2022 Inductee: T.S. Henry Webb
Kevin L. Burrows once said:
“Listening to T.S. Henry Webb’s music is like taking a walk through your own Transgenerational Bohemia…the Sun is shining in your favorite cafe as old beatniks, young slackers and foreign travelers drink coffee, smile and listen with the heart.”
When T.S. was a kid in Chicago, he’d go down to the coffee houses of Hyde Park and Teresa’s on the South Side of the city and jam with Junior Wells, Buddy Guy, Sam Lay and Willie Dixon. According to T.S., “It was real rigorous, because if you weren’t in the pocket, weren’t in the groove, people let you know real fast.”
If you remember, or even if you don’t, T.S. Henry Webb was writing and performing with the CBS super group, The Flock, in the late 60’s when he recorded two groundbreaking albums with them. He toured extensively with The Flock, playing music with many other giants of Rock history on the major pop festival circuit such as Seattle, Los Angeles (at the original Whiskey), Devonshire Downs, both Fillmore West and East and many other national concerts. T.S. became acoustic friends with Jimi and whenever they met and the conditions were right for conversation with flute and acoustic guitar and plans
In 1973 T.S. opened solo for three old boys from Texas called ZZ Top at the Aragon Ballroom with another act he knew well, Richie Havens. T.S. wore a white satin suit at the grand piano, had his soprano sax tied to a fish–line and swung down from the rafters over the crowd’s heads into his hand…SHOWTIME!!
By 1975, T.S. recorded and released an album of vocal songs for children of all ages on the Dharma label titled, “You Are a Star”.
Later on in 1977, after putting together a ten piece unit, he had the opportunity to work with Miles Davis’ producer, Teo Macero. T.S. and Teo succeeded in laying down enough tracks of both his instrumental material as well as a few vocal tunes which appear in 1995 and 1997 on his two self-produced and released Obvious Necessity CD’s…”Wee Willie’s Whizzer” and “Signal Flow”.
Since those times, T.S. has written and performed in children’s musicals, written music for dramatic theater and independently written, arranged and produced many recordings.
After moving to the Bisbee, Arizona area twelve years ago and by chance meeting the great violinist John Cordes at the laundromat, a conversation ensued. T.S. experienced a reinvigoration toward writing and performing at local venues and began to seek out the musical gatherings where he could meet other musicians and people of the arts. From Joe Mama Coleman’s open mic at St. Elmo’s and Joe’s Thursday nights at the Stock Exchange, to the magic of Monday nights at Moore’s hosted by Steve and Karen Smelser, the reinvigoration continued. Stemming from the Mondays at Moore’s, a wonderful convergence and increase in communication occurred among the arts and artists in Bisbee.
Congratulations to T.S. Henry Webb on his induction to the Bisbee Music Hall of Fame on October 2, 2022.
