Five stars if you're a hard-core blues fan
Tyler Smith | Denver, CO United States | 05/13/2000
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Not everyone will love this CD. This is unadulterated blues from a man who came up from the Mississippi Delta, and who played with Big Walter Horton, Little Walter Jacobs and jammed with many others, including Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters and Robert Johnson. Unfortunately, Dave never got the opportunity to record that many of the other blues legends did. This disc shows what a loss that was.Those who are used to the electrified blues might find this release a little hard to connect to. But for lovers of the true, down-home blues, this disc is a must. Dave plays mostly unaccompanied, but there are occasional contributions from Big Walter on harmonica and an additional guitar. It's immediately apparent when you listen to the CD how many of the riffs, tunes, and lyrics that white musicians in the '60s borrowed from Edwards and other Delta blues musicians. It's fascinating to listen to the excitement that he generates on a tune like "Ride with Me Tonight," without the benefit of a wall of a sound behind him.If you love the unadulterated blues, this is easily a five-star release. The best course to take is to listen to this CD in conjunction with reading Honeyboy's autobiography, "The World Don't Owe Me Nothing," which details his fascinating life in the Mississippi Delta."
Mississippi blues original
Pitoucat | UK | 08/31/2006
(4 out of 5 stars)
"David 'Honeyboy' Edwards was discovered by Alan Lomax in Clarksdale during the summer 1942 field trip to Mississippi that also produced some fine recordings by Son House and Muddy Waters. Much of Honeyboy's output from that historic session is available on an Indigo CD, alongside some 1991 recordings. The present disc reissues a Trix LP of material recorded in 1974 and 1977 at sessions supervised by Pete Lowry which feature Honeyboy in good form, although understandably perhaps, not up to the magnificent standard of his very first appearance on record.
Edwards travelled and performed with those giants of the Mississippi blues scene, Robert Johnson and Big Joe Williams, and also knew the likes of Charlie Patton, Son House, Tommy Johnson, and Tommy McClennan, amongst others. It's not surprising then, that his repertoire comprises much of the music of those contempories, as well as his own compositions, which are also well-rooted in the Delta style. On this disc, 'Pony Blues' and 'Banty Rooster' are versions of two of Patton's best known works, while 'Big Fat Mama' and 'Big Road Blues' were learned from Tommy Johnson, 'Hambone Blues' from Rube Lacey, and 'Ride With Me Tonight' from Howling Wolf.
Honeyboy's vocals are accompanied by his own guitar and harmonica, with Walter Horton and Eddie El guesting on some tracks. This is one of the better of Honeyboy's later recordings, and an essential acquisition for all devotees of the traditional Delta blues, with the final two numbers, 'The Woman I'm Loving' and 'Big Road Blues', being the stand-out cuts on the album.
"
Track Listings (14) - Disc #1
