| Clarence Edwards | |
| Birth Date: | March 25, 1933 |
| Birth Place: | Lindsay, Louisiana, United States |
| Death Place: | Baton Rouge, Louisiana, United States |
| Instrument: | Guitar, vocals |
| Genre: | Swamp blues, Louisiana blues, electric blues |
| Occupation: | Guitarist, singer, songwriter |
| Years Active: | Mid 1950s–1993 |
| Label: | Various |
Clarence Edwards (March 25, 1933 – May 20, 1993) was an American blues musician from Louisiana, best known for his recordings of "Lonesome Bedroom Blues" and "I Want Somebody".[1] It was not until the late 1980s that Edwards was able to establish his reputation as a blues performer, assisted by his producer and manager Stephen Coleridge.[2]
Edwards was born in Lindsay, Louisiana, one of fourteen children, and relocated with his family at the age of twelve to Baton Rouge. He joined the Boogie Beats, a local blues band, along with one of his brothers, Cornelius, in the mid-1950s, and later played in the Bluebird Kings. Edwards was shot in the leg in a fracas outside a club in Alsen.
Initially, Edwards found full-time employment on a farm, but he later worked for thirty years at Thomas Scrap. Dr. Harry Oster recorded Edwards between 1959 and 1961, with Cornelius and the violin player Butch Cage.[2] By 1970, when he next recorded, for the producer Mike Vernon, Edwards had moved from an older styling to a more contemporary approach.[3] He was not widely known until the late 1980s, when he performed on the national blues festival circuit.
Swampin (1991) and Louisiana Swamp Blues, Vol. 4 (1993) showcased the range of Edwards's style, which gained appreciation among blues aficionados.
Edwards died in May 1993, in Louisiana, at the age of 60.
His earlier work was posthumously remastered and issued on the CD Swamps the Word.[4] The compilation album I Looked Down That Railroad was released in 2003.[3]