Biography
Little information survives about blues singer Leroy Henderson, a figure distinct from the jazz drummer who bore the same name. He lived in St. Louis throughout the 1930s and most likely earlier, where his abilities caught the ear of Vocalion Records and resulted in four sides cut in 1935: “Deep Sea Blues,” “Good Scuffler Blues,” “Low Mellow Man Blues,” and “Good Grinder Blues.” Of these, “Good Scuffler Blues” remains the strongest and most familiar. Henderson’s approach recalled Charley Patton’s, yet his vocal strengths translated unevenly to disc; even his most compelling performance—an expressive, high-voiced reading of “Good Scuffler Blues”—finds him nearly eclipsed by his accompanists, among them Peetie Wheatstraw, Casey Bill Weldon, possibly Charley Jordan, and an unidentified pianist. After the 1930s he withdrew from music entirely, and his four sides have appeared most often on reissues from Document Records and Mamlish Records, frequently paired with material by Wheatstraw or Jordan.