St. Louis Blues: Henry Townsend and Henry Spaulding (1929-37) Complete Recordings In Chronological Order
Release Date: 1986.
Release Info: Vinyl, LP, Compilation (WSE 117).
Styles: Acoustic Memphis Blues, Country Blues, Piano Blues, Pre-War Country Blues, Regional Blues, St. Louis Blues.
Wolf's Henry Townsend & Henry Spaulding isn't a collaboration -- it's a collection that features the 13 known songs Townsend recorded beteen 1929 and 1937, plus the two songs Spaulding recorded in 1929. Spaulding's pair are fine country-blues, but the true value in this disc is that it features the majority of Townsend's early work. He recorded four other songs during this era, but those are currently missing, which means this is the closest thing to a "complete" document of his earliest recordings. Most of his recordings find him alone with a guitar and these are wonderful, haunting country-blues. A couple of other cuts are duets between Townsend and pianist Roosevelt Sykes, while the remainder feature him with a small group featuring piano, harmonica and guitar. These are great performances, and rank among the most underrated sides of their era. ~ Thom Owens
Credits: Johnny Parth - Compilation Producer; Henry Spaulding - Composer, Performer, Primary Artist; Henry Townsend - Composer, Guitar, Piano, Primary Artist, Vocals.
Tracklist:
A1. Cairo Blues - Henry Spaulding
A2. Biddle Street Blues - Henry Spaulding
A3. Henry's Worry Blues - Henry Townsend
A4. Mistreated Blues - Henry Townsend
A5. Long Ago Blues - Henry Townsend
A6. Poor Man Blues - Henry Townsend
A7. She's Got What I Want - Henry Townsend (as Henry Thomas)
B1. My Sweet Candy - Henry Townsend (as Henry Thomas)
B2. Sick With The Blues - Henry Townsend (as Henry Thomas)
B3. Don't Love That Woman - Henry Townsend
B4. She's Got A Mean Disposition - Henry Townsend
B5. Lose Your Man - Henry Townsend
B6. All I've Got Is Gone - Henry Townsend
B7. A Rambling Mind - Henry Townsend
B8. Now I Stay Away - Henry Townsend
Original recordings from the collections of Joe Bussard, Johnny Parth, Francis Smith.
Notes:
Note to tracks 7, 8 & 9: the artist is Henry Townsend, but Bluebird Records issued them under the name Henry Thomas (not an alias, just an internal decision by the label). This is NOT the Henry Thomas (aka Ragtime Texas) of "Railroadin' Some" fame.