Генри Гросс: «Бір хи́ттың саяхатшысы» өмірі мен шығармашылығы

American singer songwriter (born 1951)
the game warden and dowser

Henry Gross (born April 1, 1951) is an American singer songwriter best known for his association with the group Sha Na Na and for his hit song, "Shannon". Gross is considered a one hit wonder artist; none of his other songs reached the Top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100. However, his single "Springtime Mama" was a top 40 hit in the summer of 1976, peaking at #37.

Gross was born in Brooklyn, New York City. At age 13 he performed at the New Jersey Pavilion at the World's Fair in Flushing, New York with his first band, The Auroras. By age 14 he was playing regularly in local clubs in the New York area, and spending his summers playing at Catskill Mountains resort hotels. At age 18, while a student at Brooklyn College, Gross became a founding member of 1950s Rock & Roll revival group, Sha Na Na, playing guitar and wearing the greaser clothes he wore while a student at Midwood High School. The 18 year old Gross was the youngest musician to perform at Woodstock.

Gross left Sha Na Na to become a solo singer songwriter in 1970. He signed a recording contract with ABC Dunhill Records in 1971. While there, he did some session work for producers Tommy West and Terry Cashman. He played electric lead guitar on the Jim Croce album, I Got a Name. His own debut album had little commercial success. He continued to play at clubs and colleges until 1973, when he signed with A&M Records. His first self titled A&M album included several regional hits including "Simone", "Come On Say It", "Skin King", and a cover version of Lindisfarne's European hit, "Meet Me on the Corner". With Gross’s second A&M album, Plug Me into Something, he began to achieve national recognition in Rolling Stone and The New York Times.

Gross continued his songwriting and recording career in Nashville. In 1993, he released the album Nothing But Dreams on his own Zelda Records label, named after his mother. He had a Top 40 Country Radio hit, "Big Guitar" with Arista recording group Blackhawk, written with his friend Henry Paul, the group's lead singer. Gross released I'm Hearing Things on Zelda Records in 2001, his first self engineered CD. He currently performs an autobiographical one man show called "One Hit Wanderer". He continues to write new songs while regularly recording in Fort Myers, Florida with multi instrumentalist and recording engineer John McLane, having produced eight albums with #9 nearly completed. One Hit Wanderer (2006), Foreverland (2007), Rhymes and Misdemeanors (2011) and Right as Rain (2011). A single, "What a Christmas", was released the same year. In 2011 he also collaborated with Henry Paul and Jonathan Edwards on a trio album called Edwards, Gross and Paul, AKA "The Vereens". In 2016 Gross traveled to the UK to support longtime friend Joe Brown on his "Just Joe" UK tour. Brown and Gross played a selection of songs from each of their discographies, as well as a variety of popular rock & roll and country songs. In early 2017, before leaving for the UK, Gross released two new CDs of original songs on Zelda Records: "Mixed Messages" and "Stories I've Lived To Tell" along with "New Orleans, New Orleans" – a collection of songs from a new musical comedy play of the same name, songs written by Gross and the libretto in collaboration with playwright Ed Greenberg. In October 2017, Brown and Gross went back on tour in the UK with a live album, produced by Gross, recorded at the previous tour's first few shows. The tour ran through October and November 2017 before breaking for Christmas and continuing in January through March 2018. In 2019, while doing many shows celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Woodstock Festival, Gross continued recording with multi instrumentalist and engineer John McLane, completing and releasing the new 17 song CD, Too Clever (For My Own Good) in February 2020 on Zelda Records.