Henry "Mule" Townsend (October 27, 1909 – September 24, 2006) was an American blues singer, guitarist and pianist. 　　Townsend was born Henry Jesse James Townsend, in Shelby, Mississippi,[1] and grew up in Cairo, Illinois. He left home at the age of nine because of an abusive father and hoboed his way to St. Louis, Missouri. He learned guitar while in his early teens from a locally renowned blues guitarist known as Dudlow Joe. 　　By the late 1920s he had begun touring and recording with the pianist Walter Davis and had acquired the nickname Mule, because he was sturdy in both physique and character. In St. Louis, he worked with some of the early blues pioneers, including J. D. Short.