David ‘Honeyboy’ Edwards, last of the Delta Bluesmen
David Honeyboy Edwards, the “Last of the Great Mississippi Delta Bluesmen”
has died. On the morning Monday of August 29, 2011, about 3 am while resting
peacefully at home, Honeyboy moved on to blues heaven. He lived a long, full
life, and he felt at peace. He loved to say, “The world don’t owe me nothing.”
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…
Dave said,
August 30, 2011 at 9:08 pm
Just missed those final gigs by about a fortnight when I was in Clarksdale earlier this year.
But at least I shall have the memory of seeing Honeyboy at the Chicago bluesfest in 2003, backed by a drummer. His timing was shot to fuck but he could still pick a tune.
For once, the cliche ‘we will not see his like again’ truly applies.
Jim Denham said,
August 30, 2011 at 11:01 pm
Dave: “His timing was shot to fuck “… be honest, Dave: when did you ever hear a bluesman with good timing?
I just love those ol’ 13-and-a-half-bar blues.
Only jazz players keep time on the blues:
Dave said,
August 31, 2011 at 12:15 pm
Yep, 13 and a half bar blues it was!
I once tried to learn the guitar parts on a couple of John Lee Hooker songs in similar meter, and just gave up in the end.
So what do you drummers do in these circumstances?
Jim Denham said,
August 31, 2011 at 5:08 pm
I try to avoid working with such people (and that includes amateur Tom Joneses and Elvises at free’n easies): when the beat gets lost, everyone assumes it’s the drummer’s fault.
Jim Denham said,
August 31, 2011 at 8:04 pm
Obit in the Graun (h/t: Matthew Thompson):
http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2011/aug/30/david-honeyboy-edwards-obituary