Henry Brown

Henry Brown (July 25, 1906, Troy, TN - June 28, 1981, St. Louis, MO) was an American barrelhouse blues piano player. Henry Brown, aka Henry "Papa" Brown left Tennessee for St. Louis, MO, at the age of 12 and took up the piano while still in school. His playing style, an economical form of piano blues, was taught to him by a Deep Morgan Street blues player known to the public only as "Blackmouth." Brown later worked with St. Louis Jimmy Oden and trombonist Ike Rogers; with Rogers and guitarist Lawrence Casey, he formed a trio called the Biddle Street Boys. He recorded sides (often in tandem with Rogers) with Mary Johnson, among others, in between playing in clubs around St. Louis, where he lived most of his life and worked regularly right up through the mid-'70s. Henry worked clubs such as the Blue Flame Club, the 9-0-5 Club, Jim's Place and Katy Red's, from the twenties into the 30's. Recorded for Brunswisck with Ike Rogers and Mary Johson in 1929, for Paramount in Richmond and Grafton in '29 and '30. He served in the army in the early '40s, then formed his own quartet to work occasional local gigs in St. Louis area from the '50s, and worked the Becky Thatcher riverboat, St. Louis in 1965. In addition to his pre-war recordings, he was recorded by Paul Oliver 1960, by Charters with Edith Johnson in 1961 and by Adelphi in 1969. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.