Eddie Boyd

Eddie Boyd was a true master of Piano Blues, backing up artists such as Sonny Boy Williamson and writing songs destined to become standards. His classic, "Five Long Years," has been covered by such celebrated bluesmen as B.B. King, Muddy Waters and John Lee Hooker. Boyd was a stellar lyricist who sang with a suave, sometimes jazzy delivery, and his piano playing was the perfect accompaniment to his singing. A sparse and rhythmic left hand allowed room for a jabbing and twinkling right which never played more than was needed. Boyd moved to Europe in the mid-1960s to escape the discrimination he experienced in the U.S., eventually settling in Finland where he lived happily performing his boogie piano and singing his classic blues to appreciative crowds.