Edward Riley Boyd known as Eddie Boyd (November 25, 1914 – July 13, 1994) was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 blues

Blues

Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...

 piano

Piano

The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...

 player, born on Stovall's Plantation near Clarksdale

Clarksdale, Mississippi

Clarksdale is a city in Coahoma County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 20,645 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Coahoma County....

, Mississippi

Mississippi

Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

.

Life and career

Boyd moved to the Beale Street

Beale Street

Beale Street is a street in Downtown Memphis, Tennessee, which runs from the Mississippi River to East Street, a distance of approximately . It is a significant location in the city's history, as well as in the history of the blues. Today, the blues clubs and restaurants that line Beale Street are...

 district of Memphis

Memphis, Tennessee

Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....

, Tennessee

Tennessee

Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...

 in 1936 where he played piano and guitar

Guitar

The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...

 with his group, the Dixie Rhythm Boys. Boyd followed the great migration

Great Migration (African American)

The Great Migration was the movement of 6 million blacks out of the Southern United States to the Northeast, Midwest, and West from 1910 to 1970. Some historians differentiate between a Great Migration , numbering about 1.6 million migrants, and a Second Great Migration , in which 5 million or more...

 northward to the factories of Chicago

Chicago

Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

, Illinois

Illinois

Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...

 in 1941.

He wrote

Songwriter

A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...

 and recorded

Sound recording and reproduction

Sound recording and reproduction is an electrical or mechanical inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. The two main classes of sound recording technology are analog recording and digital recording...

 the hit songs "Five Long Years

Five Long Years

"Five Long Years" is a song written and recorded by blues vocalist/pianist Eddie Boyd in 1952. Called one of the "few postwar blues standards [that has] retained universal appeal", Boyd's "Five Long Years" reached number one on the Billboard R&B chart...

" (1952), "24 Hours" (1953), and the "Third Degree" (co-written by Willie Dixon

Willie Dixon

William James "Willie" Dixon was an American blues musician, vocalist, songwriter, arranger and record producer. A Grammy Award winner who was proficient on both the Upright bass and the guitar, as well as his own singing voice, Dixon is arguably best known as one of the most prolific songwriters...

, also 1953). Boyd toured Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

 with Buddy Guy

Buddy Guy

George "Buddy" Guy is an American blues and jazz guitarist and singer. He is a critically acclaimed artist who has established himself as a pioneer of the Chicago blues sound, and has served as an influence to some of the most notable musicians of his generation...

's band in 1965 as part of the American Folk Blues Festival

American Folk Blues Festival

The American Folk Blues Festival was a music festival that toured Europe beginning in 1962.German jazz publicist Joachim-Ernst Berendt first had the idea of bringing original African-American blues performers to Europe. Jazz had become very popular, and rock and roll was just gaining a foothold,...

. He later toured and recorded with Fleetwood Mac

Fleetwood Mac

Fleetwood Mac are a British–American rock band formed in 1967 in London.The only original member present in the band is its eponymous drummer, Mick Fleetwood...

 and John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers.

Tired of the racial discrimination he experienced in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, he first moved to Belgium

Belgium

Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

 where he recorded with the Dutch

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

 band

Band (music)

In music, a musical ensemble or band is a group of musicians that works together to perform music. The following articles concern types of musical bands:* All-female band* Big band* Boy band* Christian band* Church band* Concert band* Cover band...

, Cuby and the Blizzards. He settled in Helsinki

Helsinki

Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...

, Finland

Finland

Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...

 in 1970, where he recorded ten blues records

Gramophone record

A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...

, the first being Praise to Helsinki (1970). He married his wife, Leila, in 1977. His last blues concert

Concert

A concert is a live performance before an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, a choir, or a musical band...

 took place in 1984. After that he performed only gospel music

Gospel music

Gospel music is music that is written to express either personal, spiritual or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music....

.

Boyd died in 1994 in Helsinki, Finland, just a few months before Eric Clapton

Eric Clapton

Eric Patrick Clapton, CBE, is an English guitarist and singer-songwriter. Clapton is the only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: once as a solo artist, and separately as a member of The Yardbirds and Cream. Clapton has been referred to as one of the most important and...

 released the chart-topping

Record chart

A record chart is a ranking of recorded music according to popularity during a given period of time. Examples of music charts are the Hit parade, Hot 100 or Top 40....

 blues album

Album

An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...

, From the Cradle

From the Cradle

From the Cradle is a blues cover album by Eric Clapton. Released on 13 September 1994 by Reprise Records, the album was Eric Clapton's long awaited follow-up to his massively-successful live album, Unplugged...

that included Boyd's "Five Long Years" and "Third Degree".

Albums

• Eddie Boyd and His Blues Band featuring Peter Green
  Peter Green (musician)
  Peter Green is a British blues-rock guitarist and the founder of the band Fleetwood Mac...
  
  – Decca
  Decca Records
  Decca Records began as a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934; however, owing to World War II, the link with the British company was broken for several decades....
  
   (1967) with the Bluesbreakers; CD release on Gott Discs

1. "Too Bad, Pt. 1"
2. "Dust My Broom
   Dust My Broom
   "Dust My Broom" is a blues standard originally recorded as "I Believe I'll Dust My Broom"by Robert Johnson, the Mississippi Delta blues singer and guitarist, on November 23, 1936 in San Antonio, Texas. The song was originally released on 78 rpm format as Vocalion 03475, ARC 7-04-81 and Conqueror 8871...
   
   "
3. "Unfair Lovers"
4. "Key to the Highway
   Key to the Highway
   "Key to the Highway" is a blues standard first recorded by blues pianist Charlie Segar in 1940. The song was also recorded by Jazz Gillum and Big Bill Broonzy in 1940–41, and it was later a R&B record chart success for Little Walter in 1958...
   
   "
5. "Vacation from the Blues"
6. "Steakhouse Rock"
7. "Letter Missin' Blues"
8. "Ain't Doin' Too Bad"
9. "Blue Coat Man"
10. "Train Is Coming"
11. "Save Her Doctor"
12. "Rack 'Em Back"
13. "Too Bad, Pt. 2"
14. "Big Bell"
15. "Pinetop's Boogie Woogie"
16. "Night Time Is the Right Time"

Eddie Boyd : piano, vocals

Peter Green : guitar

Guitar

The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...

, chorus

Backing vocalist

A backing vocalist or backing singer is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists...

 (16)

John Mayall

John Mayall

John Mayall, OBE is an English blues singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist, whose musical career spans over fifty years...

 : harmonica

Harmonica

The harmonica, also called harp, French harp, blues harp, and mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used primarily in blues and American folk music, jazz, country, and rock and roll. It is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes or multiple holes...

, chorus (16)

John McVie

John McVie

John Graham McVie is a British bass guitarist best known as a member of the rock group Fleetwood Mac. His surname, combined with that of Mick Fleetwood, was the inspiration for the band's name...

 : bass

Bass guitar

The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....

Aynsley Dunbar

Aynsley Dunbar

Aynsley Thomas Dunbar is an English drummer. He has worked with some of the top names in rock, including Eric Burdon, John Mayall, Frank Zappa, Ian Hunter, Lou Reed, Jefferson Starship, Jeff Beck, David Bowie, Whitesnake, Sammy Hagar, UFO, and Journey...

 : drum

Drum

The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments, which is technically classified as the membranophones. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a shell and struck, either directly with the player's hands, or with a...

s

Tony McPhee

Tony McPhee

Tony McPhee is an English blues guitarist, and founder of The Groundhogs....

 : guitar (02,11)

Albert Hall : trumpet

Trumpet

The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...

 (01)

Rex Morris : tenor saxophone

Tenor saxophone

The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor, with the alto, are the two most common types of saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B, and written as a transposing instrument in the treble...

 (01)

Bob Efford : tenor sax (01)

Harry Klein

Harry Klein

Harold 'Harry' Klein was an English jazz saxophonist. Despite a long career in jazz music, he is probably best known for playing with The Beatles....

 : baritone saxophone

Baritone saxophone

The baritone saxophone, often called "bari sax" , is one of the largest and lowest pitched members of the saxophone family. It was invented by Adolphe Sax. The baritone is distinguished from smaller sizes of saxophone by the extra loop near its mouthpiece...

 (01)

recorded : March 14, 1967 (03, 06, 07, 12, 13, 14, 16); March 17, 1967 (01, 04, 05, 08, 09, 10, 15); March 21, 1967 (02 and 11)

• 7936 South Rhodes – Blue Horizon, Epic BN26409 (1968) with Green, McVie, & Fleetwood

1. "You Got to Reap"
2. "Just the Blues"
3. "She's Real"
4. "Back Slack"
5. "Be Careful"
6. "Ten to One"
7. "Blues Is Here to Stay"
8. "You Are My Love"
9. "Third Degree"
10. "Thank You Baby"
11. "She's Gone"
12. "I Can't Stop Loving You"

• Praise to Helsinki (1970, Love Records
  Love Records
  Love Records was a record label from Finland, which released 384 LPs, 253 C-cassettes, 347 singles and 24 EPs. They were a pioneering label in Finnish rock music but also released jazz, political songs, ethnic music and so on....
  
  )

1. "Got To Know"
2. "Let It Be Me"
3. "Denmark
4. "I Cried"
5. "Nothing"
6. "Praise to Helsinki"
7. "When the Cuckoo"
8. "The Guff"
9. "Ding Dong"
10. "Eddie's Instrumental"

• Eddie Boyd: The Complete Blue Horizon Sessions – Columbia
  Columbia Records
  Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
  
  , Sony/BMG (2006)

1. "It’s So Miserable to Be Alone"
2. "Empty Arms"
3. "You Got to Reap"
4. "Just the Blues"
5. "She's Real"
6. "Back Slack"
7. "Be Careful"
8. "Ten to One"
9. "Blues Is Here to Stay"
10. "You Are My Love"
11. "Third Degree"
12. "Thank You Baby"
13. "She’s Gone"
14. "(I Can't Stop) Loving You"
15. "Big Boat"
16. "Sent for You Yesterday"
17. "Stroller" (Previously unreleased)
18. "No Place Like Home" (Previously unreleased)

• The Legacy of the Blues vol. 10 – Sonet

Singles

• "Five Long Years" on Blues Masters Vol. 2: Postwar Chicago – Rhino
• "24 Hours" on The Best of Chess Blues vol. 1 – Chess
  Chess Records
  Chess Records was an American record label based in Chicago, Illinois. It specialized in blues, R&B, soul, gospel music, early rock and roll, and occasional jazz releases....
  
  /MCA
  • live version on American Folk Blues Festival '65 – L&R/Bellaphon
• "Third Degree" on A Tribute to Willie Dixon: 1915–1992 – Chess

See also

• List of blues musicians
• List of people from Mississippi
• List of Chicago blues musicians
• List of electric blues musicians
• List of artists who reached number one on the Billboard R&B chart
• Chicago Blues Festival
  Chicago Blues Festival
  The Chicago Blues Festival is an annual event held in June that features three days of performances by top-tier blues musicians, both old favorites and the up-and-coming. It is hosted by the City of Chicago Mayor's Office of Special Events, and always occurs in early June...
  
  

External links

• Biography at Answers.com retrieved June 24, 2006
• Illustrated Eddie Boyd discography