Customer Reviews

Shake Em on Down

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
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The voice has seen better days, but the fingers and the spirit of this man are still on fire. Here is a man, a legend, who travelled and performed with Robert Johnson. I have seen him live twice, the most recent time at the Blue Shop in Burlington Iowa, early in 2000. When you here him play you can see the muddy roads of the delta. This Man is the living roots of the blues, as well as rock and roll. His story about the death of Robert Johnson will bring tears to your eyes.

Honeyboy Edwards, rest in peace, you leave behind a legacy of incredible blues. Shake 'em on Down is one of his best albums. This is a nearly perfect piece of Delta blues history in a strong clear recording. If I had a choice of only one Honeyboy album, this would be my pick. Yes there are more historical albums, live bar room recordings, but none were recorded this perfectly or with this much power.

The album was recorded Feb 20-21, 1999, Honeyboy was 84. His guitar playing is incredible, his voice shows its age just a bit. But then again, aren't Delta blues supposed to be a little smoky, a little rough around the edges? This is one of those recordings that sounds like a great live performance packed with all that energy and roughness.

My copy of this album is flawless, one of the best pressings I've seen in a very long time. It is 180 gram vinyl by APO, flat as a pancake, perfectly centered, and perfectly dressed edges. This is a simple presentation with a plain paper record sleeve. There is no MP3 download or CD included maybe a bit of a miss. There is a fairly long essay about the recording session and Honeyboy written by Art Tipaldi of Blues Revue magazine.

I was really lucky to see Honeyboy perform at Eric Clapton's Crossroads in 2010, he turned 95 that day. I wish his performance had been included in the video release of that festival. His performance was relegated to the Guitar Center stage, not the main stage. It isn't often I've been able to hear a true legend perform. Shake 'em on Down captures that same incredible spirit I heard that day.

Honeyboy, we miss you.