Time: 45:57
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 1980/1992
Styles: Piano Blues, Acoustic Blues, Country Blues
Art: Full

01. Bad Luck Dice (3:12)
02. Nothing But Trouble (3:52)
03. Things Have Changed (3:46)
04. The Old Man's Soul (3:58)
05. Tears Come Rollin' Down (2:40)
06. It's A Hard Road To Travel (3:09)
07. Talkin' Guitar Blues (3:27)
08. I'm Just An Ordinary Man (2:54)
09. Alley Strut (2:35)
10. Can't You See (4:24)
11. Dark Clouds Rising (4:49)
12. The Train Is At The Station (3:20)
13. Overstayed My Time (3:45)

Venerable St. Louis guitarist and pianist Henry Townsend mostly stuck to the keyboard on this outstanding session. It was forceful, wonderfully sung and alternately moving, impressive and inspiring. ~Review by Ron Wynn

MC
Ziddu

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Henry Townsend - St. Louis Blues Ace

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 62:21
Size: 142.7 MB
Styles: Country blues, St. Louis blues
Year: 1996
Art: Front

[4:00] 1. Big City Blues
[3:09] 2. People Need People
[4:23] 3. Dirty Trick Blues
[3:07] 4. I'm Having Bad Luck
[4:09] 5. Too Pretty For Me
[3:16] 6. I'm Gonna Stay
[4:46] 7. Your Doggone Ways
[3:25] 8. The Three Gs Blues
[4:52] 9. Night Is Falling
[3:43] 10. Hey Dear Brother
[4:04] 11. Heart Broken Man Blues
[4:09] 12. Slap Her Down
[3:48] 13. The Cut Back Blues
[4:31] 14. Down By That Muddy Pond
[6:51] 15. Baby Boy Blues

Recorded by Leo Bruin in St. Louis, USA on August 11, 12 & 15 1981, March 21 & 23, 1983; Groningen, The Netherlands on November 21, 1987.

St. Louis bluesman Henry Townsend only released a handful of recordings from 1929 through 1981. St. Louis Blues Ace compiles material recorded in the '80s in St. Louis and the Netherlands. Switching between solo guitar and piano, Townsend composed all 15 titles, five of which had been released briefly on the Swingmaster label while the remaining ten are being issued for the first time. Townsend is one of the original early bluesman who remained true to his unique lyrical vision and has over the years showcased his musical ability alongside Big Joe Williams, Roosevelt Sykes, Robert Nighthawk, Sonny Boy Williamson, and Robert Johnson. ~Al Campbell

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Various - Classic Piano Blues From Smithsonian Folkways

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 64:09
Size: 146.9 MB
Styles: Piano blues
Year: 2008
Art: Front

[3:11] 1. Memphis Slim - Dedication To Pete Johnson
[3:04] 2. Booker T. Laury - Early In The Morning
[3:19] 3. Speckled Red - How Long Blues
[2:55] 4. James P. Johnson - Yellow Dog Blues
[2:54] 5. Memphis Slim - Key To The Highway
[2:50] 6. Meade Lux Lewis - Medium Blues
[2:57] 7. Champion Jack Dupree - Black Wolf Blues
[4:53] 8. Big Chief Ellis - Dices Blues
[1:09] 9. Lead Belly - Big Fat Woman
[2:51] 10. Sammy Price - Harlem Parlor Blues
[3:03] 11. Henry Brown - Little Drops Of Water
[4:07] 12. Little Brother Montgomery - Pinetop's Boogie Woogie
[3:26] 13. Speckled Red - Pinetop's Boogie Woogie
[2:09] 14. Willie Dixon - Wish Me Well
[2:52] 15. Henry Townsend - All My Money's Gone
[4:32] 16. Victoria Spivey - You're My Man
[4:20] 17. Champion Jack Dupree - On My Way To See Moe Asch
[2:54] 18. Roosevelt Sykes - Sweet Old Chicago
[3:28] 19. Little Brother Montgomery - No Special Rider Blues
[3:03] 20. James P. Johnson - Hesitation Blues

Storyville nightclubs, Beale Street juke joints, gambling houses, barrelhouse bars in the lumber and turpentine camps of East Texas—these were the places African American piano bluesmen called home. Born of ragtime and hard times, the piano blues migrated with its players from the deep South to the urban North. Classic Piano Blues revisits raucous boogie-woogie and blues legends Memphis Slim, Willie Dixon, Champion Jack Dupree, Speckled Red, Meade "Lux" Lewis, Lead Belly, Little Brother Montgomery, Roosevelt Sykes, James P. Johnson, and more, in 20 tracks drawn from the well of the Folkways Collections.

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Henry Townsend - Mule's Blues

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 51:23
Size: 117.7 MB
Styles: Country blues, Piano blues
Year: 1980/2015
Art: Front

[2:50] 1. Sick With The Blues
[2:51] 2. My Sweet Candy
[2:57] 3. Poor Man Blues
[2:53] 4. A Ramblin' Mind
[2:58] 5. Mistreated Blues
[3:05] 6. Henry's Worry Blues
[2:54] 7. Long Ago Blues
[3:12] 8. She's Got A Mean Disposition
[2:46] 9. Now I Stay Away
[3:10] 10. Take A Chance
[3:26] 11. Lose Your Man
[3:16] 12. Don't Love That Woman
[2:49] 13. No Home Blues
[3:26] 14. All I've Got's Gone
[2:46] 15. She's Got What I Want
[3:16] 16. Jack Of Diamonds Georgia Rub
[2:43] 17. Doctor, Oh Doctor

Venerable St. Louis guitarist and pianist Henry Townsend mostly stuck to the keyboard on this outstanding session. It was forceful, wonderfully sung and alternately moving, impressive and inspiring. ~Ron Wynn

Henry Townsend was born in Shelby, Mississippi, in 1910, and after living for a while in Illinois with his family, he ran away to St. Louis as a 9-year-old to avoid a beating from his father. His father played a button box accordion, but Henry loved the guitar, teaching himself to play the instrument as well as learning the piano. He worked on the streets of St. Louis as a shoe shine boy, listening and learning from ragtime piano players and the developing guitar blues of artists such as a young Lonnie Johnson, who was making a name for himself in St. Louis at that time. Townsend, who during his career wrote and published many songs, was first recorded in 1929 by Paramount Records. The label recorded almost a quarter of all the blues material produced between 1929 and 1932, including the so-called "race records", recordings by black artists for black audiences. In fact Townsend was the last surviving artist who had recorded with the old Paramount Records label.

During the 1930's, Townsend played with artists such as Roosevelt Sykes and Robert Johnson whenever they were in the St. Louis area, performing at house parties, fish fries and in local juke joints. He decided to stay in St. Louis as interest in the blues declined and his recording career faltered. He was "re-discovered" during the folk revival of the 1960's and for the first time he left St. Louis for an extended period when he toured the U.S. and Europe. Remaining a St. Louis stalwart and often referred to as the 'patriarch of St. Louis blues', he frequently performed with his wife during his later years. He died in Grafton, Wisconsin, in September 2006, aged 96, where he was on a visit to be honoured by a local blues association.

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Henry Townsend - Cairo Blues

File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Source: LL (from CD)
Released: 1999
Styles: Blues
Time: 44:51
Size: 103,4 MB
Covers: Full

(3:25) 1. Cairo Blues
(2:54) 2. Tired of Being Mistreated
(2:49) 3. Biddle Street Blues
(3:29) 4. She Just Walked Away
(3:19) 5. Everyday of My Life
(3:45) 6. Sloppy Drunk Again
(3:20) 7. Why Do We Love Each Other?
(3:05) 8. Deep Morgan Stomp
(2:42) 9. Buzz Buzz Buzz
(3:38) 10. Heart Trouble
(3:12) 11. Doing Better in Life
(4:01) 12. Don't You Remember Me?
(5:05) 13. Now or Never

Here is an immense country blues record by one of the masters of this music, Henry Townsend, born October 27, 1909 in Shelby, Mississippis. He belongs to the unsurpassed generation of country blues players who created this music, and he's one of the most individual and original players of it.Very gifted as a guitar and piano player, he recorded since 1929, and use to play since Henry Spaulding's great "Cairo blues". To me, Henry will remain as one of the most inventive blues players, with Bukka White, Charley Patton, Fred McDowell,John Hurt, Blind Willie Johnson or Robert Johnson. This record, made between 1970 and 1974, will let you listen to Henry mostly playing guitar (as he grew older, he mostly played piano), with Mike Stewart on guitar, his wife Vernell Townsend singing on one track, and the great St Louis piano player, Henry Brown on "Deep Morgan stomp".Don't confuse Henry Brown with "Hi" Henry Brown, a guitar player of the same area, who recorded in the thirties. Henry seems to be familiar to me, more than any other blues player, because my friend Tom Cat Blake, a 40 years old StLouis born white blues guitarist, who lives now near my place, told me often about Henry; Henry taught him how to play the blues, and they still meet when Tom flies to the USA, visiting his parents. This CD is a perfect introduction to Henry's musical world; you'll discover an incredible guitar style, which combines the traditionnal StLouis style with Mississippi influences. Here, he only plays one tune on piano, and even if he's a very gifted piano player, it's a good thing, because I think his guitar style is miles and miles away from his piano.I mean, he created a way of playing the blues on guitar;but he's not as original on piano;his piano playing looks like Walter Davis, or Peetie Wheatstraw, or even Roosevelt Sykes. Even if he's not as famous as other blues heroes, Henry Townsend belongs to the best ones."Cairo blues", "Biddle street blues", "Why do we love each other so", "Buzz buzz buzz", "Doing better in life, "Don't you remember me" or "Now or never" will let you listen to one of the most talented guitar player as well as to one of the most emotionnal voices in the blues history. -- Amazon.

Cairo Blues

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