the last of the great Mississippi delta bluesmen.
Dave “Honeyboy” Edwards was at aged 96 the last link to the pre-war era of bluesmen. Having been present when the almost mythical Robert Johnson was given the bottle of whisky that supposedly poisoned him.
He was a friend and played with the likes of Johnson, Charley Patton, Son House and Sonny Boy Williamson. Moving then to the post-war Chicago era with the likes of Howlin’ Wolf, Willie Dixon, Muddy Waters, Buddy Guy and the rest of the greats at Chess Records. Leading to him mixing with the new generation of the mid to late sixties of white English kids that took the music back to it’s homeland to flourish – The Rolling Stones and Fleetwood Mac.
His only appearance on record during those early years are the 15 sides recorded by legendary archivist Alan Lomax for the Library of Congress in 1942.
So in tribute I’ve been playing “Blues Jam in Chicago” volume 1 & 2 from Fleetwood Mac, which were recorded in 1969 at the Ter-Mar complex owned by Chess which featured some of the blues greats available. Willie Dixon led things with Buddy Guy, Otis Spann, Walter Horton, JT Brown, SP Leary and David “Honeyboy” Edwards.
Edwards died aged 96 on August 29th the Grammy Award winner was playing nearly right up until his passing.