Eddie Boyd: "Five Long Years"

I got a job in a steel mill, shucking steel like a slave. Five long years, every Friday I come straight back home with all my pay. Have you ever been mistreated? You know just what I'm talking about. I worked five long years for one woman, she had the nerve to put me out.

2014.wc.elmercuriodigital.es ▫ Edward Riley Boyd, más conocido como Eddie Boyd (25 noviembre 1914 -13 julio 1994) fue un pianista de blues estadounidense, nacido en la plantación de Stovall, de Frank Moore,  próxima a Clarksdale, Mississippi. (Su acta de nacimiento modificaría la fecha del 25 de noviembre por la del 13 de noviembre).


Pasó su adolescencia y su primera juventud en torno a los "Juke Joints" del Delta del Mississippi, pero a sus 22 años, se trasladó a la calle Beale de Memphis, Tennessee, donde comenzó a tocar  el piano y la guitarra con su grupo, The Dixie Rhythm Boys. Ya en 1941, Boyd se unió a la gran migración hacia el norte, a las fábricas de Chicago, Illinois, con la esperanza de grabar. En Chicago trabajó con Johnny Shines, Sonny Boy Williamson y Muddy Water  y compuso y grabó canciones de éxito como  "Five Long Years" (1952), "24 Hours" (1953), o "Third Degree" (coescrita con Willie Dixon, también en 1953).

Su mayor éxito, "Five Long Years" cuenta la historia de un obrero del metal que durante cinco años permanece trabajando duro en una fábrica y cada viernes entrega a su novia el cheque con lo ganado, pero que sin embargo ésta lo abandona. La canción fue posteriormente grabada por un buen número de artistas, desde Buddy Guy, John Lee Hooker o Muddy Waters hasta The Yardbirds.

Have you ever been mistreated? You know just what I'm talking about. Have you ever been mistreated? You know just what I'm talking about. I worked five long years for one woman, she had the nerve to put me out.
I got a job in a steel mill, shucking steel like a slave. Five long years, every Friday I come straight back home with all my pay. Have you ever been mistreated? You know just what I'm talking about. I worked five long years for one woman, she had the nerve to put me out.
I finally learned my lesson, should a long time ago. The next woman that I marry, she gonna work and bring me the dough. Have you ever been mistreated? You know just what I'm talking about.I worked five long years for one woman, she had the nerve,She had the nerve,She had the nerve, She had the nerve to put me out.

En 1965, Boyd viajó a Europa con la banda de Buddy Guy, como parte del Folk Blues Festival americano. Más tarde viajó y grabó con Fleetwood Mac y John Mayall y los Bluesbreakers.

Cansado de la discriminación racial que experimentó en los Estados Unidos, se mudó a Bélgica donde grabó con la banda holandesa  Cuby and the Blizzards. De allí se trasladó a Helsinki, Finlandia, en 1970 , donde grabó diez discos de blues  y contrajo matrimonio con Leila, en 1977.

Boyd murió en un hospital de Helsinki en 1994.

DISCOGRAFÍA
-Eddie Boyd and His Blues Band. Decca (1967)
Too Bad- Part One
Five Long Years
24 Hours
Third Degree
Dust My Broom
Unfair Lovers
Key To The Highway
Vacation From The Blues
Steakhouse Rock
Letter Missin' Blues
Ain't Doin' Too Bad
Blues Coat Man
The Train Is Coming
Save Her, Doctor
Rack 'Em  Back
Too Bad- Part Two
The Big Bell
Pinetop's Boogie Woogie
Night Time Is  The Right Time

-7936 South Rhodes – Blue Horizon, Epic (1968)
"You Got to Reap"
"Just the Blues"
"She's Real"
"Back Slack"
"Be Careful"
"Ten to One"
"Blues Is Here to Stay"
"You Are My Love"
"Third Degree"
"Thank You Baby"
"She's Gone"
"I Can't Stop Loving You"

-Praise to Helsinki (1970, Love Records)
"Got To Know"
"Let It Be Me"
"Denmark
"I Cried"
"Nothing"
"Praise to Helsinki"
"When the Cuckoo"
"The Guff"
"Ding Dong"
"Eddie's Instrumental"

-Eddie Boyd: Third Degree - Charly Blues Masterworks Vol. 42, 1993. 20 canciones grabadas para Chess entre 1951 y 1959, varias de ellas con Robert Lockwood a la guitarra y Willie Dixon al bajo.

- Eddie Boyd: The Complete Blue Horizon Sessions – Columbia, Sony/BMG (2006)
"It’s So Miserable to Be Alone"
"Empty Arms"
"You Got to Reap"
"Just the Blues"
"She's Real"
"Back Slack"
"Be Careful"
"Ten to One"
"Blues Is Here to Stay"
"You Are My Love"
"Third Degree"
"Thank You Baby"
"She’s Gone"
"(I Can't Stop) Loving You"
"Big Boat"
"Sent for You Yesterday"
"Stroller" (Previously unreleased)
"No Place Like Home" (Previously unreleased)

-The Legacy of the Blues vol. 10 – Sonet

http://mswritersandmusicians.com/musicians/eddie-boyd.html

Santelli:, Robert.  The Big Book of Blues New York: Penguin Book, 1993
Yanow, Scott. Eddie Boyd All Music. Guide.
The Guiness Encyclopedia of Popular Music  New York: Stockton Press, 1995.
Google Web Site Eddie Boyd.