Dalai Lama of the Blues

Aside from his most notable accomplishments outlined above, in the many articles that have been written about Henry, and a catalogue of music that spanned eight decades, focus is rarely made on the wisdom Henry shared with those he came in contact with. Henry could very well be considered the “Dalai Lama of the Blues”.

photo: Anne Dyson / The Blue Shoe Project

As with many whom others seek wisdom, Henry was an incredibly humble person. He would bring focus on his own shortcomings before shedding light on that of others. However, a two minute conversation with Henry could reap more guidance on life than one could gain in a decade from others.

The wisdom he shared with anyone who came to know him was powerful and thought provoking. Even more profound was his innate ability to put complex challenges of life in simple terms that anyone could understand. You would walk away feeling as though you had just met with the Dalai Lama.

Here are a few of the lessons he shared:

Henry on Being the Best you can Be - "I likes to talk to younger people about their future, It don't mean that they have to take a certain avenue, take an avenue yes, but be the best, or among the best at whatever they do, and I'd like to leave that with the coming generations."

Henry on Pursuit of your desires – “If you think want to do something, TO be successful, you have to ‘want to want to’”.

Henry on Self-Esteem - “There was a man slightly elder than I, Lonnie Johnson, and he was one of my idols. And I worked hard, hard, hard trying to be Lonnie Johnson. And I worked at that thing night and day, and I found out sooner or later, I said now I’m not Lonnie Johnson, and I’m denying being Henry Townsend, so where does that put me, it jumped at me right away, nobody. So, since I couldn’t be Lonnie, and I’m denying myself, I wasn’t nobody, so I find myself back, and I’m getting’ this stuff Henry Townsend knows.”

Henry on “the grass is not greener” - “Hoover’s [Herbert Hoover] days, when it wasn’t anything, there wasn’t no use of leaving where you were, because wherever you go, there still was nothing there either.”

Henry on the persistence and the importance of education - “I guess that ‘Jefferson [The Jeffersons] Show’, Jefferson said he, sometimes he’s climbing the latter, and were no steps in the latter, he jumped over it, he had to scratch his way to the top, you can do that, you can’t’ know to much, ain’t no shame when you know a whole lot, but it’s a shame that you don’t know nothin’’.

Henry on Making Lemonade out of Lemons – [In] Davenport I had a class. I told them there is no such thing as a bad note. …..It's simple to me. All notes are relative. How could a note be bad? You just don't put it into the right place. If one sounds out of tune, you got to blend it. I was a bad stumbler. I didn't know how to make a minor or a major, had to seek that out."

Henry on procrastination - "If you like it stay with it. Don't procrastinate because time expires, and you can't recall it".

Henry on negotiating - (and Henry was a force to be reckoned with when it came TO negotiating, hence “The Mule” title) - “How much you didn't know was the price you had to pay.”

Henry on Appreciating others - “You know, I always said, because it’s true, and it all happened as I say, because there wouldn’t be no me, if it wasn’t for you”.