Biography-

Biography

Henry has accompanied a who’s who of blues luminaries in his 40 plus years as blues musician and as such
could be defined as a “Uomo Universale” of the blues. Jimmy Reed, Big Mama Thornton, Pee Wee
Crayton, High Tide Harris, the King Brothers, L.C. “Good Rocking” Robinson, Buddy Ace, Michael
Bloomfield, Bill Withers,Maria Mulduar, Chris Cain, John Lee Hooker, Mark Naftalin, Boz Scaggs, .Joe
Louis Walker and Little Joe Blue are but a few of the artist he has backed.

Henry’s musical career began playing in the “gut-buckets” and blues lounges in and about Richmond
along with “High-Tide” Harris, the Whispering Shadows, the Moore Brothers or the King Brothers. These
performances would be off set from time to time with occasional appearance at local church revivals with
the Gospel Combs family. It wasn't long before he ventured into Oakland and San Francisco.
During the 60’s, Henry would be the bassist with Freddy and the Stone Souls. Lead by Freddy Stewart, the
brother of the Legendary Sly Stone. This band would re-configure and re-establish itself as the house band
at Little Bo Peep’s, a show lounge, in San Francisco. The Delegates, Roger Collins, Little Ronnie and the
Chromatics and Fillmore Slim were all “chitterling" circuit acts of the day by the end of the 60’s Henry
would broaden his musical interest joining Berkeley based, funk-soul band “Loading Zone” Henry would
later record with the “Zones” lead singer Linda Tillery when the group disbanded. When that effort fell
short Henry would head in another musical direction with Tony Bartlett’s show band “Heavens
Expressway” in gambling casinos throughout Nevada.

By the 70’s Henry’s attention had turned to song writing and composing. This being the case, he undertook
music composition studies with the late Ed Kelly and also enrolled in creative writing courses at Laney
College in Oakland, California. Before he could complete his studies, Henry would join the King Brother’s
band and tour with Freddy King over the Western half of the United States. Returning home, Henry
performed with Snooky Flowers house band at the El Cid night-club on San Francisco’s Broadway strip. It
was while on Broadway that Henry met a budding and talented vocalist, Bianca Thornton a.k.a. Lady
Bianca. Henry would stop performing publicly to devote the remainder of the decade attending to the
development of Lady Bianca.

By the 80’s, Henry’s urge to perform resurfaced. He picked and tuned-up his bass and as if he had never
rested, was soon a member of Mark Naftalin’s’ Blue Monday Party Band. The band would appear at
numerous festivals and make several videos including Percy Mayfield “Poet Laureate of the Blues”, “John
Lee Hooker/ Charlie Musselwhite”, and “Lowell Fulson/ Percy Mayfield” Blue Monday Party., a
recording and video with Clifton Chenier at the San Francisco Blues Festival kept Henry calendar full.
Henry would make his first international tour with the San Francisco Blues Festival and have several of
his composition recorded on the Encore Label by J.J. Malone and Troyce Key. Upon returning from Europe
Henry would tour with Cool Papa, Chris Cain, John Lee Hooker and Beverly Stovall and provide back-up
for John Lee in “Survivors” blues documentary.

In 1984 Henry would host the Blues Celebrity Night at Your Place in Oakland, California. For most of that
year local blues luminaries such as Dottie Ivory, “Mississippi” Johnny Waters, Haskell “Cool Papa”
Sadler, Curtis Lawson and “Little” Joe Blues would headline this production.

In December of 1985, Henry would be contacted by Joe Louis Walker regarding a band being put together
to back Earl King and Johnny Adams. July 1985 found Henry touring Japan, Canada the U.S. and with the
Crescent City duo. Between tours, Henry found time to make him-self available to Koncept Kultural
Gallery for its Blues Explosion program. This program sent blues artist into schools throughout Oakland to
lecture, demonstrate and teach blues and blues songwriting. Henry volunteered for this duty annually as
well as appearing and recording with Walker as his “Rock solid bass player” through 1990 and Walker’s
rise to prominence. That year Henry parted company with the Walker organization and moved to Canada.
There he recoded with bluegrass artist Doug Cox, preformed as a street musician, taught guitar and bass by
day, while writing and producing biographical material on him-self at night.

In late 1991, Henry returned to the Bay Area. Enjoying the challenge of being a street minstrel, Henry
joined forces with the legendary “Big Bones” on the streets and subway stations of San Francisco while
finishing the recording project started in Canada. In 1992 Walker contacted Henry asking him to rejoin his
efforts and assist in his forth coming album. Henry agreed, leading to two of his compositions being
featured on that album.

By 1995, Henry parted company with Walker once again. This time he headed to Arkansas as an Artist in
Residence for Wildwood Center for Performing Arts Every Person is Creative program. Henry soon found
his musical knowledge being sought after as a music teacher and was hired to teach guitar and bass at the
South Arkansas Cultural Center. Henry pulled out of Arkansas at the end of the 1996-97 school year.
During the remainder of 1997 he toured the United States and Canada with Sonny Rhodes.

In 1999, Henry returned to the classroom, this time as a student, while pursuing a bachelor’s degree in
Humanities. Even so, Henry continued to stay musically active, as a member of Oscar Meyers's “Blues
Beat” the house band at John Lee Hookers Boom Boom Room, recording with Jimmy Dawkins, Pete Sears,
and jazz vocalist Betty Joplin, appearing on stage with Jimmy Johnson, Earl Thomas, Ed Thompson, Craig
Horton, Sue Mack, Tracey Nelson and touring the United States, Canada and Japan with Maria Mulduar
in addition too countless club dates and concerts with Craig Horton.

Henry continues to charm audiences with his unique syncopated interpretation of
West Coast blues.

Henry Oden grew up in Richmond, California. Born the 8th day of February 1947 to
parents who migrated from rural Alabama and Arkansas to work in the Kaiser
Shipyards of Richmond, Henry’s father would order him his first guitar from a
Montgomery Ward mail order catalogue. Robert Kelton, a neighbor and former Jimmy
McCraklin guitarist, would give Henry his first guitar lesson. Within one year of his
first lesson, and not yet legally old enough to enter night clubs, Henry would be found
at Sunday jam sessions in and around Richmond.

Henry Oden