Henry Gray Biography

Henry Gray was among the Chicago blues piano elite during the 1950s. Unlike most of his contemporaries there, he was from Louisiana rather than Mississippi — and since 1968, he’s been living there once again, a stalwart on the swamp blues circuit. Gray rolled into Chicago in 1946 after fighting for his country during World War II in the Philippines. The formidable Big Maceo was a primary influence on Gray’s two-fisted playing. He procured steady gigs with Little Hudson’s Red Devil Trio and guitarist Morris Pejoe before moving into extensive work as a session musician behind Jimmy Reed, Little Walter, Bo Diddley, Jimmy Rogers, Billy Boy Arnold, and Pejoe. In 1956, he joined the combo of the great Howlin’ Wolf, digging in for a dozen-year run. The pianist retreated to his homebase outside Baton Rouge after leaving Wolf’s employ. In 1988, he returned to Chicago long enough to cut his debut domestic album, Lucky Man, for Blind Pig Records. Guitarist Steve Freund produced and played on the set, an alluring combination of Windy City blues and bayou boogie.