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Eddie Bowles was a blues musician based in Cedar Falls, Iowa, who was born in 1884 and lived until October 1984.
Biography
editEddie Bowles was a guitarist who spent most of his life in Cedar Falls, Iowa. He was born in Lafayette, Louisiana, and moved to New Orleans in 1910, where he lived as a musician working for two different bands.[1] After struggling to make money, he quit guitar playing for 30 years. He moved to Cedar Falls around 1914, worked in many different areas such as selling fruit, paving streets, and cooking in restaurants. Intending to move back to New Orleans to live with his wife, Sarah, some friends of Bowles' managed to buy his wife a train ticket to Iowa as a gift.[1] He then spent 22 years working for John Deere.
After the Cedar Falls community convinced Bowles to stay in the city, he set on repaying their kindness with friendship and loyalty. He made many friends in the community and began helping others. This continued when he picked up guitar again after retirement. Many people wanted lessons and assistance with their singing and guitar playing, which Eddie provided.
Eddie Bowles and his wife were residents of Cedar Falls since 1914. They were in a long and enduring marriage and famously celebrated their 67th anniversary on March 11th, 1978.[2] Eddie, shying away from music for a few decades, returned back to it in the 70s, playing in the Cedar Falls folk festival. He died in October 1984 and was the longest-living resident in Cedar Falls at the time.[3]
Music
editSimilar to artists like Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong, he learned to play the guitar by ear.[4] He played in the same circles as them. He played music, by picking all six strings. In the Cedar Falls area, he was known as Eddie "Pickin" Bowles. Eddie Bowles played his music informally. He inspired a generation of young guitarists during the Blues Revival of the 1960s and 1970s.
In 1976, Art Rosenbaum, a veteran blues scholar Interviewed Bowles and recorded seven of Eddie's songs selected from the hundreds of songs from memory. Rosenbaum compiled historical recordings of Eddie's songs into his Grammy-winning box set titled The Art of Field Recording Vol. 1[5] When Eddie Bowles was in his 80s, several public radio show episodes were devoted to his music. From these there are recordings of several of his songs, including: I Get the Blues When it Rains; Don't Fence Me In; St Louis; Fishing Blues; and I Wonder Who's Kissing Her Now. When Bowles was 98, he was featured on Cedar Falls Cable Television.[6]
The song Eddie Bowles Blues was first released in The Art of Field Recording which won a Grammy for best historical recording. In 2022, a compilation of Eddie Bowles's recordings were released in album form for the first time in The Best of Eddie Bowles. It was described as sublime, and easy-rolling by Living Blues magazine.[7]
Awards/Honors
editMelendy Spirit Award 2022[8]
Iowa Blues Hall of Fame 2025 inductee[9]
The Best of Eddie Bowles (2022)
editEddie Bowles Blues
Everything I Do
Untitled
I Sat up All Night
Crawdad Song
St Louis Blues (Instrumental)
St Louis Blues
You Stayed All Night
I Get the Blues When it Rains
Sorry, Dear
Fishing Blues
Don't Fence Me In
I Wonder Who's Kissing Her Now
Strolling Waltz
Make Me a Pallet on The Floor
Memories== References ==
- ^ a b Whitsett, David (24 February 2007). "Eddie Bowles: musician and goodwill ambassador". Cedar Falls Times. p. 1.
- ^ Schumacher, Mary Alice (11 March 1978). "Eddie and Sarah - together since 1911". Cedar Falls Record. p. 1.
- ^ Martin, Hal (6 October 1984). "Eddie 'Pickin' Bowles Is Dead, but He'll Be around for a Long Time". Cedar Falls Times. p. 1.
- ^ Haas, Stewart, ed. (19 December 1969). "Eddie Bowles plays all six strings...". Cedar Falls Record. p. 10.
- ^ "Art of Field Recording Volume I: 50 Years of Traditional American Music Documented by Art Rosenbaum". Dust-to-Digital. Retrieved 2024-12-12.
- ^ Alater, Joel. "Bowles Tells Life Story." Living Blues, 28 May 1976
- ^ Alater, Joel. "Bowles Tells Life Story." Living Blues, 28 May 1976
- ^ Parker, Melody (2022-07-22). "Blues guitarist, community volunteer are posthumous winners of Melendy Spirit Awards". Courier. Retrieved 2024-12-12.
- ^ "Iowa Blues Hall of Fame Announces 2025 Inductees." Central Iowa Blues Society, 3 Nov. 2024. Press Release