While it can't be denied the late Archie Edwards (September 4, 1918 - June 18, 1998) was an accomplished guitarist and singer of The Blues, this wasn't his greatest contribution to this traditional American music. He only released a few recordings and was not widely recognized as a recording artist. However, as a teacher, a mentor, and a "caretaker of tradition" [as is stated in the exhaustive liner notes], Edwards was very influential and important to the preservation of this music.
Archie Edwards was well known to all of the blues artists of his day. He learned his craft from those who had preceded him and, to those who came after; he passed on what he had learned. This old bluesman was a sort of Professor Emeritus of the blues who had a lasting influence on Blues artists spanning several generations.
Blues University was Edwards' barbershop, the Alpha Tonsorial Palace, which became a Washington D.C. landmark. For decades after the barbershop opened in 1959, between haircuts and shaves, a rotating gathering of players that spanned the generations picked away at the Blues, continuing a tradition of passing on the old songs from the old players to the young.
"A historian both of his own life and of his art form, Archie had a keen sense of his own place in history and a comfortable awareness of his role as a spokesperson for the Virginia country blues tradition he felt was undervalued and neglected." [ Barry Lee Pearson's liner notes]
In June of 1986, Archie Edwards was in Toronto to perform a concert and was persuaded by producer Serge Sloimovits to go into the studio. The result was enough songs on tape to produce two albums, but the songs were never released. When Fred Litwin founded NorthernBlues Music in 2000, he heard about this nearly forgotten musical treasure and approached Sloimovits, from whom he bought the master tapes. The result is this historic CD.
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