“How Long Have I Been Waiting for You” was written by Jonathan Edwards, a singer-songwriter born in Aitkin, Minnesota, who grew up in Virginia and is best known for his 1971 single “Sunshine.” The singer asks how long he has been waiting for her and how long she has been on her way. He says waiting had become a game he was good at, sitting and watching had become his style, and that today he has found he can love again, and she will stay in his heart for a long while.
Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver recorded it for their first album on Sugar Hill, Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver (1979), as the second track on the first side. The Bluegrass Discography lists Lawson on mandolin, Jimmy Haley on guitar, Terry Baucom on banjo and Lou Reid on bass, with all four singing; Bobby Hicks on fiddle and Jerry Douglas on dobro are listed in brackets as additional players. Dixieland Grass recorded it at the Heritage studio in Galax, Virginia, for the 1981 Heritage LP Thinking About You.
Edwards himself sang it with the Seldom Scene on Blue Ridge (Sugar Hill, 1985), recorded at Bias Recording in Springfield, Virginia. He took lead and tenor with John Duffey, with Mike Auldridge and Phil Rosenthal on harmony, Ben Eldridge on banjo and Tom Gray on bass.
