BIOGRAPHY
The South Carolinian
bluesman Fred Miller was one of his first big musical influences, and
Henry assumed the traditional apprentice role in the country blues
relationship, meaning he would "go around" with Miller to various
functions where a few coins would be made and some blues would be sung.
Henry quickly took over the vocal duties since his partner's singing
abilities was in direct contrast to his excellent guitar technique.
Miller moved to New York and Big Boy Henry began a series of journeys to
the city in order to continue their relationship. This led to meetings
with other Piedmont bluesmen such as the whooping harmonica player Sonny
Terry and his sidekick Brownie McGhee. In 1951, Henry got the opportunity
to record with backup from this famous duo, the blues equivalent of
getting Rembrandt and Cezanne to help decorate. In a typical development
in American blues recording history, these tracks were canned rather than
released, although a release was finally arranged decades later. A
defeated Henry limped back to his coastal digs in New Bern and decided to
give up playing blues.
In the '50s and '60s, he worked on fishing and oystering crews and also
ran a grocery store. He also did a touch of preaching in local churches,
perhaps following the advice of fellow bluesman Son House as expressed in
the song "Preachin' Blues": "I'm gonna become a Baptist preacher/And then
I won't have to work." In 1971, he moved back to his first family home in
Beaufort, not realizing that this would lead to a group of younger local
musicians recognizing him. All it took was a little bit of their
subsequent encouragement and he was ready to return to playing. As he got
older, the guitarist's abilities were naturally hampered because of
arthritis, but he still picked inventive single-string blues lines,
tinkering with rhythms and bar-line blues structures with as much freedom
as Lightnin' Hopkins.
Younger North Carolina blues players such as the harmonica virtuoso Chris
Turner and guitarist Billy Hobbs enjoyed the challenge of following the
older man, who never failed to set the powerful musical mood known as
"deep blues feeling." His vocal style was considered as powerful as ever
in his senior years as he created his own inventive versions of blues
standards and wrote his own songs as well, often touching on current
events. The powerful song "Mr. President," written as an angry response to
social welfare cuts undertaken by Ronald Reagan in the '80s, won him a
W.C. Handy Award from the Blues Foundation. In 1995, he received the North
Carolina Arts Council Folk Heritage award.
Henry's involvement with music goes well beyond performing. He has been
actively involved with older members of his community in attempts to
maintain and record one of the important coastal traditions, the work
songs sung by himself and other African-Americans who fished on menhaden
boats. His activities included organizing a group of retired fisherman
into a singing group, the Menhaden Chantey Men.
(Eugene Chadbourne/AllMusic)
NEW!
1988-I'm Not Lyin' This Time (LP) @FLAC+
2002-Beaufort Blues @FLAC+
