Long Rest the Gamblin' Man

My friends in the world of the Blues, we have lost a pioneer and must celebrate his life. 

David "Honeyboy" Edwards at Cat Head Mini-Fest 2010

I speak of David "Honeyboy" Edwards who passed away on August 29th, 2011.  Honeyboy is and was one of the last links we have to the first generation of  bluesmen from the Mississippi Delta.  Walking history, a custodian to the legacy of Robert and Tommy Johnson, Charlie Patton, and countless others he rubbed shoulders with all along the Mississippi from Clarksdale to St. Louis and on up to Chicago.  Honeyboy has joined his contemporaries Big Jack Johnson and Pinetop Perkins, who both passed away earlier this year.  But, let us not dwell on their friends, for they have left us their music and lives and we are enriched for the experience. 

I, (being a spoiled suburban white guy from Illinois) cannot pretend to be any kind of authority on the Blues.  I play the blues, but I am not a "bluesman."  I am merely a humble student of bluesmen, of which Honeyboy certainly was.  He played and traveled the rural Mississippi delta, played with Robert Johnson, was recorded by Alan Lomax for the famous Library of Congress recordings in 1942 (Check out "The Army Blues"), and travelled the path of the Great Migration. Up he travelled along the Big Muddy through Memphis and St. Louis and on to settle in Chicago.  It was in Chicago he would begin a recording career, starting with Who May Your Regular Be in 1951.  He enjoyed a long career and long life, winning two Grammy's:
                                                             Best Traditional Blues Album 2008
                                                             Lifetime Achievement 2010

He wrote a book about his life and experiences, "The World Don't Owe Me Nothing" in 1997 (Chicago Review Press), was featured in Antoine Fuqua's 2004 documentary Lightening in a Bottle, and even had a cameo in the 2007 comedy spoof Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story.

Honeyboy and Big George Brock

I had the pleasure of briefly meeting Honeyboy in 2010 at the Juke Joint Festival in Clarksdale Mississippi.  He was gracious and kind and appeared to really enjoy performing.  He spoke briefly to me and to my boss, Mr. Big George Brock.  They spoke of old times and how, even in their twilight years, neither of them would give up their blues, and continue to perform until they "couldn't anymore."  I stood close by so that I (with no shame of course) could eavesdrop and register in my mind the great experience of seeing these two bluesmen reminisce.  As I listened, giddy as a young school girl (no offense to young school girls) I couldn't help but think I was witnessing a small piece of Blues History.  I soaked in as much as I could, without making a complete goober of myself (no offense to goobers), but I am unsure if I succeeded.  I would have the pleasure of Seeing Honeyboy play on the main stage a year later at the 2011 Juke Joint Festival, which I believe was one of his last performances and I consider myself fortunate. 

So let us think on Honeyboy fondly and keep his music and spirit alive.  The Blues may not be the mainstream medium and at the forefront of the music industry, but sometimes I think it would diminish the spirit of the Blues if it was.  The Blues is the foundation that all other popular music is built on, and men like David "Honeyboy" Edwards were the Masons whose sweat and tears built that foundation.  (Man, how do you like that sentence!  Took me a week)

Farewell for now friends, Keep on Keepin' on.

If you'll permit a prideful photo with some of my heroes