About Henry Thomas

Henry Thomas (1874-1950s?) was a major pre-war country blues singer and musician. Born in Big Sandy, Texas, he began his musical career as an itinerant singer (minstrel), and recorded twenty-three songs from 1927 to 1929. During this time he was a musical hobo who rode the rails across Texas and possibly to the World Fairs in St. Louis and Chicago. Most agree he was the oldest African-American folk artist to produce a significant body of recordings. His projected 1874 birthdate would predate Charley Patton by a good 17 years. Thomas accompanied himself with the guitar and the quills, a folk instrument made from cane reeds that sound similar to the zampona used by musicians in Peru and Bolivia. Some of his songs are difficult to categorize -- they sound more like precursors to blues than the sound we now call "blues." Thomas's best-known influence has been through two songs. "Fishin' Blues" was covered by Taj Mahal and The Lovin' Spoonful, and "Bull Doze Blues", was recorded by Canned Heat as "Going Up The Country".