Big Boy Teddy Edwards

Chicagoan Big Boy Teddy Edwards was one of the rare early blues tiple player and certainly the only recorded blues singer with a tiple for this period (20's 30's) .
Credited on the Bluebird label:
" Singing with tiple, guitar , banjo and piano "
We can learn more on the early blues dedicated radio and site "Big road blues" :
Little is known about "Big Boy" Teddy Edwards, a Chicago singer played both guitar and tiple and cut around two-dozen sides between 1930 and 1936 as well as contributing vocals to sessions by the Hokum Boys and Papa Charlie Jackson. Big Bill Broonzy recalled working with him and Papa Charlie Jackson. Today we spin the solo "Alcohol Mama" and the band backed "W – P – A Blues", a terrific cover of the Big Bill number. 

A complete recordings compilation with a lot of tiple on Document Records .


A half dozen of recordings were made of Teddy alone with is tiple:
"Them Things" "Family Troubles" "I Ain't Gonna Give You None" "Lovin' Blues" "Wild Woman Blues" and "Alcohol Mama", all are epurated blues  with a straight tiple strumm that simply push in front the wonderfull singing part, no solo, breaks or effects.

 "Family Troubles" :


"Alcohol Mama" :


The others recordings with the combo, more in a "pop blues"style,  offers another kind of tiple playing, with sometimes intros, solos and elaborate strumms as maybe Big Bill Broonzy plays beautiful conterpoint guitar bass lines .

Details of the tiple sessions with possibly Big Bill Broonzy on guitar acc.
Notice the possibly tiple intro for "Who Did You Give My Barbecue To?" with an aware tremolo mandolin like technique :

"Who Did You Give My Barbecue To?" :


"I'm Gonna Tell My Mama On You" :


"Louise" :