Henry "Mule" Townsend

[stlblues]

Quote

The son of a St. Louis music legend is ensuring his father’s historic music career lives on after last month’s tornado caused a tree to fall on the family home, making it now unlivable.

Alonzo Townsend’s father, Henry Townsend, is considering a legendary Blues singer, guitarist and pianist, who recorded music in every decade from the 1920s through the 2000s, culminating in a Grammy win awarded posthumously in 2008 after Townsend’s death in 2006.

“He is the fingerprint of St. Louis Blues,” said Alonzo Townsend. “He is the patriarch of St. Louis blues. Recorded in every decade since 1929, the longest American recording artist of roots music."

“As the heir to his estate, I have a collection of his music that very few people have ever heard,” said Townsend. “We’ve spent years digitizing things and would like to release them eventually.”

Much of his father’s memorabilia is kept at Townsend’s North St. Louis County home, where he moved a few years after his father died in 2006.

But last month’s tornado and storms had other plans for Townsend, who was at home in the living room when a large maple tree in his back yard came crashing down on the house.

“I jumped up and I think it took a second for me to realize what was happening,” he said. “I was still looking through the dust and debris at this huge tree right in the middle of my house.”

His father’s baby grand piano is buried under debris and soaked in rain water, he said. It’s a loss of one of his father’s treasures. However, Townsend was able to salvage countless photos, awards and other memorabilia from the house before rain water got to them.