Shifty Henry was an American composer, songwriter, and arranger born John Willie Henry in Edna, Texas, in 1921. Active in the Los Angeles jazz and blues scene during the 1940s and 1950s, Henry wrote arrangements for Dizzy Gillespie, Dexter Gordon, and Billy Eckstine, and his compositions were recorded by Charlie Parker, Dinah Washington, T-Bone Walker, Ray Charles, and Louis Jordan. His best-known song, "Let Me Go Home Whiskey," was originally recorded by Amos Milburn. Another composition, "Hyping Woman Blues," recorded by T-Bone Walker, found new life when sampled by DJ Mr. Scruff in 1999. On AllSolos his composition "Dark Shadows" is featured. Henry died in 1958 at the age of thirty-seven. His family later established Henry Heritage Music to preserve a catalog that captures the crossroads of postwar jazz and blues in Los Angeles.
