Henry Townsend: Longtime blues musician who performed with greats

09/25/2006

Henry Townsend, a heralded St. Louis blues musician who recorded with
several blues giants, died Sunday night in Grafton, Wis., according
to John May, chairman of the St. Louis Blues Society. Mr. Townsend
was 96.

Mr. Townsend, a blues singer, guitarist and pianist, was in Wisconsin
preparing for a blues festival when he was hospitalized Friday night
for complications of pulmonary edema, May said. He died about 9:25
p.m. Sunday.

Mr. Townsend was born in Shelby, Miss., grew up near Cairo, Ill., and
moved to St. Louis when he was about 12 years old, May said. He had
lived in St. Louis ever since.

In the 1930s, Mr. Townsend played with several blues greats,
including Walter Davis, Roosevelt Sykes, Robert Johnson and Clarence
Johnson, who died in March. Another longtime St. Louis bluesman,
Bennie Smith, died Sept. 10.

Mr. Townsend wrote hundreds of songs and accompanied musicians on
hundreds more. He produced recordings that span eight decades, making
him one of the only artists known to have done so, May said.

In 1985, Mr. Townsend received the National Heritage Award from the
National Endowment for the Arts recognizing him as a "master artist."

In 1995, Mr. Townsend was inducted into the St. Louis Walk of Fame,
which features stars on the sidewalks of the Delmar Loop with names
of local greats. Funeral arrangements were pending.