Dorris Henderson

Dorris Henderson (February 2, 1933 – March 3, 2005) was an American-born, United Kingdom-based folk music singer and autoharp player.

Born in Lakeland, Florida but raised in Los Angeles, she was the daughter of an African American clergyman and the granddaughter of a Blackfoot Native American. The blues musician, Guitar Nubbit, was her uncle. She initially worked as a civil servant but became interested in music after seeing a performance by Odetta at the famed LA folk venue the Ash Grove. She soon became a regular at Sunset Boulevard's jazz clubs and soon began to perform autoharp version of tunes from Alan Lomax's The Folk Songs of North America. Henderson got her break when she met Lord Buckley and joined him for a series of stage shows in Hollywood, including an appearance playing 'Rock of Ages' on one of Buckley's live albums.

Having gained some recognition from her association with Buckley Henderson decided to devote her attentions ot music full-time and moved to New York City in order to do so at a time when the city's Greenwich Village area was the centre of a boom in American folk music. Henderson quickly became a friend of leading scene figures such as Dave Van Ronk, Fred Neil, Paul Simon, becoming one of the first artists to cover Simon with her version of 'Leaves That are Green', and Bob Dylan, making a brief appearance in the latter's film Dont Look Back.

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