HR1337 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR1337 LRB095 21491 KXB 51089 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of Representatives are pleased to congratulate David "Honeyboy" Edwards on the occasion of his 93rd birthday, June 28, 2008; and

WHEREAS, He is believed to be the oldest surviving Delta bluesman; in the past year he has released a new album, won Grammy and Handy Awards, appeared in "Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story," and done interviews for three documentaries due out in 2009 and 2010; and

WHEREAS, He still plays about 70 gigs a year; among the footloose group of blues musicians who gained fame in the 1930s and 1940s, Honeyboy Edwards was known for his far-ranging travels; he learned the guitar growing up in Shaw, started playing professionally at age 17 in Memphis and by the 1950s had played with almost every bluesman of note - Tommy Johnson, Charlie Patton, Big Joe Williams, Sonny Boy Williamson I, Howlin' Wolf, and Muddy Waters; and

WHEREAS, He was recently honored by the Robert Johnson Blues Foundation along with the late Ike Zinnerman, who is believed to be the teacher who helped Mr. Johnson become the envy of his fellow bluesmen and a touchstone for a generation of rock 'n' roll musicians; and

WHEREAS, His latest album, "Roamin' and Ramblin'," offers the kind of music he would have played as he traveled first the Delta, then the region; and

WHEREAS, As quoted by Honeyboy Edwards, "Blues ain't never going anywhere. It can get slow, but it ain't going nowhere. You play a lowdown dirty shame slow and lonesome, my mama dead, my papa across the sea I ain't dead but I'm just supposed to be blues. You can take that same blues, make it uptempo, a shuffle blues, that's what rock 'n' roll did with it. So blues ain't going nowhere. Ain't goin' nowhere."; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-FIFTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we congratulate legendary bluesman David "Honeyboy" Edwards on his 93rd birthday and wish him continued success playing the music he loves so much; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to David "Honeyboy" Edwards as a symbol of our respect and esteem.