The World Don't Owe Me Nothing: The Life and Times of Delta Bluesman Honeyboy Edwards

by David "Honeyboy" Edwards

This vivid oral snapshot of an America that planted the blues is full of rhythmic grace. From the son of a sharecropper to an itinerant bluesman, Honeyboy’s stories of good friends Charlie Patton, Big Walter Horton, Little Walter Jacobs, and Robert Johnson are a godsend to blues fans. History buffs will marvel at his unique perspective and firsthand accounts of the 1927 Mississippi River flood, vagrancy laws, makeshift courts in the back of seed stores, plantation life, and the Depression.

Genres: Music, Biography, Nonfiction, Memoir

304 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1997

Reviews

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

In his 80s, Honeyboy Edwards remembered the details of his long and complicated life better than I remember what happened to me last week. This book should delight any fan of early blues.

[Moz Copestake · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a great autobiography of a less well known pioneer of the blues. Growing up in the twenties in a family of Mississipi Delta sharecroppers Honeyboy mixed and played with the legends; Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters, Howling Wolf, Little Walter and so many more. A book written from taped interviews so in his own words in a racially charged world with prohibition making illicit whisky an integral part of his life.
Jukejoints, hobos, women, street music, the depression, the earliest recordings - the war, the fifties & sixties blues boom , This book has it all, a few killings, the flood, Europe, the great migration. Chicago, New Orleans, Nashville, Texas.
The World don't owe him nothing 'cause he crammed so much into his life. If you were creating a fictional character, to lead the archetypal Blues life, it would be a helluva lot like Honeyboy but you would have to leave some of the heroes he played with out or it would become unbelievable.

[Chris Cowan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another book I simply loved. If you're interested in the itinerant life of and old-school pre-war blues man, it's facts, and myths and legends, then this is for you. If not, avoid as that's all this is. I inevitably couldn't get enough and missed Honeyboy as soon as I finished the book.

[Stephen · Rating 5 out of 5]

A personal story and a history of the blues, this book is a resounding success on both counts. Coming up out of the Mississippi Delta during the true birth of the blues as a modern art form, Honeyboy Edwards, by virtue of his musical talent, geography, constant movement and the particular time that all these coincided, was witness and participant to the creation of some of the greatest music ever performed and/or recorded. Just in the first hundred pages Honeyboy crosses paths and plays with such blues luminaries as Robert Petway, Memphis Minnie, Big Joe Williams (his first mentor as teen), Sleepy John Estes, Sonny Boy Williamson II (Rice Miller), Charlie Patton (who's regular gig he takes over when Charlie goes off to record), Howling Wolf, two of the best piano players of the time or ever Sunnyland Slim and Pinetop Perkins, several others and, of course, the legendary Robert Johnson. Told in an authentic voice, having basically been dictated by Honeyboy to Janis Martinson and Michael Robert Frank, even as many of the early voices of the blues pass away leaving Honeyboy one of the few survivors, the book keeps your interest. Indeed, the blues stars that Honeyboy worked with and stories he recounts in the second half thebook are just as fascinating as the earlier chapters. If you love the blues or even have a passing interest in its early years and development as a unique American musical genre, this book is an essential read.

[Natalie Kling · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a classic! If you would like to know the history of blues music and the stories behind the history this is a great place to start. These musicians had no formal training. They taught themselves how to play and passed down their knowledge to the next musician they found themselves playing with at the next party.

[Bruce Greene · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is an essential read for anyone claiming to love the blues as an original American art form. That's because Dave Honeyboy Edward's life is a paradigm for the development of the blues in the 20th century. Edwards grew up in the Mississippi Delta and crossed paths with a who's who of famous blues men and women. He played with many of them, from Robert Johnson to Muddy Waters, to Robert Jr. Lockwood and even the Memphis Jug Band.
To say Edwards was a ramblin' and gamblin' man is an understatement. Juke joints, Delta blues, whiskey and women were his everyday friends. He hoboed through the Great Depression era and beyond and in doing so, lived for a few months at a time in Arkansas, Texas, Tennesee, Louisiana, and ultimately settled in Chicago, Illinois.
The book is a collection of interviews done over a length of time and then carefully edited to avoid repetition, though Honeyboy is fond of telling and re-telling his stories and embellishing them from time to time. You can hardly fault him because he knew everyone and was there when some of the most famous blues people played on the street in the small country towns scattered all over the Delta.
The book's title reflects the satisfaction and contentment Edwards retains for this lifestyle and the fact that he could use his guitar and harmonica to make enough money to travel and survive without having to work in the cotton fields for less than a dollar a day. Honeyboy also bears witness to many of the cruelest and institutionalized kinds of racism that were everyday occurrences in his world
One of the quotes on the cover of the book speaks volumes. It features bluesman Taj Mahal saying, "I've been waiting for this book since I was a kid." The wait is over.

[Matt Vesci · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book came to me by way of it being required for one of my daughter's college classes. After graduation, she wanted to sell all the books and this is one I rescued. Unfortunately, Honeyboy's story doesn't have the feelings that the blues would normally inspire. It took me a long time to get through. I get that you were poor. I get that you hustled to make a living. I get that you didn't stick around anywhere for very long. I don't get why you needed to repeat these things over and over throughout the book. There had to be some interesting interactions between Honey and the other musician's he met along the way. Basically, I'm not sure why this book was necessary (and especially for a college course). Bottom line, it was ok, but I wouldn't really recommend it unless you happened to be a real fan of David Edwards' music.

[Heather Linebarger · Rating 4 out of 5]

After visiting the Delta Blues Museum in Clarksdale MS. I ordered this book because i was intrigued to learn more and this book did not disappoint. It was a very interesting adventure through a traveling blues mans life, who he ran around with, towns he visited, and how things were after the civil war and during the depression.

[Garry Marlton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really good read, you get thge impression he wants to be remembered as a wild man and its is justified. The end was quick I would have liked to have know more about his later years in more depth like his younger years. A gresat read though.

[Sarah Casey · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was very interesting hearing from the viewpoint of a blues artist from the Mississippi Delta during the early to late 20th century, especially since he wasn't incredibly well-known. He had deep relationships with many renowned blues artists of the time and has the most interesting stories to share. His life was one that is definitely enjoyable to read about, and I thank him for his pragmatism and jubilant attitude throughout his life, no matter what life threw at him. The world don't owe him nothing.

[Diann Blakely]

Musician Honeyboy Edwards’ memoir recounts many tales of life’s unfairness to both church-going sharecroppers and Devil-dealing bluesmen in Jim Crow’s South. Nonetheless, this Delta-born partner and friend to legends like Robert Johnson offers neither complaints nor apologies as he reaches his 80s. Edwards’ work echoes instead with the same steel-plucked authenticity that marks his guitar style—a potent mix of down-home and Chicago. “Everywhere the blues took me was home,” the book’s conclusion hymns. How meet and right that before before his death, the music took Edwards to Washington’s Kennedy Center, where he was honored by the Blues Foundation and Hall of Fame.












(originally published in the NASHVILLE SCENE / Village Voice Media Group; and please see also the luminous but appropriately stringent obituary by my former colleague at the SCENE, Bill Friskics-Warren: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/30/art...)

[Jamie Howison · Rating 3 out of 5]

The autobiography of blues great Honeyboy Edwards ("as told to" his manager and to a writer), this is a fascinating glimpse into a world that is now pretty much gone. Though blues archivists might disagree, it might have been edited more tightly, as there were an awful lot of accounts of all night drinking, all night gambling, all night carousing, to the point of it being just a bit too predictable. For all that, though, what you end up with is a glimpse into the life of a character who for all of his rough edges is really rather easy to like. I just wouldn't have wanted to be on the losing end of his various gambling strategies!

Favourite line: “Musicians and preachers are just alike: they ain’t no good! They always want to start some junk."

[Arif · Rating 3 out of 5]

great story, but just couldn't get into the writing style. I understand that the writers were trying to stay true to Honeyboy Edwards' voice, but I think the book could have used a lot more editing love than it got. Or maybe I just don't enjoy reading what was really the result of multiple face to face conversations. Regardless, I got about 1/4 of the way through and gave up and took the book back to the library. I may try to pick it up again sometime in the future.

[Jeff Verthein · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fairly fascinating portrait of life in the depression era south. Though lovers of the blues may appreciate this book most for its descriptions of the life of a bluesman, and its name dropping of Robert Johnson, etc, I found general value in reading about an a life that couldn't have been more different than my own. Unfortanately the subject is not chosen because he's terribly important or influential...he just happens to still be alaive to tell about it!

[Caroline · Rating 2 out of 5]

When I started this book, I knew nothing about the blues. After reading it, I have a new appreciation and love for the artists that gave of their souls to make the music that has had a profound impact on most genres. I couldn't believe the things this man lived through....I highly recommend this book.

[Peter · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the book that fans of blues music have always wanted to read. It's the lowdown on the life style of blues musicians in the 20's and 30's.

[Joe · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is a treat to hear the life story of this original told in is own voice rather than some academic.

[Captain Curmudgeon · Rating 3 out of 5]

No surprises here for a mississippi blues musician; still pretty interesting...

[Bob Peterson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Honeyboy Edwards provides a fascinating portrait of his life. His stories of the Depression-era Deep South paint a vivid picture of a bygone era in American history.

[Curtis Anthony Bozif · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good descriptions of what life was like for a black man growing up in the Mississippi delta.

[Rick Jackofsky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good times and hard times. Memoir of an original Delta bluesman.