Having picked up the guitar at a very young age he later on added the fiddle, banjo, harmonica and piano to his repertoire. In 1923 he decided to quit his job at the "Fries Washington"Cotton Mill and go to NYC in order to persue his musical career. Although his two test recordings could not convince the A&R in the first place, he ended up getting signed by O'keh Records in late '23. His solo recordings, featuring "The Wreck of the Old 97" which later was covered by Vernon Dalhart to become the first million-seller in record history, were released in January 1924 and were quite successful.
After meeting blind G.B. Grayson (1887 - 1930) at a fiddlers' convention in 1927, the two went on forming the famous bluegrass duo "Grayson & Whitter".
Especially Whitter's fox chase technique pretty much set the bar for this style and did influence countless successors up until today.
Henry Whitter - Rain Crow Bill Blues
This most famous of his solo harmonica pieces he recorded twice, once in 1923 and again in August 1927, and many of his harmonica works are variations of this particular pattern.
Also, there is more to be found amongst the Honkingduck78s:
Please enjoy!
