Eddie Boyd

Edward Riley Boyd known as Eddie Boyd (November 25 1914 – July 13 1994) was a blues piano player, born on Stovall's Plantation near Clarksdale, Mississippi.

Life and career

Boyd moved to the Beale Street district of Memphis, Tennessee in 1936 where he played piano and guitar with his group, the Dixie Rhythm Boys. Boyd followed the great migration northward to the factories of Chicago, Illinois in 1941.

He wrote and recorded the hit songs "Five Long Years" (1952), "24 Hours" (1953), and the "Third Degree" (co-written by Willie Dixon, also 1953). Boyd toured Europe with Buddy Guy's band in 1965 as part of the American Folk Blues Festival. He later toured and recorded with Fleetwood Mac and John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers.

Tired of the racial discrimination he experienced in the United States, he first moved to Belgium where he recorded with the Dutch band, Cuby and the Blizzards. He settled in Finland in 1970, where he recorded ten blues records, the first being Praise to Helsinki (1970). He married his wife, Leila, in 1977. His last blues concert took place in 1984. After that he performed only gospel music.

Boyd died in 1994 in Helsinki, Finland, just a few months before Eric Clapton released the chart-topping blues album, From the Cradle that included Boyd's "Five Long Years" and "Third Degree".

Discography

Albums

• Eddie Boyd and His Blues Band featuring Peter Green – Decca (1967) with the Bluesbreakers; CD release on Gott Discs
• "Too Bad, Pt. 1"
• "Dust My Broom"
• "Unfair Lovers"
• "Key to the Highway"
• "Vacation from the Blues"
• "Steakhouse Rock"
• "Letter Missin' Blues"
• "Ain't Doin' Too Bad"
• "Blue Coat Man"
• "Train Is Coming"
• "Save Her Doctor"
• "Rack 'Em Back"
• "Too Bad, Pt. 2"
• "Big Bell"
• "Pinetop's Boogie Woogie"
• "Night Time Is the Right Time"
• 7936 South Rhodes – Blue Horizon, Epic BN26409 (1968) with Green, McVie, & Fleetwood
• "You Got to Reap"
• "Just the Blues"
• "She's Real"
• "Back Slack"
• "Be Careful"
• "Ten to One"
• "Blues Is Here to Stay"
• "You Are My Love"
• "Third Degree"
• "Thank You Baby"
• "She's Gone"
• "I Can't Stop Loving You"
• Praise to Helsinki (1970, Love Records)
• "Got To Know"
• "Let It Be Me"
• "Denmark
• "I Cried"
• "Nothing"
• "Praise to Helsinki"
• "When the Cuckoo"
• "The Guff"
• "Ding Dong"
• "Eddie's Instrumental"
• Eddie Boyd: The Complete Blue Horizon Sessions – Columbia, Sony/BMG (2006)
• "It’s So Miserable To Be Alone"
• "Empty Arms"
• "You Got To Reap"
• "Just The Blues"
• "She's Real"
• "Back Slack"
• "Be Careful"
• "Ten To One"
• "Blues Is Here To Stay"
• "You Are My Love"
• "Third Degree"
• "Thank You Baby"
• "She’S Gone"
• "(I Can't Stop) Loving You"
• "Big Boat"
• "Sent For You Yesterday"
• "Stroller" (Previously unreleased)
• "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/MCA
• live version on American Folk Blues Festival '65 – L&R/Bellaphon
• "Third Degree" on A Tribute to Willie Dixon: 1915–1992 – Chess

References

• Charles Shaar Murray, Blues on CD: The Essential Guide (1993) ISBN 1-85626-084-4

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

External links

• Tribute page retrieved June 24 2006
• Biography at Answers.com retrieved June 24 2006