Real name: Danny Cannon. Also recorded a one-off release as L. B. Wilson.
Lenny O'Henry was born Danny L. Cannon in Jackson, Mississippi on Oct. 22, 1935. He moved to Buffalo with his mother when he was 13. He joined the Air Force at the age of 17 and met Donald “Duck” Simmons during that time. Simmons would become his musical collaborator.
After returning home from service in 1955, he ran into his old friend Donnie Elbert, walking down Michigan Avenue with a guitar, and suggested that they play together. Together they formed The Vibraharps.
At the end of that year, the group got a boost when they were asked to pose as the Drifters backing Clyde McPhatter at a New Year’s Eve show in Niagara Falls. They recorded a single, “Cosy With Rosy” and “Walk Beside Me,” which was issued on the Beech label from New York City.
After Elbert left the group in 1957 to begin a solo career, the Vibraharps cut one more single and then broke up. Danny Cannon and Donald Simmons worked in Toronto as a duo, Danny and Donnie.
The Vibraharps soon regrouped and headed to New York, after a missed chance of signing with Motown.
After the group were given a contract with ABC-Paramount records, Danny Cannon was asked to sign a separate contract and was given a new name, Lenny O’Henry. On the single, “Cheated Heart,” Danny and the Vibraharps were billed as Lenny O’Henry and the Short Stories.
In 1965, Danny decided he'd had enough of the music business and he returned to Buffalo, working as factory laborer for several companies.
For more than 20 years, he also cut grass and cleaned yards in his neighborhood.
Lenny O'Henry / Danny Cannon passed away on September 27, 2014 after a 7 year battle with cancer.
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