Stoney Edwards born 24 December 1937

 Stoney Edwards (December 24, 1929 - April 5, 1997) was an American country singer. He was one of the first African-American singers to have a significant presence in country music. He is best known for the song, "She's My Rock," a Top 20 country hit that was later a hit song for Brenda Lee and then for George Jones. 

Born Frenchie (or Frenchy) Edwards in Seminole, Oklahoma, he was one of the youngest of seven children born to Rescue Edwards (known as "Bub"), a farmer from North Carolina and his wife, Ollie (known as "Red"). Stoney  would help the family out by hunting rabbits, trapping and harvesting potatoes on the family farm and began to help support his other five brothers and two sisters in the other business of brewing and selling corn liquor - bootlegging. The family's poverty was such that Stoney never advanced beyond the third grade in education and never did learn how to read or write, Even as a boy, he dreamed of playing on the Grand Ole Opry like his hero, Bob Wills. By the time he was 13, he had mastered several instruments and frequently jammed with his uncles. After leaving home as a teen, he married in 1954 and moved to San Francisco to settle down for the next 15 years. 

Settling out in the suburbs of Oakland, and working all manner of blue collar jobs, from a car wash attendant, to a construction worker, to a forklift operator. He married his first wife Rosemary in 1954, and hearing him sing, she was the one who convinced him that he should pursue music seriously. While still working day shifts, Stoney started singing in the bars and honky tonks of central and Northern California at night. His name got changed from “Frency” to “Stoney” when some drunk patron hollered out, “I’m stoned, and he probably is, too!” The nickname stuck, and so did Stoney with trying to keep a moonlighting career in music going until it all almost ended in 1968. 

A job-related accident would change his life forever. While working as a forklift operator in a steel refinery, Edwards got trapped in a sealed-up tank and suffered severe carbon dioxide poisoning. He was sidelined for the next two years in either a coma, a near-coma, or in a state bordering on insanity. As his condition improved, Edwards found work in odd jobs while at the same time devoting more of his energy to music. He sang in a honky tonk style reminiscent of Lefty Frizzell and Merle Haggard. In 1970, while performing at a benefit for his hero, Bob Wills in Oakland, California, Stoney was spotted by a local attorney, Ray Sweeney. In the wake of Charley Pride's breakthrough success, the attorney knew that most labels were looking for a black country singer. Just six months after recovering from his accident, Edwards signed a contract with Capitol Records in 1970. 

                              

In 1971 he released his first album, Stoney Edwards, A Country Singer, and made his single debut with "A Two Dollar Toy," which made the Top 70. Backed by a then little-known Wills tribute band called Asleep at the Wheel, Edwards entered the studio to record some songs. "A Two Dollar Toy," his first single at Capitol, was inspired by an incident when his plans to leave his family were aborted by the sound of a child's toy. Having refused to sue the steel company, Edwards would also not allow his wife to accept welfare. Unable to support his family due to his disability, Edwards planned to sneak out of the house so that there would be one less mouth to feed. However, as he was leaving, he stepped on a toy, waking his daughter, Janice. 

In 1972, Edwards released his second album, Down Home in the Country, and began to attract a following. "He's My Rock" came out in 1973 and stayed in the Top 20 for almost four months. Although his subsequent releases were generally minor hits, some have become regarded as country classics, such as his version of the Frazier & Owens song "Hank and Lefty Raised My Country Soul." It hit the Top 40 in 1973. 

While his chart success never reached the heights of Charley Pride, Edwards had a devoted following. One of his biggest hits, "She's My Rock," which peaked at No. 20 in 1973, was a No. 6 single for Brenda Lee in 1975 (as "He's My Rock") and a No. 2 hit for George Jones in 1984. On at least one occasion, Jones invited Edwards on stage to sing it.  In 1976, one of his last chart singles created the most controversy. Many stations would not play, "Blackbird (Hold Your Head High)" because it contained the line "just a couple of country niggers" despite the song's affirmative message. With JMI, he scored a minor hit with "IF I Had To Do It All Over Again" in 1978. Later on, he recorded for the Boot Label, in Canada and also had a couple of releases on the Music America label, including "No Way To Drown A Memory" and "One Bar At A Time" in 1980. 

Stoney's last years saw him battling several health problems which included the injuries he went through early in his life, diabetes  and open heart surgery, that caused him to slow down. But he kept coming back to the music. He did an album that was produced by Billy Joe Kirk in 1991, called "Just For Old Time's Sake" that included such backup musicians as Johnny Gimble, Floyd Domino, Leon Rausch, Ralph Mooney and Ray Benson. Finally it was stomach cancer that eventually took his life on April 5, 1997. 

(Edited from Wikipedia, AllMusic, Hillbilly Music & Saving Country Music)