Just Thumbin' It CD

1. That Silver Haired Daddy Of Mine

2. Nine Pound Hammer

3. Thumbin' It

4. Old Folks At Home

5. Windy & Warm

6. Have You Ever Been Lonely

7. Raggedy Ann

8. Have I Told You Lately
__That I Love You

9. Barnyard Shuffle

Edward R. Henderson, Sr. (a.k.a. Rayford Henderson) was born in the year 1943 on Lookout Mountain near the Lickskillet community in DeKalb County, Alabama. He was influenced by music at a very young age. Being the youngest of eight sibling, two
brothers and five sisters, he grew up listening to his sisters and his oldest brother sing. There was always a guitar around the house. The only kind that could be afforded was a brand called “Stella.” These were hard to chord, but although it was hard, Rayford would still learn most of the basic chords on that guitar from his sisters. Rayford
remembers being around nine or ten years old and the first time he heard the Grand Ole Opry and similar kinds of music being played on local radio stations. He remembers one song in particular - “Dear Hearts and Gentle People.” He would continue to listen to music, eventually hearing Merle Travis sing and play the guitar, as well as Chet Atkins and others. At the time he did not know their names, but eventually he would.

When Rayford was growing up there was no one in his community qualified to give professional guitar lessons. Rayford could only hunt for guitar chords by watching others play. He never had a chord book, but every time someone new came into his community that could play a guitar, his oldest brother Bill would make sure Rayford got to meet those people to see if he could pick up more knowledge about playing the guitar. One particular meeting that Rayford kindly recalls was that of a friend and cousin of the family, both of which played the “thump picking” style of music that he loved. A few of the people that really encouraged and motivated Rayford in his guitar playing are: His entire family, Jack Rush (Brother-in-law), Buck Guyton (Family friend who played with a straight pick), Grady Guyton (Family friend who played with all fingers), Buddy Carrison (Cousin who played “thump style”), and Kenneth Wilbanks (Family friend).
Besides these dear people, and especially so, my dear wife, Ramona, has most always
encouraged my guitar picking over the last few years. What makes her most special as
it concerns this my first CD is that she purchased for me the Gretch Tennessean guitar
that I am pictured with on the cover of the CD, and that which I played on the CD!

By far, Chet Atkins is Rayford’s favorite guitar picker. The songs on Rayford’s first CD were not recorded to accentuate the “thump style” picking as much as Chet’s, or that of Meryl Travis, nor where any classical chords used like Chet sometimes used. To obtain the best sound from this CD buyers may want to adjust the Bass setting on their audio equipment a little higher than usual. We hope you enjoy listening to some of Rayford’s favorite songs, performed by Rayford on the guitar with additional instruments added by Mike Headrick of Mikron Recording Studios of Jasper, TN.

To hear samples of the songs on the CD, simply left-click the "Song Sample" button beside the song title, a "File Download" dialog box should appear, choose Save, a "Save As" dialog box should then appear, navigate to your Desktop, choose Save, and once the download is complete, choose Open. Your default music player should then open and play the song sample file.

To order your own copy of "Just Thumbin' It," please send personal check
or money order in the amount of $12.00 per each CD, made payable to
E. R. Henderson, Sr.

Just Thumbin' It
c/o Jennifer Henderson
2707 County Road 115
Fort Payne, Alabama 35967

You should receive your order within 5 to 10 business days after your order is received!