The end of an era

uh, y'know, the sounds that sound good together... sometimes... and sometimes sounds like the disgusting "squish squish" sound Slicker's mom makes whenever she walks

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anarky
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The end of an era

Post by anarky »

With the passing of David "Honeyboy" Edwards, the age of the classic Delta blues is over. One of the most important genres in the formation of rock & roll died in Edwards' sleep.

Sure, there were later Delta bluesmen, many of them quite good (Junior Kimbrough and R. L. Burnside come to mind, and others have ventured into the genre occasionally), but Edwards was the last living musical link to Robert Johnson, the man who was so fucking amazing at playing the guitar that people said he must have sold his soul to the devil (and totally didn't care that they "borrowed" the legend from another bluesman, Tommy Johnson, and Robert eclipsed the unrelated Tommy both musically and in legend).

According to most surviving accounts, Honeyboy (and possibly Lee Rice "Sonny Boy Williamson II" Miller) played with Robert Johnson on the night in 1938 when he was poisoned.

Rest in peace, Honeyboy Edwards, Sonny Boy Williamson II, Son House, Charley Patton, Skip James, Willie Brown, Johnny Shines, Elmore James, Muddy Waters, Tommy Johnson, Lonnie Johnson, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Blind Blake, Kokomo Arnold, Peetie Wheatstraw, Robert Jr. Lockwood, and all the other musicians who played with or directly influenced Robert Johnson. And rest in peace, Robert Johnson; even if you did sell your soul to the devil, I have a feeling God would kick Satan's ass and make him let such a gifted musician play lead in the angelic band.

Here's a recording of an already very old Honeyboy performing Robert Johnson's signature tune almost a decade ago. Enjoy.

(And, yes, even though I don't exactly share mabs' hatred of Clapton, I think it's something of a travesty that the only recording of this tune by Edwards that I'm aware of comes from a tribute album to Clapton, who sure as hell didn't write it.)
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