David "Honeyboy" Edwards
David "Honeyboy" Edwards was born on 28/06/1915 in Shaw, Mississippi. His full birth name was David Edwards. When he was 14 he left home to travel with Big Joe Williams. He performed with Robert Johnson and they developed a close friendship. Edwards was present on the night that Johnson died from being poisoned. Edwards would also be acquainted with other blues artists such as Charley Patton, Tommy Johnson, and Johnny Shines.Edwards would travel and perform wherever he could. He would play in little towns if a big crowd built up then sometimes he would be moved on by the police. Sometimes he would play at a country store. He would move around by hitchhiking, or by a freight train.
In 1942, the folklorist Alan Lomax recorded Edwards in Clarksdale, Mississippi for the Library of Congress. Edwards recorded 15 album sides of music.
In 1951, he recorded commercially for the first time when he recorded "Who May Be Your Regular Be" for Arc, under the name of Mr Honey.
Edwards would claim that he wrote several well-known blues songs such as "Long Tall Woman Blues" and "Just Like Jesse James".
In the 1950s and 1960s, he recorded 9 songs in 7 sessions.
In 1978, he released the album "I've Been Around", for which he been recording since 1974. It was released by Trix Records and produced by ethnomusicologist Peter B Lowry.
In 1981, he was recorded for the album "Old Friends Together for the First Time" with Kansas City Red, Sunnyland Slim and Floyd Jones. Kansas City Red had been playing alongside Edwards for a brief period. The album was recorded with the Earwig Label.
Earwig and Edwards had a long association. When his autobiography "The World Don't Owe Me Nothing: The Life and Times of Delta Bluesman Honeyboy Edwards" was published, Earwig released a companion CD. His association with Earwig and his manager Michael Frank led to several late-career albums on independent labels from the 1980s onwards. He would also release records on the APO label.
Edwards would continue the rambling touring lifestyle into in his 90s.
On 17/07/2011, Michael Frank announced Edwards retirement due to ill health.
On 29/09/2011, Edwards died of congestive heart failure. He had been scheduled to perform the same day at the Jay Pritzker Pavillion in Chicago's Millenium Park.