Smithsonian Folkways remembers award-winning blues legend David "Honeyboy" Edwards (1915-2011), who passed away August 29. His music embodied the continuity from blues’ Delta roots to electric Chicago blues. Honeyboy's string-snapping guitar riffs and soulful voice harkened back to his friends and teachers Charley Patton, Big Joe Williams, Tommy Johnson, and Robert Johnson, who first forged the blues in Delta jooks and at country suppers during the Depression.

Listen to "Big Fat Mama" from his 2001 Smithsonian Folkways album Mississippi Delta Bluesman.