# Shifty Henry > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Shifty_Henry > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Shifty_Henry.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shifty_Henry > Source revision: 1348251657 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|American musician and songwriter (1921–1958)}} {{More citations needed|date=November 2010}} '''John Willie "Shifty" Henry''' (4 October 1921 – 30 November 1958)[https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1248348/bio Biography], ''IMDb.com'' was an American [musician](/source/musician), [double bass](/source/double_bass) and [bass guitar](/source/bass_guitar) player, and [blues](/source/blues) [songwriter](/source/songwriter). He also played [flute](/source/flute), [violin](/source/violin), [viola](/source/viola), [saxophone](/source/saxophone), and [oboe](/source/oboe) and was in demand as a [session musician](/source/session_musician) and [arranger](/source/arrangement) in Los Angeles in the 1940s and 1950s. He was also active in Los Angeles' live [jazz](/source/jazz) scene on [Central Avenue](/source/Central_Avenue_(Los_Angeles)). ==Career== Born in [Edna, Texas](/source/Edna%2C_Texas), Henry received a degree in music from the [Prairie View A&M University](/source/Prairie_View_A%26M_University) near [Houston](/source/Houston%2C_Texas), [Texas](/source/Texas). He played center on the football team, and the football coach gave him his [nickname](/source/nickname) for his speed and agility. He generally performed and recorded as ''Shifty Henry'', but he used a number of transparent [pseudonyms](/source/pseudonyms) for [songwriting](/source/songwriter) and [producing](/source/record_producer), including '''Baron Von Shifte, Esq.''', '''Shifte Henri''', '''Shifte' Henre''', '''S. Henry''', and '''Shifti Henri'''. His best known [song](/source/song) is "[Let Me Go Home, Whiskey](/source/Let_Me_Go_Home%2C_Whiskey)", which was a [hit](/source/hit_record) in the early 1950s for [Amos Milburn](/source/Amos_Milburn), was later revived by [Asleep at the Wheel](/source/Asleep_at_the_Wheel), and later performed by Jerre Maynard and his Greazy Gravy Blues Band. Another Henry song, "Hypin' Women Blues", recorded in 1945 for the Enterprise label, later [recorded](/source/sound_recording_and_reproduction) by [T-Bone Walker](/source/T-Bone_Walker) in 1947 for the [Black & White](/source/Black_%26_White_Records) label was sampled by [DJ](/source/Disc_jockey) [Mr. Scruff](/source/Mr._Scruff) for his [song](/source/song) "[Get a Move On](/source/Get_a_Move_On)", which was used in several [TV](/source/Television) [commercials](/source/advertising). This led to a revival of interest in Henry's compositions. Henry recorded with and arranged for the elite of [jazz](/source/jazz) and [rhythm and blues](/source/rhythm_and_blues), including [Dinah Washington](/source/Dinah_Washington), [Billy Eckstine](/source/Billy_Eckstine), [Dizzy Gillespie](/source/Dizzy_Gillespie), [Charles Mingus](/source/Charles_Mingus), [The Treniers](/source/Treniers), [Illinois Jacquet](/source/Illinois_Jacquet), and [Miles Davis](/source/Miles_Davis). Henry maintained strong social as well as professional relations throughout the city and the [music industry](/source/music_industry). The '''Shifty Henry All-Stars''' played regularly at New Year's Eve balls thrown by socialite [Dorothy Chandler](/source/Dorothy_Chandler) and her husband [Otis](/source/Otis_Chandler), publisher of the ''[Los Angeles Times](/source/Los_Angeles_Times).'' He is mentioned by name in a verse of "[Jailhouse Rock](/source/Jailhouse_Rock_(song))" by [Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller](/source/Jerry_Leiber_and_Mike_Stoller): "Shifty Henry said to Bugs, for heaven's sake, no one's looking, now's a chance to make a break."[http://www.gettherhythm.com/m/michael_bolton/jailhouse_rock_feat_carl_perkins.html Gettherhythm.com] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081010000724/http://www.gettherhythm.com/m/michael_bolton/jailhouse_rock_feat_carl_perkins.html |date=October 10, 2008 }} [Leo Fender](/source/Leo_Fender) selected Henry to receive an early electric [Fender Precision Bass](/source/Fender_Precision_Bass), and Henry ("Shifte Henri") appears in a 1954 Fender advertisement.{{Cite book |last=Wright |first=Brian F. |title=The bastard instrument: a cultural history of the electric bass |date=2024 |publisher=University of Michigan Press |others=Michigan Publishing (University of Michigan) |isbn=978-0-472-07681-9 |series=Tracking pop |location=Ann Arbor |pages=29}}"Fender Fine Instruments are the Choice of These Outstanding Artists." International Musician, October 1954. (back cover) Henry appeared in the [film noir](/source/film_noir) [movie](/source/film), ''[D.O.A.](/source/D.O.A._(1950_film))'' in 1950 as a [string bass](/source/string_bass) player in a jazz club. He also played in the [house band](/source/house_band) for the [Martin and Lewis](/source/Martin_and_Lewis) television show. He died in [Los Angeles](/source/Los_Angeles) at the age of 37. In 2014 the Killer Blues Headstone Project placed a headstone for John Willie Henry in Paradise Memorial Cemetery in [Santee, California](/source/Santee%2C_California).{{Cite web|title=Headstones Placed|url=https://killerblues.net/headstones/|access-date=2025-11-23|website=Killerblues.net|language=en-US}} ==References== {{Reflist}} ==External links== * [http://www.batesmeyer.com/shiftyhenry/index.html Biography and lengthy sample of "Let Me Go Home, Whiskey". Site maintained by the firm that manages Henry's song rights] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070430210527/http://www.batesmeyer.com/shiftyhenry/index.html |date=2007-04-30 }} * [https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1248348/bio IMDB biography] {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Henry, Shifty}} Category:American jazz bass guitarists Category:American male bass guitarists Category:Songwriters from Texas Category:American music arrangers Category:American male violinists Category:American oboists Category:American male oboists Category:American male saxophonists Category:American jazz bandleaders Category:African-American guitarists Category:Prairie View A&M University alumni Category:People from Edna, Texas Category:1921 births Category:1958 deaths Category:20th-century American violinists Category:20th-century American bass guitarists Category:20th-century American saxophonists Category:Guitarists from Texas Category:Jazz musicians from Texas Category:20th-century American male musicians Category:American male jazz musicians Category:African-American songwriters Category:20th-century African-American musicians Category:American male songwriters Category:20th-century American violists Category:20th-century American flautists Category:American male flautists Category:20th-century American songwriters --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Shifty Henry](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shifty_Henry) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shifty_Henry?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.