Edward Riley Boyd was born on Frank Moore’s Stovall Plantation, Mississippi in 1914. Teaching himself to play piano and guitar, he moved to Memphis in 1936 where he played on Beale Street with his band the Dixie Rhythm Boys. Hoping to record, Boyd left Memphis for Chicago in 1941 where he worked in the city’s blues joints with Johnny Shines, Sonny Boy Williamson and Muddy Waters, and played in the recording studio regularly.In 1952 Eddie achieved his greatest success with ‘Five Long Years’, ’24 Hours’ and ‘Third Degree’ all becoming hits within a twelve month span.Boyd journeyed to Europe during the “Blues Boom” of the 60′s, which is when this album was recorded – 1967 on the Decca record label – and decided to live permanently in Europe, first in Paris and later in Finland.Musicians playing on this album include John Mayall, Tony McPhee, Peter Green, John McVie (Peter and John later known for their involvement with Fleetwood Mac) and Aynsley Dunbar – one of rock’s most definitive drummers having played with John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers, the Jeff Beck Group, Frank Zappa, and Journey before joining Jefferson Starship for three albums. The album was produced by the legendary Mike Vernon.
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