Instrument: Vocals, Guitar, Performer
Representative Album: "Play It Cool Man, Play It Cool"
Biography
Although he charted no significant hits and died in obscurity, Tibby Edwards was one of those unsung performers who affected almost everyone who heard him. Born Edwin Thibodeaux in Garland, LA, on March 19, 1935, Edwards spent his childhood in the Louisiana and West Texas region, acquiring early the subtle Cajun influences that would inform his later music. He began singing and playing guitar as a teen and soon fell under the spell of honky tonk singers Hank Williams and Lefty Frizzell. Edwards eventually met Frizzell in 1949 and became a protégé, touring with Frizzell for a period of time before settling in Beaumont, TX. His big break came when he began appearing while still a teenager on KWKH's Louisiana Hayride, a gig he held for five years. While appearing on the Hayride, he met a young Elvis Presley and was soon a convert to the emerging rockabilly craze. Signed to Mercury Records in 1953, Edwards released at least two stone cold rockabilly classics, a version of Big Joe Turner's "Flip Flop and Fly" and a definitive rendition of an early George Jones song called "Play It Cool Man," neither of which generated much commercial attention but remain highly sought-after collector's items. During his Mercury run Edwards recorded at Owen Bradley's studio in Nashville, and even worked with Hank Williams' backup band, the Drifting Cowboys. When he was drafted into the Army in 1958, Edwards' career was effectively over. Mercury didn't renew his contract and while he released a handful of one-off singles for the 'D', Todd, and Jin labels through 1960, the writing was on the wall. He drifted out of the music business, eventually dying in Baton Rouge, LA, on September 21, 1999. Bear Family issued a LP with 16 of his Mercury sides in 1985, expanding it with additional Mercury cuts and his singles from 'D', Jin, and Todd in 2007 for a CD issue called Play It Cool Man, Play It Cool. ~ Steve Leggett, All Music Guide
