Henry Mason Biography

Those who enjoy sorting musicians by eccentric categories should make note of Henry Mason, perhaps even heavily underscoring his name with the swing of an axe. He belongs to two interesting groups of performers, those whose efforts were recorded while they were incarcerated and those who utilize common tools to make music. The former type of performer is actually not so uncommon in blues, a genre in which some of the most famous performers, such as Leadbelly and Robert Pete Williams, were actually released from prison early because of their instrumental abilities.Mason’s musical “axe” of choice was an actual axe, however. While there does not seem to be any information about why the man was being held in the Mississippi State Penitentiary, the warden of this fine institution may have had misgivings about letting Mason go free in order to pursue a career as an axe-swinging bluesman. Thus, his entire recording career consists of several performances taped by musicologist Alan Lomax in 1959. Like many better-known performers, this discography grew in size with the release of previously unissued performances on expanded collections released by the Rounder label in the late ’90s. Tracks such as “Tom Devil” and “Dollar Mamie feature lead vocalist Ed Lewis; background vocals are provided by three other men, but according to liner note credits Mason is the only one keeping the beat with axe strokes. He is not the same Henry Mason who played trumpet on jazz records in the ’20s and ’30s.