HR1337 LRB095 21491 KXB 51089 r

1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2     WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of
3 Representatives are pleased to congratulate David "Honeyboy"
4 Edwards on the occasion of his 93rd birthday, June 28, 2008;
5 and
 
6     WHEREAS, He is believed to be the oldest surviving Delta
7 bluesman; in the past year he has released a new album, won
8 Grammy and Handy Awards, appeared in "Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox
9 Story," and done interviews for three documentaries due out in
10 2009 and 2010; and
 
11     WHEREAS, He still plays about 70 gigs a year; among the
12 footloose group of blues musicians who gained fame in the 1930s
13 and 1940s, Honeyboy Edwards was known for his far-ranging
14 travels; he learned the guitar growing up in Shaw, started
15 playing professionally at age 17 in Memphis and by the 1950s
16 had played with almost every bluesman of note - Tommy Johnson,
17 Charlie Patton, Big Joe Williams, Sonny Boy Williamson I,
18 Howlin' Wolf, and Muddy Waters; and
 
19     WHEREAS, He was recently honored by the Robert Johnson
20 Blues Foundation along with the late Ike Zinnerman, who is
21 believed to be the teacher who helped Mr. Johnson become the
22 envy of his fellow bluesmen and a touchstone for a generation

 

 

HR1337 - 2 - LRB095 21491 KXB 51089 r

1 of rock 'n' roll musicians; and
 
2     WHEREAS, His latest album, "Roamin' and Ramblin'," offers
3 the kind of music he would have played as he traveled first the
4 Delta, then the region; and
 
5     WHEREAS, As quoted by Honeyboy Edwards, "Blues ain't never
6 going anywhere. It can get slow, but it ain't going nowhere.
7 You play a lowdown dirty shame slow and lonesome, my mama dead,
8 my papa across the sea I ain't dead but I'm just supposed to be
9 blues. You can take that same blues, make it uptempo, a shuffle
10 blues, that's what rock 'n' roll did with it. So blues ain't
11 going nowhere. Ain't goin' nowhere."; therefore, be it
 
12     RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
13 NINETY-FIFTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we
14 congratulate legendary bluesman David "Honeyboy" Edwards on
15 his 93rd birthday and wish him continued success playing the
16 music he loves so much; and be it further
 
17     RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
18 presented to David "Honeyboy" Edwards as a symbol of our
19 respect and esteem.