Big Boy Henry facts for kids

Richard Leslie Henry (born May 26, 1921 – December 5, 2004) was an American musician. He was better known as Big Boy Henry. He played the guitar, sang, and wrote songs. His music was a type of Piedmont blues.

One of his most famous songs was "Mr. President." This song was a protest against changes made by President Ronald Reagan. These changes affected programs that helped people in need. For this song, Big Boy Henry won a special award called the W. C. Handy Award.

Life and Music Career

Richard Henry was born in Beaufort, North Carolina. He grew up in a town called New Bern in the 1920s and 1930s. There, he became friends with another blues musician, Fred Miller. Big Boy Henry started as Miller's student. Later, he became a singer with Miller. They earned money by playing music at local places and fish suppers.

Fred Miller later moved to New York. Big Boy Henry would visit New York sometimes to perform with him. In New York, Henry met other famous blues musicians, Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee. In 1951, he even recorded some songs with them. However, these songs were never released.

Feeling disappointed, Henry went back to the Carolinas. For many years, in the 1950s and 1960s, he worked on fishing and oystering boats. He also ran a small grocery store and sometimes worked as a preacher.

In 1971, he moved back to his hometown of Beaufort. To his surprise, younger musicians there really liked his music. He started performing again and wrote many new songs. He played his Gibson guitar while he sang. As he got older, arthritis made it hard for him to play guitar. So, he would often make up parts as he went along. This made it a fun challenge for the musicians playing with him.

His song "Mr. President" was recorded in the early 1980s. It was a protest song about President Ronald Reagan's government cutting back on help for people. In 1983, this song helped Big Boy Henry win a W. C. Handy Award. In 1995, he received another honor, the North Carolina Arts Council Heritage Award.

Big Boy Henry released several albums in the 1980s and 1990s. Many of these were on cassette tapes through his own record label, Hometown Records. These albums reached a smaller group of people. He was well-respected in his community. People liked him because he was kind and supported other musicians.

He also worked to save and record old songs called "chanties." These were songs he sang with other fishermen who caught menhaden fish. This led to a group called The Menhaden Chanteymen. This group was made up of retired fishermen who sang and performed.

In 1995, Big Boy Henry released an album called Poor Man's Blues. Later in his life, a group called the Music Maker Relief Foundation helped him. They gave him money each month for his medicine. They also helped him make his album Beaufort Blues sound very professional. His story was also shared in a book called Music Makers: Portraits and Songs from the Roots of America.

Big Boy Henry passed away in his hometown in December 2004. He was 83 years old.

Music Albums

Big Boy Henry released several recordings during his career. Here are some of his albums:

See also

In Spanish: Big Boy Henry para niños