EDDIE BOYD
''THE SONET BLUES STORY''
AUGUST 1 2006
45:45
1. Lovesick Soul/3:56
2. I'm A Fool/3:04
3. Kindness For Weakness/4:07
4. Tell The Truth/3:42
5. The Cannonball/3:36
6. Black Brown And White/4:32
7. It's A Mellow Day/3:30
8. Do Yourself A Favor/4:14
9. Dedication To My Baby/2:32
10. Zip Code/5:03
11. Do Yourself A Favor - Alternate Take/4:21
12. Dedication To My Baby - Alternate Take/2:41
Rolf Alm /Bass
Eddie Boyd /Piano, Vocals
Christer Ecklund /Sax (Tenor)
Peps Persson /Guitar, Harmonica, Vocals (Background)
Stockholm Slim /Vocals (Background)
Ed Thigpen /Drums
REVIEW
by Steve Leggett
Like several of the black jazz and blues players of his generation, pianist Eddie Boyd, tired of the racism in America and the general treatment afforded musicians, moved permanently to Europe in the mid-'60s, where labels like Sweden's Sonet Records were more than happy to record him. The session presented here took place in Stockholm in 1974, and features Boyd on piano and vocals performing original blues numbers backed by young Swedish players (and one American, Ed Thigpen, on drums), and while things don't have the powerful edge of a classic Chicago Chess Records session, it's close, and there is a charmingly loose and fluid feel working here, one that is perfect for the kind of easy, almost elegant blues that was Boyd's stock in trade. Things get off to a great start with the opener, "Lovesick Soul," and pretty much stay at the level through the set, with the impressive "Tell the Truth," the bubbling "Dedicated to My Baby" (an alternate version is added as a bonus track), and the refreshingly arranged "Zip Code" (which allows Boyd to cut loose on piano a little bit) being among the clear highlights. At his best, Boyd delivered a kind of light, airy, and transcendent version of the blues, one that featured as much hope as misery, and this set is a perfect example of his unique approach.
BIOGRAPHY
by Bill Dahl
Few postwar blues standards have retained the universal appeal of Eddie Boyd's "Five Long Years." Cut in 1951, Boyd's masterpiece has attracted faithful covers by B.B. King, Muddy Waters, Jimmy Reed, Buddy Guy, and too many other bluesmen to recount here. But Boyd's discography is filled with evocative compositions, often full of after-hours ambience.
Like so many Chicago blues stalwarts, Boyd hailed from the fertile Mississippi Delta. The segregationist policies that had a stranglehold on much of the South didn't appeal to the youngster, so he migrated up to Memphis (where he began to play the piano, influenced by Roosevelt Sykes and Leroy Carr). In 1941, Boyd settled in Chicago, falling in with the "Bluebird beat" crowd that recorded for producer Lester Melrose. He backed harp legend Sonny Boy Williamson on his 1945 classic "Elevator Woman," also accompanying Bluebird stars Jazz Gillum, Tampa Red, and Jazz Gillum on wax. Melrose produced Boyd's own 1947 recording debut for RCA as well; the pianist stayed with Victor through 1949.
Boyd reportedly paid for the date that produced "Five Long Years" himself, peddling the track to JOB Records (where the stolid blues topped the R&B charts during 1952). Powerful DJ Al Benson signed Boyd to a contract with his Parrot imprint and promptly sold the pact to Chess, inaugurating a stormy few years with Chicago's top blues outlet. There he waxed "24 Hours" and "Third Degree," both huge R&B hits in 1953, and a host of other Chicago blues gems. But Boyd and Leonard Chess were often at loggerheads, so it was on to Narvel "Cadillac Baby" Eatmon's Bea & Baby imprint in 1959 for eight solid sides with Robert Jr. Lockwood on guitar, and a slew of lesser labels after that. A serious auto wreck in 1957 had stalled his career for a spell.
Sick of the discrimination he perceived toward African Americans in this country, Boyd became enamored of Europe during his tour with the 1965 American Folk Blues Festival, so he moved to Belgium. The recording opportunities long denied him in his native land were plentiful overseas; Boyd cut prolifically during the late '60s, including two LPs for producer Mike Vernon. In the early '70s, he settled in Helsinki, Finland, where he played often and lived comfortably until his death.
''THE SONET BLUES STORY''
AUGUST 1 2006
45:45
1. Lovesick Soul/3:56
2. I'm A Fool/3:04
3. Kindness For Weakness/4:07
4. Tell The Truth/3:42
5. The Cannonball/3:36
6. Black Brown And White/4:32
7. It's A Mellow Day/3:30
8. Do Yourself A Favor/4:14
9. Dedication To My Baby/2:32
10. Zip Code/5:03
11. Do Yourself A Favor - Alternate Take/4:21
12. Dedication To My Baby - Alternate Take/2:41
Rolf Alm /Bass
Eddie Boyd /Piano, Vocals
Christer Ecklund /Sax (Tenor)
Peps Persson /Guitar, Harmonica, Vocals (Background)
Stockholm Slim /Vocals (Background)
Ed Thigpen /Drums
REVIEW
by Steve Leggett
Like several of the black jazz and blues players of his generation, pianist Eddie Boyd, tired of the racism in America and the general treatment afforded musicians, moved permanently to Europe in the mid-'60s, where labels like Sweden's Sonet Records were more than happy to record him. The session presented here took place in Stockholm in 1974, and features Boyd on piano and vocals performing original blues numbers backed by young Swedish players (and one American, Ed Thigpen, on drums), and while things don't have the powerful edge of a classic Chicago Chess Records session, it's close, and there is a charmingly loose and fluid feel working here, one that is perfect for the kind of easy, almost elegant blues that was Boyd's stock in trade. Things get off to a great start with the opener, "Lovesick Soul," and pretty much stay at the level through the set, with the impressive "Tell the Truth," the bubbling "Dedicated to My Baby" (an alternate version is added as a bonus track), and the refreshingly arranged "Zip Code" (which allows Boyd to cut loose on piano a little bit) being among the clear highlights. At his best, Boyd delivered a kind of light, airy, and transcendent version of the blues, one that featured as much hope as misery, and this set is a perfect example of his unique approach.
BIOGRAPHY
by Bill Dahl
Few postwar blues standards have retained the universal appeal of Eddie Boyd's "Five Long Years." Cut in 1951, Boyd's masterpiece has attracted faithful covers by B.B. King, Muddy Waters, Jimmy Reed, Buddy Guy, and too many other bluesmen to recount here. But Boyd's discography is filled with evocative compositions, often full of after-hours ambience.
Like so many Chicago blues stalwarts, Boyd hailed from the fertile Mississippi Delta. The segregationist policies that had a stranglehold on much of the South didn't appeal to the youngster, so he migrated up to Memphis (where he began to play the piano, influenced by Roosevelt Sykes and Leroy Carr). In 1941, Boyd settled in Chicago, falling in with the "Bluebird beat" crowd that recorded for producer Lester Melrose. He backed harp legend Sonny Boy Williamson on his 1945 classic "Elevator Woman," also accompanying Bluebird stars Jazz Gillum, Tampa Red, and Jazz Gillum on wax. Melrose produced Boyd's own 1947 recording debut for RCA as well; the pianist stayed with Victor through 1949.
Boyd reportedly paid for the date that produced "Five Long Years" himself, peddling the track to JOB Records (where the stolid blues topped the R&B charts during 1952). Powerful DJ Al Benson signed Boyd to a contract with his Parrot imprint and promptly sold the pact to Chess, inaugurating a stormy few years with Chicago's top blues outlet. There he waxed "24 Hours" and "Third Degree," both huge R&B hits in 1953, and a host of other Chicago blues gems. But Boyd and Leonard Chess were often at loggerheads, so it was on to Narvel "Cadillac Baby" Eatmon's Bea & Baby imprint in 1959 for eight solid sides with Robert Jr. Lockwood on guitar, and a slew of lesser labels after that. A serious auto wreck in 1957 had stalled his career for a spell.
Sick of the discrimination he perceived toward African Americans in this country, Boyd became enamored of Europe during his tour with the 1965 American Folk Blues Festival, so he moved to Belgium. The recording opportunities long denied him in his native land were plentiful overseas; Boyd cut prolifically during the late '60s, including two LPs for producer Mike Vernon. In the early '70s, he settled in Helsinki, Finland, where he played often and lived comfortably until his death.
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