From Robert Johnson’s Side To Maxwell Street To Millennium Park
“Grammy-winning Blues musician David ‘Honey Boy’ Edwards, believed to be the oldest surviving Delta bluesman and whose roots stretched back to blues legend Robert Johnson, died early Monday in his Chicago home, his manager said. He was 96,” AP reports.
“He came to Chicago in the 1940s and played on Maxwell Street, small clubs and street corners. By the 1950s Edwards had played with almost every bluesman of note – including Howlin’ Wolf, Little Walter, Charlie Patton and Muddy Waters. Among Edwards’ hit songs were ‘Long Tall Woman Blues,’ ‘Gamblin Man’ and ‘Just Like Jesse James.'”
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“In 1972, Honeyboy met Michael Frank, and the two soon became fast friends,” World Music Central reports. “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.”
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“Edwards published an autobiography, The World Don’t Owe Me Nothin‘, in 1998, and appeared in the 2007 film Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story,” the Hollywood Reporter writes.
“During the Grammy preshow in 2008, Edwards played guitar in a trio with Pinetop Perkins on piano and Koko Taylor on vocals (combined age: 258) doing ‘Let the Good Times Roll.’ Edwards and Perkins later took the stage to accept the best traditional blues Grammy for an album they recorded with Henry James Townsend and Robert Lockwood Jr.”
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“The aura of a shaman surrounded any given appearance by blues legend David ‘Honeyboy’ Edwards,” Dave Hoekstra writes for the Sun-Times.
“He often favored creased, pinstriped suits because he fit so well into dignity. He had soft and easy cheekbones that were curtains to an enduring soul . . .
“He was the last of the Delta bluesmen.”
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“Just shy of his 96th birthday, Honeyboy played his last gigs at the Juke Joint Festival and Cathead Mini-Festival in Clarksdale, Mississippi April 16 and 17, 2011,” the official Honeyboy Edwards website says.
“Prior to his health turning for the worse in late April, Honeyboy was scheduled to play numerous gigs in Chicago, across the USA and in Europe, including [Monday] at Millennium Park in Chicago for the noon time concert series.”
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“Visitation will be Thursday September 1 from 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm, with an open mic for comments by his friends and fans from 7:00 to 8:00 pm at the funeral home. Services will
be private on Friday September 2,”
McCullough Funeral & Cremation Services
851 E. 75th St.
Chicago, IL 60619
Phone: (773) 488-8900
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“Grammy winner David ‘Honeyboy’ Edwards plays the blues and talks about his life as an artist.”
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Maxwell Street Shuffle.
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The Robert Johnson Story.
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Spread My Raincoat Down.
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Q&A at the Delta Blues Museum in Clarksdale, Mississippi, April 15, 2011: Part 1
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Q&A at the Delta Museum: Part 2
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Q&A at the Delta Museum: Part 3
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Q&A at the Delta Museum: Part 4
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Q&A at the Delta Museum: Part 5
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The Hands of Honeyboy.
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Comments welcome.
Posted on August 30, 2011