Henry Oden (born February 8, 1947) is an American

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

musician from

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

Biography

Born in

Oakland Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the Bay A ...

, Oden grew up in

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

. His parents had migrated from the south to work in the shipyards, and Oden's father bought him a guitar from a

Montgomery Ward Montgomery Ward is the name of two successive U.S. retail corporations. The original Montgomery Ward & Co. was a world-pioneering mail-order business and later also a leading department store chain that operated between 1872 and 2001. The curren ...

catalogue when he was 15 years old. He was taught to play by

Robert Kelton Robert Kelton Jr. (January 1, 1908 – May 19, 1996) was an American blues guitarist and banjo player, influential in the development of jump blues and early rock and roll. Early life Kelton was born in Kansas City, Kansas, and learned to play ...

, a guitarist for Jimmy McCracklin, and within a year he was sitting in on jam sessions around the local area; he would also play and sing in local churches. In the 1960s he was the bass player with Freddy & The Stone Souls, working with Freddie Stone Stewart, brother of Sly Stone, and backing many local acts such as Rodger Collins and

Fillmore Slim Clarence Sims (born November 7, 1934), best known by his stage name, Fillmore Slim, is an American blues vocalist and guitarist with five albums to his credit. During the 1960s and 1970s, he was also a known pimp in San Francisco, referred to sev ...

. He was also a member of Loading Zone, and recorded behind the group's vocalist

Linda Tillery Linda may refer to: As a name * Linda (given name), a female given name (including a list of people and fictional characters so named) * Linda (singer) (born 1977), stage name of Svetlana Geiman, a Russian singer * Anita Linda (born Alice Lake i ...

when the group split up. In the 1970s, Oden toured for a short while with Freddie King, and helped to develop the career of

Lady Bianca Lady Bianca (born August 8, 1953) is an American electric blues singer, songwriter and arranger. Lady Bianca has worked as a session singer, depicted Billie Holiday on stage, and since 1995 released six solo albums, three of which were nominated f ...

. He returned to music in his own right in the early 1980s, working with

Mark Naftalin Mark Naftalin (born August 2, 1944) is an American blues keyboardist, recording artist, composer, and record producer. He appears on the first five albums by Paul Butterfield Blues Band in the mid 1960s as a band member, and as such was inducted ...

's Blue Monday band, recording with

Clifton Chenier Clifton Chenier (June 25, 1925 – December 12, 1987), was an American Creole musician known as a pioneer of zydeco, a style of music which arose from Creole music, with rhythm and blues, R&B, blues, and Cajun music, Cajun influences. He sang a ...

, and touring internationally and recording with the San Francisco Blues Festival package. In the middle of the decade he teamed up with Joe Louis Walker, providing Walker with "Shade Tree Mechanic" (among other songs throughout the years). This relationship was spasmodic, and for a while Oden based himself in Canada, taking a degree in humanities. Over the years, Oden appeared with: Jimmy Reed, Pee Wee Crayton,

Big Mama Thornton Willie Mae Thornton (December 11, 1926 – July 25, 1984), better known as Big Mama Thornton, was an American singer and songwriter of the blues and R&B genres. She was the first to record Leiber and Stoller's " Hound Dog", in 1952, which becam ...

Mike Bloomfield Michael Bernard Bloomfield (July 28, 1943 – February 15, 1981) was an American guitarist and composer, born in Chicago, Illinois, who became one of the first popular music superstars of the 1960s to earn his reputation almost entirely on his ...

Buddy Ace Jimmie Lee Land (November 11, 1936 – December 25, 1994), better known as Buddy Ace, was an American Texas blues singer, billed as the "Silver Fox of the Blues". Biography Born in Jasper, Texas, he was raised in Baytown near Houston, and began ...

, Curtis Lawson, Bill Withers,

Little Joe Blue Little Joe Blue (September 23, 1934 – April 22, 1990) was an American electric blues singer and guitarist. His musical style was often compared to B. B. King. His most notable track was "Dirty Work Going On", which was written by Ferdinand "F ...

Chris Cain Chris Cain (born November 19, 1955) is an American blues musician. He began playing professionally as a teenager in local clubs, at festivals, and at private events. He attended Pomona College. Cain received four Blues Music Award nomination ...

Percy Mayfield Percy Mayfield (August 12, 1920August 11, 1984) was an American Rhythm and blues singer with a smooth vocal style. He also was a songwriter, known for the songs " Please Send Me Someone to Love" and "Hit the Road Jack", the latter being a song ...

, Craig Horton,

J.J. Malone John Jacob (J.J.) Malone (August 20, 1935 – February 20, 2004) was an American West Coast blues, electric blues and soul blues guitarist, singer and keyboardist. His best-known recordings were "It's a Shame" and "Danger Zone". Malone was a mem ...

, Troyce Key, Cool Papa Sadler, Mississippi Johnny Waters, Big Bones,

Sonny Rhodes Clarence Smith (born Clarence Edward Mauldin; November 3, 1940 – December 14, 2021), known as Sonny Rhodes, was an American blues singer and lap steel guitar player. He recorded over two hundred songs. "I'm what you call a self-proclaimed Di ...

, Earl King, Johnny Adams,

Maria Muldaur Maria Muldaur (born Maria Grazia Rosa Domenica D'Amato; September 12, 1942) is an American folk and blues singer who was part of the American folk music revival in the early 1960s. She recorded the 1973 hit song "Midnight at the Oasis" and has ...

and

Boz Scaggs William Royce "Boz" Scaggs (born June 8, 1944) is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. An early bandmate of Steve Miller in The Ardells and the Steve Miller Band, he began his solo career in 1969, though he lacked a major hit until h ...

. Oden has two releases under his own name, and he has appeared on numerous albums (his website discography lists 27). He appeared behind

John Lee Hooker John Lee Hooker (August 22, 1912 or 1917 – June 21, 2001) was an American blues singer, songwriter, and guitarist. The son of a sharecropper, he rose to prominence performing an electric guitar-style adaptation of Delta blues. Hooker often ...

in the film ''Survivors'', and he can be seen and heard on the ''Blue Monday'' videos, and with

in ''Poet Laureate of the Blues''.

Discography

*''Eclectic Blue'' (C.P.Time 001) (1990) *''Henry Oden'' (C.P. Time) (2006) *''You're Wrong For That'' (C.P. Time) (2010)

References

External links

Henry Oden official website
*'' Blues & Rhythm'' magazine no 36 (UK), Henry Oden interview by Norman Darwen {{DEFAULTSORT:Oden, Henry 1947 births Living people Musicians from Oakland, California American blues guitarists American male guitarists Songwriters from California West Coast blues musicians Musicians from Richmond, California Guitarists from California 20th-century American guitarists 20th-century American male musicians American male songwriters