Jimmy Reed
{{Short description|American blues musician (1925–1976)}}
{{distinguish|Jim Reed (coach)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2022}}
{{use American English|date=March 2024}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name = Jimmy Reed
| image = JimmyReed.jpg
| caption =
| image_size =
| background = solo_singer
| birth_name = Mathis James Reed
| alias =
| birth_date = {{birth date|1925|9|6}}
| birth_place = Dunleith, Mississippi, U.S.
| death_date = {{death date and age|1976|8|29|1925|9|6}}
| death_place = Oakland, California, U.S.
| origin =
| instrument = {{hlist|Guitar|vocals|harmonica}}
| genre = Blues
| occupation = {{hlist|Musician|songwriter }}
| years_active = 1940s–1976
| label = Vee-Jay
}}
Mathis James Reed (September 6, 1925 – August 29, 1976){{cite book|title=The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music|editor=Colin Larkin|publisher=Guinness Publishing|date=1992|edition=First|isbn=0-85112-939-0|pages=2062/3}} was an American blues musician and songwriter. His particular style of electric blues was popular with a wide variety of audiences. Reed's songs such as "Honest I Do" (1957), "Baby What You Want Me to Do" (1960), "Big Boss Man" (1961), and "Bright Lights, Big City" (1961) appeared on both Billboard magazine's R&B and Hot 100 singles charts.
{{cite book
| last = Whitburn
| first = Joel
| author-link = Joel Whitburn
| title = Top R&B Singles 1942–1988
| year = 1988
| location = Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin
| publisher = Record Research
| isbn = 0-89820-068-7
| pages = [https://archive.org/details/joelwhitburnstop00whit/page/345 345–346]
| url = https://archive.org/details/joelwhitburnstop00whit/page/345
}}
Reed influenced many other musicians, including Elvis Presley, Hank Williams Jr., Bob Dylan, Neil Young, and the Rolling Stones, who recorded his songs. Music critic Cub Koda describes him as "perhaps the most influential bluesman of all," due to his easily accessible style.
Biography
Reed was born in Dunleith, Mississippi.{{Cite web|url=https://www.mswritersandmusicians.com/mississippi-musicians/james-jimmy-mathis-reed|title=Biography of Jimmy Reed, Mississippi Rhythm and Blues Musician|website=Mswritersandmusicians.com|access-date=October 6, 2021}} He learned the harmonica and guitar from his friend Eddie Taylor. After several years of busking and performing there, he moved to Chicago, Illinois, in 1943. He was then drafted into the U.S. Navy and served in World War II. He was discharged in 1945 and returned briefly to Mississippi, marrying his girlfriend, Mary (henceforth known as Mama Reed). Mama Reed would be an uncredited background singer on many of his recordings, notably the hits "Baby What You Want Me to Do", "Big Boss Man" and "Bright Lights, Big City".{{Pop Chronicles|4|3}} He then moved to Gary, Indiana, to work at an Armour meat-packing plant.
{{quote box|quote="At his best—on Vee-Jay in the '50s—Reed sang with the languid self-assurance of a man who never ran for the bus because he wanted to spend the fare on a glass of wine, and the unindustrious shuffle rhythms of the Vee-Jay band ambled right along behind."|source=–Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies (1981){{cite book|last=Christgau|first=Robert|author-link=Robert Christgau|year=1981|title=Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies|publisher=Ticknor & Fields|isbn=089919026X|chapter=Consumer Guide '70s: R|chapter-url=https://www.robertchristgau.com/get_chap.php?k=R&bk=70|access-date=March 10, 2019|via=Robertchristgau.com}}|width=24%|align=right|style=padding:8px;}}
By the 1950s, Reed had established himself as a popular musician. He joined the Gary Kings with John Brim and played on the street with Willie Joe Duncan. Reed failed to gain a recording contract with Chess Records, but signed with Vee-Jay Records through Brim's drummer, Albert King. At Vee-Jay, Reed began playing again with Eddie Taylor and soon released "You Don't Have to Go", his first hit record. It was followed by a long string of hit songs.
Reed maintained his reputation despite his rampant alcoholism; his wife sometimes had to help him remember the lyrics to his songs while recording. In 1957, Reed developed epilepsy, though the condition was not correctly diagnosed for a long time, as Reed and doctors assumed it was delirium tremens.{{cite web|author=Koda, Cub|author-link=Cub Koda|url=http://www.allmusic.com/artist/jimmy-reed-mn0000076881/biography |title=Jimmy Reed: Biography |website=AllMusic |access-date=August 31, 2015}} When Vee-Jay Records closed, his manager signed a contract with the fledgling ABC-Bluesway label, but Reed never produced another hit. In 1968, he toured Europe with the American Folk Blues Festival.{{cite book
| first= Tony
| last= Russell
| year= 1997
| title= The Blues: From Robert Johnson to Robert Cray
| publisher= Carlton Books
| location= Dubai
| pages= 76–77
| isbn= 1-85868-255-X}}
File:Grave of Mathis James Reed (1925–1976) at Lincoln Cemetery, Blue Island, IL.jpg
Reed died of respiratory failure in 1976, in Oakland, California,{{cite web|author=Doc Rock |url=http://thedeadrockstarsclub.com/1970.html |title=The 1970s |publisher=The Dead Rock Stars Club |access-date=2015-08-31}} eight days short of his 51st birthday. He is interred in the Lincoln Cemetery, in Blue Island, Illinois. Reed was posthumously inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 1980,{{Cite web|url=https://blues.org/blues_hof_inductee/jimmy-reed/|title=Jimmy Reed|website=Blues.org|access-date=March 10, 2021}} and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1991.{{Cite web|url=https://www.rockhall.com/inductees/jimmy-reed|title=Jimmy Reed | Rock & Roll Hall of Fame|website=Rockhall.com|access-date=March 10, 2021}}
Influence
The Rolling Stones have cited Reed as a major influence on their sound, and their early set lists included Reed's songs "Ain't That Lovin' You Baby", "The Sun Is Shining" (played by the Stones at the 1969 Altamont concert), "Bright Lights, Big City", and "Shame, Shame, Shame". "Little by Little", the B-side of their February 1964 UK hit single "Not Fade Away" was a pastiche of "Shame, Shame, Shame". "Honest I Do" was included on their first album, The Rolling Stones (subtitled England's Newest Hit Makers in America), in 1964 (the U.S. edition also included "Little by Little").{{cite web|first=Richie|last=Unterberger|author-link=Richie Unterberger |url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/the-rolling-stones-englands-newest-hit-makers-mw0000195499 |title='The Rolling Stones (England's Newest Hit Makers){{snd}}Review|website=AllMusic |access-date=January 10, 2016}} For their 2016 release, Blue & Lonesome, they recorded a version of Reed's "Little Rain".{{cite magazine|last1=Fricke|first1=David|title=Review: The Rolling Stones Reinvigorate the Blues on Blue and Lonesome|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/review-the-rolling-stones-blue-and-lonesome-w453332|access-date=December 13, 2016|magazine=Rolling Stone|date=December 13, 2016}}
The Yardbirds recorded "I Ain't Got You" for the B-side of their second single "Good Morning Little Schoolgirl" with guitarist Eric Clapton."I Ain't Got You" was written by Clarence Carter and first recorded by Billy Boy Arnold With Jeff Beck, they recorded the Reed-inspired instrumental "Like Jimmy Reed Again", which was released on a reissue of their album Having a Rave Up.{{cite web|first=Bruce |last=Eder |url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/having-a-rave-up-mw0000334448 |title=The Yardbirds: Having a Rave Up{{snd}}Review |website=AllMusic |access-date=January 10, 2016}} The Animals considered Reed one of their main sources of inspiration and recorded versions of "I Ain't Got You" and "Bright Lights, Big City".{{cite web| url = https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-animals-mn0000751019/songs/all/3| title = The Animals: Songs| website = AllMusic| access-date = February 6, 2018| archive-date = February 7, 2018| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180207005346/https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-animals-mn0000751019/songs/all/3| url-status = dead}} Van Morrison's group Them covered "Bright Lights, Big City" and "Baby, What You Want Me to Do", both of which are on the album The Story of Them Featuring Van Morrison.{{cite web|first=Jack |last=Rabid |url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/the-story-of-them-featuring-van-morrison-mw0000031190 |title=The Story of Them Featuring Van Morrison{{snd}}Review|website=AllMusic |access-date=January 10, 2016}} "Big Boss Man", sung by Ron "Pigpen" McKernan, was regularly performed by the Grateful Dead in the 1960s and early 1970s and appears on their live album Grateful Dead{{cite web|last=Planer|first=Lindsay|url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/grateful-dead-skull-roses-mw0000190196 |title=Grateful Dead (Skull & Roses){{snd}}Review |website=AllMusic |access-date=January 10, 2016}}
Elvis Presley recorded several of Reed's songs, having a hit with "Big Boss Man" in 1967 and recording several performances of "Baby, What You Want Me to Do" for his 1968 TV program. (Presley's 1964 hit "Ain't That Lovin' You Baby" is a different song from that recorded by Reed.) "Baby, What You Want Me to Do" was also covered by Wishbone Ash on their 1973 album Live Dates.{{cite web|last= Eder|first=Bruce|url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/live-dates-mw0000320711 |title=Wishbone Ash: Live Dates{{snd}}Review |website=AllMusic |access-date=January 10, 2016}} Johnny and Edgar Winter performed it live in 1975 and included it on their album Together.{{cite web|first=Michael B. |last=Smith |url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/together-live-mw0000312590 |title=Johnny & Edgar Winter: Together – Live{{snd}}Review |website=AllMusic |access-date=January 10, 2016}} Omar Kent Dykes and Jimmie Vaughan released the album On the Jimmy Reed Highway as a tribute to Reed.{{cite web|last=Gilstrap |first=Andrew |url=http://www.popmatters.com/pm/music/reviews/50066/omar-kent-dykes-and-jimmie-vaughan-on-the-jimmy-reed-highway/ |title=Album review |website=Popmatters.com |access-date=November 13, 2011}} Bill Cosby covered four of Reed's songs, "Bright Lights, Big City", "Big Boss Man", "Hush Hush" and "Aw Shucks, Hush Your Mouth", for his 1967 album, Silver Throat: Bill Cosby Sings.{{cite web|last=Ankeny |first= Jason |url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/silver-throat-bill-cosby-sings-mw0000778034 |title=Silver Throat: Bill Cosby Sings{{snd}}Review |website=AllMusic |access-date=January 10, 2016}}
The Steve Miller Band covered five of Reed's songs: "You're So Fine" (originally recorded by Reed as "Honey, Where You Going?"), on the 1968 album Sailor,{{cite web |last=Hanson |first=Amy |url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/sailor-mw0000689837 |title=Steve Miller Band: Sailor{{snd}}Review |website=AllMusic |access-date=January 10, 2016}} and "I Wanna Be Loved (But by Only You)", "Big Boss Man", "Caress Me Baby" and "Ain't That Lovin' You Baby", on the 1986 album Living in the 20th Century.{{cite web|url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/living-in-the-20th-century-mw0000190921 |title=Steve Miller Band: Living in the 20th Century {{snd}}Reviews |website=AllMusic |access-date=January 10, 2016}}
Bob Dylan paid tribute to Reed with the song "Goodbye Jimmy Reed" on his 2020 album Rough and Rowdy Ways.{{cite web|url=https://www.bobdylan.com/songs/goodbye-jimmy-reed/ |title=Goodbye Jimmy Reed |website=www.bobdylan.com|access-date=June 3, 2023}}
Discography
=Singles=
| class="wikitable" | ||||
| Year | Single (A-side, B-side) Both sides from same album except where indicated | U.S. R&B | U.S. || Album | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1953 | "High and Lonesome" b/w "Roll and Rhumba" (from I'm Jimmy Reed) | style="text-align:center;"|— | style="text-align:center;"|— | align="left"|The Legend – The Man |
| 1954 | "Jimmie's Boogie" b/w "I Found My Baby" | style="text-align:center;"|— | style="text-align:center;"|— | align="left"|Non-album tracks |
| rowspan="3"|1955 | "You Don't Have to Go" b/w "Boogie in the Dark" | style="text-align:center;"|5 | style="text-align:center;"|— | align="left"|I'm Jimmy Reed |
| "I'm Gonna Ruin You" b/w "Pretty Thing" | style="text-align:center;"|— | style="text-align:center;"|— | align="left" rowspan="2"|Non-album tracks | |
| "I Don't Go for That" b/w "She Don't Want Me No More" | style="text-align:center;"|12 | style="text-align:center;"|— | ||
| rowspan="4"|1956 | "Ain't That Lovin' You Baby" b/w "Baby, Don't Say That No More" (from History of Jimmy Reed) | style="text-align:center;"|3 | style="text-align:center;"|— | align="left" rowspan="2"|I'm Jimmy Reed |
| "Can't Stand to See You Go" b/w "Rockin' with Reed" (from Rockin' with Reed) | style="text-align:center;"|10 | style="text-align:center;"|— | ||
| "I Love You Baby" b/w "My First Plea" (from I'm Jimmy Reed) | style="text-align:center;"|13 | style="text-align:center;"|— | align="left"|Non-album track | |
| "You've Got Me Dizzy" b/w "Honey Don't Let Me Go" (non-album track) | style="text-align:center;"|3 | style="text-align:center;"|— | align="left" rowspan="2"|I'm Jimmy Reed | |
| rowspan="4"|1957 | "Little Rain" / | style="text-align:center;"|7 | style="text-align:center;"|— | |
| "Honey, Where You Going?" | style="text-align:center;"|10 | style="text-align:center;"|— | align="left"|Non-album track | |
| "The Sun Is Shining" b/w "Baby, What's on Your Mind" (from Rockin' with Reed) | style="text-align:center;"|12 | style="text-align:center;"|65 | align="left"|The Best of Jimmy Reed | |
| "Honest I Do" b/w "Signals of Love" (non-album track) | style="text-align:center;"|4 | style="text-align:center;"|32 | align="left" rowspan="3"|I'm Jimmy Reed | |
| rowspan="4"|1958 | "You're Something Else" b/w "A String to Your Heart" (from Rockin' with Reed) | style="text-align:center;"|— | style="text-align:center;"|— | |
| "You Got Me Crying" b/w "Go On to School" | style="text-align:center;"|— | style="text-align:center;"|— | ||
| "I'm Gonna Get My Baby" b/w "Odds and Ends" (from Jimmy Reed with More of the Best) | style="text-align:center;"|5 | style="text-align:center;"|— | align="left"|Non-album track | |
| "Down in Virginia" b/w "I Know It's a Sin" | style="text-align:center;"|— | style="text-align:center;"|93 | align="left"|Rockin' with Reed | |
| rowspan="3"|1959 | "I Told You Baby" b/w "Ends and Odds" (from Rockin' with Reed) | style="text-align:center;"|19 | style="text-align:center;"|— | align="left"|Blues Is My Business |
| "Take Out Some Insurance" b/w "You Know I Love You" (from History of Jimmy Reed) | style="text-align:center;"|— | style="text-align:center;"|— | align="left" rowspan="2"|Rockin' with Reed | |
| "Going to New York" b/w "I Wanna Be Loved" | style="text-align:center;"|— | style="text-align:center;"|— | ||
| rowspan="3"|1960 | "Baby What You Want Me to Do" b/w "Caress Me Baby" (from Rockin' with Reed) | style="text-align:center;"|10 | style="text-align:center;"|37 | align="left" rowspan="3"|Found Love |
| "Found Love" b/w "Where Can You Be" | style="text-align:center;"|16 | style="text-align:center;"|88 | ||
| "Hush-Hush" b/w "Going by the River", Part 2 | style="text-align:center;"|18 | style="text-align:center;"|75 | ||
| rowspan="3"|1961 | "Close Together" b/w "Laughing At the Blues" | style="text-align:center;"|12 | style="text-align:center;"|68 | align="left"|Now Appearing |
| "Big Boss Man" b/w "I'm a Love You" (from Jimmy Reed at Carnegie Hall) | style="text-align:center;"|13 | style="text-align:center;"|78 | align="left"|Found Love | |
| "Bright Lights, Big City" b/w "I'm Mr. Luck" | style="text-align:center;"|3 | style="text-align:center;"|58 | align="left" rowspan="2"|Jimmy Reed at Carnegie Hall | |
| rowspan="4"|1962 | "Aw Shucks, Hush Your Mouth" b/w "Baby What's Wrong" | style="text-align:center;"|— | style="text-align:center;"|93 | |
| "Good Lover" b/w "Tell Me You Love Me" (from Jimmy Reed At Carnegie Hall) | style="text-align:center;"|— | style="text-align:center;"|77 | align="left" rowspan="3"|Just Jimmy Reed | |
| "Too Much" b/w "I'll Change My Style" (non-album track) | style="text-align:center;"|— | style="text-align:center;"|— | ||
| "Oh John" b/w "Let's Get Together" | style="text-align:center;"|— | style="text-align:center;"|— | ||
| rowspan="3"|1963 | "Shame, Shame, Shame" b/w "There'll Be a Day" | style="text-align:center;"|— | style="text-align:center;"|52 | align="left" rowspan="2"|T'aint No Big Thing but He Is |
| "Mary Mary" b/w "I'm Gonna Help You" | style="text-align:center;"|— | style="text-align:center;"|— | ||
| "Outskirts of Town" b/w "St. Louis Blues" | style="text-align:center;"|— | style="text-align:center;"|— | align="left"|Jimmy Reed Sings the Best of the Blues | |
| rowspan="4"|1964 | "Help Yourself" b/w "Heading for a Fall" (non-album track) | style="text-align:center;"|— | style="text-align:center;"|— | align="left"|Jimmy Reed at Soul City |
| "Down in Mississippi" b/w "Oh John" (from Just Jimmy Reed) | style="text-align:center;"|— | style="text-align:center;"|— | align="left"|Jimmy Reed with More of the Best | |
| "I'm Going Upside Your Head" b/w "The Devil's Shoestring", Part 2 | style="text-align:center;"|— | style="text-align:center;"|— | align="left" rowspan="3"|Jimmy Reed at Soul City | |
| "I Wanna Be Loved" b/w "A New Leaf" | style="text-align:center;"|— | style="text-align:center;"|— | ||
| rowspan="2"|1965 | "Left Handed Woman" b/w "I'm The Man Down There" (from History of Jimmy Reed) | style="text-align:center;"|— | style="text-align:center;"|— | |
| "When Girls Do It" b/w "Don't Think I'm Through" | style="text-align:center;"|— | style="text-align:center;"|— | align="left"|Non-album tracks | |
| rowspan=3"|1966 | "Knockin' at Your Door" b/w "Dedication to Sonny Boy Williamson" | style="text-align:center;"|39 | style="text-align:center;"|— | align="left" rowspan="2"|Soulin |
| "Cousin Peaches" b/w "Crazy 'Bout Oklahoma" | style="text-align:center;"|— | style="text-align:center;"|— | ||
| "Got Nowhere to Go" b/w "Two Ways to Skin (A Cat)" | style="text-align:center;"|— | style="text-align:center;"|— | align="left" rowspan="2"|The New Jimmy Reed Album | |
| rowspan="3"|1967 | "I Wanna Know" b/w "Two Heads Better Than One" | style="text-align:center;"|— | style="text-align:center;"|— | |
| "Don't Press Your Luck Woman" b/w "Feel Like I Want to Ramble" | style="text-align:center;"|— | style="text-align:center;"|— | align="left" rowspan="2"|Soulin | |
| "Crazy About Oklahoma" b/w "Buy Me a Hound Dog" | style="text-align:center;"|— | style="text-align:center;"|— | ||
| 1968 | "My Baby Told Me" b/w "Peepin 'n Hidin" (from Soulin') | style="text-align:center;"|— | style="text-align:center;"|— | align="left"|Big Boss Man |
| 1969 | "Don't Light My Fire" b/w "The Judge Should Know" | style="text-align:center;"|— | style="text-align:center;"|— | align="left"|Down in Virginia |
| rowspan="2"|1970 | "Hard Walkin' Hanna", Part 1 b/w "Hard Walkin' Hanna", Part 2 | style="text-align:center;"|— | style="text-align:center;"|— | align="left" rowspan="3"|As Jimmy Is |
| "Crying Blind" b/w "Christmas Present Blues" | style="text-align:center;"|— | style="text-align:center;"|— | ||
| rowspan="2"|1971 | "Big Legged Woman" b/w "Funky Funky Soul" | style="text-align:center;"|— | style="text-align:center;"|— | |
| "Cold Chills" b/w "You're Just a Womper Stomper" | style="text-align:center;"|— | style="text-align:center;"|— | align="left"|Let the Bossman Speak! |
{{cite book |title= Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942–1995|last=Whitburn |first=Joel |author-link=Joel Whitburn |year=1996 |publisher=Record Research |page=369}}{{cite book|first=Joel|last=Whitburn|year=2003|title=Top Pop Singles 1955–2002|publisher=Record Research|location=Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin|isbn=0-89820-155-1|page=[https://archive.org/details/joelwhitburnstop00whitbur/page/564 564]|url=https://archive.org/details/joelwhitburnstop00whitbur/page/564}}
=Albums=
| class="wikitable" | |
| "
! Year !! Album | |
| 1958 | I'm Jimmy Reed |
| 1959 | Rockin' with Reed |
| 1960 | Found Love |
| 1960 | Now Appearing |
| 1961 | Jimmy Reed at Carnegie Hall [2LP] |
| 1962 | The Best of Jimmy Reed (compilation) |
| 1962 | Just Jimmy Reed |
| 1963 | T'ain't No Big Thing but He Is...Jimmy Reed |
| 1963 | Jimmy Reed Sings the Best of the Blues |
| 1963 | Jimmy Reed Plays 12 String Guitar Blues |
| 1964 | Jimmy Reed with More of the Best |
| 1964 | Jimmy Reed at Soul City (compilation) |
| 1965 | The Legend – The Man (compilation) |
| 1967 | The New Jimmy Reed Album |
| 1967 | Soulin' |
| 1968 | Big Boss Man |
| 1969 | Down in Virginia |
| 1970 | As Jimmy Is (AKA Hard Walking Hanna) |
| 1971 | Let the Bossman Speak! (AKA Cold Chills) |
| 1972 | History of Jimmy Reed [2LP] (compilation) |
| 1973 | I Ain't from Chicago |
| 1974 | Blues is My Business |
| 1976 | Jimmy Reed is Back (compilation) |
| 1980 | Upside Your Head (compilation, Charly CRB-1003) |
| 1981 | High and Lonesome (compilation, Charly CRB-1013) |
| 1981 | Got Me Dizzy (compilation, Charly CRB-1028) |
| 1985 | I'm the Man Down There (compilation, Charly CRB-1082) |
| 1993 | Speak the Lyrics to Me, Mama Reed (compilation, Vee Jay NVD2-705) |
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.bluesharp.ca/legends/jreed.html Webpage with detailed biography and photographs]
- [http://www.wirz.de/music/reedjim.htm Illustrated Jimmy Reed discography]
{{Jimmy Reed}}
{{1991 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Reed, Jimmy}}
Category:American blues singers
Category:American blues guitarists
Category:Guitarists from Indiana
Category:Guitarists from Mississippi
Category:Blues revival musicians
Category:American street performers
Category:Electric blues musicians
Category:Harmonica blues musicians
Category:Musicians from Gary, Indiana
Category:People from Washington County, Mississippi
Category:Military personnel from Mississippi
Category:Vee-Jay Records artists
Category:Deaths from respiratory failure
Category:Writers from Gary, Indiana
Category:American blues harmonica players
Category:20th-century American guitarists
Category:American male guitarists
Category:United States Navy personnel of World War II
Category:United States Navy sailors
Category:African-American guitarists
Category:20th-century African-American male singers
Category:20th-century American male singers
Category:20th-century American singers
Category:African-American United States Navy personnel