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David Honeyboy Edwards

The blues can be understood as a cumulative art form in which the artists build their styles and repertoires based on their experiences and on what they have learned from other musicians. Honeyboy Edwards is a monumental figure in that rich, cultural history and a living link with the birth of the blues. David "Honeyboy" Edwards was born June 28, 1915 in Shaw, Mississippi. Honeyboy is one of the last living links to Robert Johnson, and one of the last original acoustic Delta blues players. He is a living legend, and his story is truly part of history. He is the real deal. Honeyboy was a part of many of the seminal moments of the blues. As Honeyboy writes in "The World Don't Own Me Nothing", "...it was in '29 when Tommy Johnson come down from Crystal Springs, Mississippi. He was just a little guy, tan colored, easy-going; but he drank a whole lot. At nighttime, we'd go there and listen to Tommy Johnson play." Honeyboy continues, " Listening to Tommy, that's when I really learned something about how to play guitar." Honeyboy's life has been intertwined with almost every major blues legend, including Robert Johnson, Charlie Patton, Big Joe Williams, Rice "Sonny Boy Williamson" Miller, Howlin' Wolf, Peetie Wheatstraw, Sunnyland Slim, Lightnin' Hopkins, Big Walter, Little Walter, Magic Sam, Muddy Waters, and ... well, let's just say the list goes on darn near forever! In 1942, Alan Lomax recorded Honeyboy in Clarksdale, Mississippi for the Library of Congress. He recorded a total of fifteen sides of Honeyboy's music. Honeyboy didn't record again commercially until 1951, when he recorded "Who May Your Regular Be" for Arc Records. Honeyboy also cut "Build A Cave" as 'Mr. Honey' for Artist. Moving to Chicago in the early fifties, Honeyboy played small clubs and street corners with Floyd Jones, Johnny Temple, and Kansas City Red. In 1953, Honeyboy recorded several songs for Chess that remained un-issued until "Drop Down Mama" was included in an anthology release. In 1972, Honeyboy met Michael Frank, and the two soon became fast friends. In 1976, they hit the North Side Blues scene as The Honeyboy Edwards Blues Band, as well as performing as a duo on occasion. Michael founded Earwig Records, and in 1979 Honeyboy and his friends Sunnyland Slim, Kansas City Red, Floyd Jones, and Big Walter Horton recorded "Old Friends". Honeyboy's early Library of Congress performances and more recent recordings were combined on "Delta Bluesman", released by Earwig in 1992.

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Album Review

David Honeyboy Edwards: I'm Gonna Tell You Somethin' That I Know

Read "I'm Gonna Tell You Somethin' That I Know" reviewed by James Nadal


When David Honeyboy Edwards passed in 2011, with him went one of the last living links to the history of the blues. Born in Mississippi in 1915, he started out as a wandering guitarist, playing acoustic Delta Blues as passed down by the men who invented the genre. First recorded down south in 1942, he eventually settled in Chicago by the 1950's, and witnessed firsthand when the blues went electric, doing some solid sessions at the iconic Chess Studios. I'm ...

271
Live Review

David "Honeyboy" Edwards: Bringing the Delta Blues to Norwich

Read "David "Honeyboy" Edwards: Bringing the Delta Blues to Norwich" reviewed by Bruce Lindsay


David “Honeyboy" EdwardsNorwich Arts CentreNorwich, EnglandOctober 1, 2009

David “Honeyboy" Edwards walked slowly across the stage of the Norwich Arts Centre, settled himself into his chair at the centre of the platform as the sell-out audience's warm applause gradually subsided, strapped on an electric guitar and asked “Y'all ready for the blues?" The crowd yelled and whistled in answer, then settled down to enjoy an hour of songs from a man who, at 94 years ...

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Performance / Tour

David 'Homeboy' Edwards Some Well-Aged Blues from the Mississippi Delta

David 'Homeboy' Edwards Some Well-Aged Blues from the Mississippi Delta

Source: Michael Ricci

REVIEW David (Honeyboy) Edwards during his 11-song set on Monday night at the B. B. King Blues Club and Grill.

Delta blues, maybe more than any other genre of American music, is rooted in time and place. Although scholars and critics still bicker about the musics precise parameters, nearly all agree it was conceived and realized in an almond-shaped wedge of northwest Mississippi during the first half of the 20th century.

David (Honeyboy) Edwards, who was born in ...

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Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

I'm Gonna Tell You...

Pro Sho Bidness
2016

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Mississippi Delta...

Smithsonian Folkways Recordings
2001

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