HR1337

LRB095 21491 KXB 51089 r






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HOUSE RESOLUTION


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

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

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

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


 






HR1337
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LRB095 21491 KXB 51089 r




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of rock 'n' roll musicians; and

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

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

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

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