Honeyboy Edwards was the oldest living Delta blues player, and continued to tour at the age of 95. Edwards received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award on January 31, 2010, his second Grammy.
Edwards was born in Shaw, Mississippi. He was a friend to the musician Robert Johnson and claims he was present on the fateful night Johnson drank the poisoned whiskey that took his life. Even though Johnson is usually credited with writing "Sweet Home Chicago," Edwards' website claims that it was he who wrote the song. Folklorist Alan Lomax recorded Edwards in Clarksdale, Mississippi in 1942 for the Library of Congress. Edwards recorded a total of fifteen album sides of music. The songs included "Wind Howlin' Blues" and "The Army Blues". He did not record again commercially until 1951, when he recorded "Who May Your Regular Be" for Arc Records under the name of Mr Honey. From 1974 to 1977, he recorded material for a full length LP, "I've Been Around", released in 1978 on the independent Trix Records label by producer/ethnomusicologist Peter B. Lowry.
Edwards still toured the country performing, and was the author of one book, The World Don't Owe Me Nothin', published in 1997 by Chicago Review Press. The book recounts his life from childhood, his journeys through the South and his arrival in Chicago in the early 1950s. A companion CD by the same title was released by Earwig Records shortly afterwards. He has also recorded at a church-turned-studio in Salina, Kansas and released albums on the APO record label. Edwards claims to have written several well-known blues songs including "Long Tall Woman Blues" and "Just Like Jesse James". His discography for the 1950s and 1960s amounts to nine songs from seven sessions.
Edwards was one of the last original delta blues guitarists still performing. In October 2004, the last four original delta blues musicians gathered together in Dallas for a once-in-a-lifetime concert. The line-up consisted of: Honeyboy Edwards, Pinetop Perkins, Henry Townsend, and Robert Lockwood, Jr. But two years later in 2006, Townsend died (aged 96) and Lockwood died (aged 91). Perkins still continues to tour, mainly in the US.
Edwards also toured, performing up to 100 concerts a year. He undertook a tour of Europe in September and October 2009, and frequently toured in Canada.
In the 1991 documentary The Search for Robert Johnson, Edwards recounts stories about Johnson, including his murder.
Edwards was featured in the 2001 documentary film, Honeyboy.[citation needed]
Edwards performs in the 2004 concert film Lightning In A Bottle,[citation needed] as well as the 2004 concert film for the Crossroads Guitar Festival.
Edwards appeared in the 2007 film, Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story.
On August 29, 2011, Honeyboy Edwards died peacefully at his home of congestive heart failure at around 3 a.m.
Awards
1996: Inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame[1]
1998: Keeping the Blues Alive Award in literature for The World Don't Owe Me Nothing
2002: National Endowment for the Arts, National Heritage Fellowship Award
2005: Acoustic Blues-Artist of the Year (26th W.C. Handy Blues Awards)
2007: Acoustic Artist of the Year (The Blues Music Awards)
2008: Grammy Award; Best Traditional Blues Album for Last of the Great Mississippi Delta Bluesmen: Live In Dallas
2010: Lifetime Achievement Award, Grammy; Mississippi Governor's Awards For Excellence in the Arts
2010: Lifetime Achievement Award, National Guitar Museum
His albums White Windows, The World Don't Owe Me Nothin', Mississippi Delta Blues Man, and a recent album in which he appears with Robert Lockwood, Jr., Henry Townsend and Pinetop Perkins, Last Of The Great Mississippi Delta Bluesmen: Live In Dallas,[3] were all nominated for the W. C. Handy Award. The latter album also won a Grammy Award in 2008.
David 'Honeyboy' Edwards is also Last.fm here: http://www.last.fm/music/+noredirect/David+%27Honeyboy%27+Edwards
Goin' Down Slow
David "Honeyboy" Edwards Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I have had my fun if I never get well no more.
All of my health is failing;
Lord I'm going down slow
I'm going down slow.
Please write my mother and tell her the shape I'm in.
Please write my mother and tell her the shape I'm in.
Tell her to pray for me
For all of my sin.
On the next train south look for my clothes back home.
On the next train south, look for my clothes back home.
'Cause all of my health is failing
Lord, I'm going down slow,
I'm going down slow.
All of my health is failing
Lord, I'm going down slow,
I'm going down slow.
Feel like I'm going, like I'm going down slow.
I feel like I'm going, like I'm going down slow.
I feel like I'm going, like I'm going down slow.
I feel like I'm going, like I'm going down slow.
I feel like I'm going, like I'm going down slow
David "Honeyboy" Edwards's song Going Down Slow is a poignant reflection on the end of life. The opening line, "I have had my fun if I never get well no more," sets the tone for the rest of the song, which speaks of failing health and impending doom. Edwards's voice is raspy and lamenting, conveying the weariness of a life that has been lived to the fullest but is now coming to a close. The repetition of the phrase "Lord, I'm going down slow" serves as a refrain, emphasizing the inevitability of death and creating a sense of solemnity.
The second verse is a plea for forgiveness and redemption. Edwards asks that his mother be informed of his condition and be asked to pray for him. He seems to be acknowledging his own sins and asking for absolution, perhaps indicating that he is unsure about his place in the afterlife.
The final verse is a reflection on the physical remains of his life that will be left behind. Edwards instructs the listener to look for his clothes on the next train south, implying that he will not be able to take them with him. The repetition of the phrase "all of my health is failing" reinforces the idea that time is running out, and the final repetition of "I feel like I'm going, like I'm going down slow" is a haunting conclusion to the song.
Overall, Going Down Slow is a powerful meditation on mortality, delivered with raw emotion by one of the great blues musicians of the 20th century.
Line by Line Meaning
I have had my fun if I never get well no more.
I've enjoyed my life so much that even if I never recover, I won't regret it.
All of my health is failing; Lord I'm going down slow, I'm going down slow.
My body is deteriorating steadily, and I'm slowly approaching my end.
Please write my mother and tell her the shape I'm in. Tell her to pray for me, forgive me for my sin, for all of my sin.
Before I leave, I want my mom to know about my current condition and seek forgiveness on my behalf for all the wrongs I've done.
On the next train south, look for my clothes back home. 'Cause all of my health is failing, Lord, I'm going down slow, I'm going down slow.
When I pass away, look for my belongings on the train home because I won't be using them anymore. My health is seriously declining, so I know my end is near.
Feel like I'm going, like I'm going down slow. I feel like I'm going, like I'm going down slow. I feel like I'm going, like I'm going down slow. I feel like I'm going, like I'm going down slow. I feel like I'm going, like I'm going down slow.
I can feel myself moving steadily towards death, and it's terrifying to experience.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, BMG RIGHTS MANAGEMENT US, LLC
Written by: JAMES ODEN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
SwampPicnic1
Dave, this one is, "Going Down Slow"
seldonlives19
aw man, just go and go and go!
busessuck1
RIP
DBTdad
Awesome job but when did this trend of people in the crowd talking over a performer start? This was considered rude back in the 70s and 80s. If you don't want to listen simply leave or shut up so you don't ruin it for everybody else!