Henry Townsend
b. 27 October 1909, Shelby, Mississippi, USA. Townsend was raised in Cairo, Illinois, then moved to St. Louis in the late '20s. He took up guitar at about the age of 15, and was a forceful and accomplished player by the time of his recording debut in 1929. He was closely associated with Walter Davis, touring with him and providing accompaniment on his recordings. In the early '30s, Townsend added piano to his skills. He worked and recorded with Robert Lee McCoy, John Lee ‘Sonny Boy’ Williamson and Big Joe Williams, as well as making further records under his own name. After World War II, he appeared on Davis's last sessions (playing imaginative electric guitar), and teamed with Roosevelt Sykes for a time. Following his retirement Townsend was discovered by a new, white audience and recorded intermittently. He continued to develop his music and compose new songs, concentrating now on piano, and sometimes duetting with his wife, Vernell.