{"product_id":"henry-gray-shake-a-hand-cd","title":"Henry Gray - Shake A Hand (CD)","description":"\u003cp\u003eRelease Date: 03\/04\/22\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp style=\"font-size: 12px; font-weight: bold; padding: 6px 0 6px 0; margin: 0; color: #000000; background-color:#f2f2f2;\"\u003eGreat piano Blues by the Lousiana \u0026amp; Chicago Legend\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp style=\"font-size: 10px; padding: 3px 0 0 0; margin: 0; color: #333333;\"\u003eBlues pianist Henry Gray was born in Kenner, Louisiana in 1925 and moved to Alsen,\u003cbr\u003enear Baton Rouge in Louisiana soon after. In 1946 he headed to Chicago where he met Big Maceo Merriweather. 'Me, Otis Spann and Johnny Jones all learned to play boogie woogie from Maceo.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHenry's first studio session was backing Jimmy Rogers on Chess, in August 1952. He\u003cbr\u003ealso appeared on a Morris Pejoe Checker session cut in 1952, producing both sides of\u003cbr\u003eChecker 766, featuring Henry Strong on harmonica. A year later he cut more sides with\u003cbr\u003ePejoe and Strong.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHis Chess recordings from 1953 did not appear commercially until 1974 and his Parrot\u003cbr\u003erecordings, cut with Dusty Brown in 1955 did not appear until 1989 on a Relic album.\u003cbr\u003eHe also recorded with Little Walter in 1953and for Atomic H in 1958.\u003cbr\u003eIn 1956 he joined Howlin' Wolf's band who had a regular gig at Sylvio's: 'At Sylvio's\u003cbr\u003eWolf's band could play seven nights a week. A lot of times I would stay in Chicago to\u003cbr\u003erun the band if Wolf was out of town. Wolf would leave me and take Hubert Sumlin\u003cbr\u003ewith him. Wolf could be gone three to four weeks and\u003cbr\u003eI kept it going on. I learned a lot about how to run a band doing that Henry left Wolf and\u003cbr\u003eChicago in 1968. I wanted to go back home where people were living.\u003cbr\u003eHenry played at local clubs. He formed the first version of his band, Henry Gray And The Cats, in 1970 and recorded for Arhoolie,\u003cbr\u003eBlues Unlimited (a fine 45) and Excello in the same year. 'I played with a lot of Louisiana\u003cbr\u003eblues men, Raful Neal, Clarence Edwards and Tabby Thomas.'\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHenry enjoyed a prolific recording and touring career. He cut albums for Bluebeat\u003cbr\u003ein Germany in 1977 (a collectable solo set) for Storyville in 1984, Blind Pig in 1988, Hightone, Lucky Cat, Wolf, Sidetrack\u003cbr\u003eand Blueswave in the 1990s and APO in 2000. In 1998 he played at Mick Jagger's 55th\u003cbr\u003ebirthday in Paris. He toured constantly. Despite this double health scare, Henry continued playing the blues. Henry died at the age of 95 on February 17th, 2020.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ctable width=\"100%\" cellpadding=\"2\" cellspacing=\"0\" style=\"font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; color: #333333;\"\u003e\u003ctbody\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eLabel:\u003c\/strong\u003e Wolf Records\u003c\/td\u003e \u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eGenre:\u003c\/strong\u003e Blues\u003c\/td\u003e \u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/strong\u003e English\u003c\/td\u003e \u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eRun Time:\u003c\/strong\u003e 54:52 mins\u003c\/td\u003e \u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e \u003c\/td\u003e \u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003c\/tbody\u003e\u003c\/table\u003e ","brand":"WOLF","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42289207607545,"sku":"120634CD","price":13.6,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0815\/4889\/products\/120634CD.jpg?v=1641989928","url":"https:\/\/mvdshop.com\/products\/henry-gray-shake-a-hand-cd","provider":"MVD Shop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}