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Blues Masters: Very Best of Jimmy Reed

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Of the Post-WWII bluesmen, Jimmy Reed was one of the most influential performers and certainly one of the most popular. While stories abound of his alcoholism (which would lead to his death in 1976 at the age of 50) and the resulting inappropriate behavior both on stage and in the studio, Reed still managed to place more singles on the pop chart than any other bluesman during his tenure on Vee-Jay.

Playing guitar and harmonica, his first big hit was the No. 5 R&B hit "You Don't Have to Go" in 1955, which featured the kind of loping shuffle that became his trademark. His music was simple enough for just about anyone to pick up a guitar and play his songs, but the power of his music was the irresistible boogie groove that his songs would mine. He followed that up the following year with another Top Ten R&B single "Ain't That Lovin' You Baby." But his biggest hits were the pop crossovers "Honest I Do" (No. 32, 1957) and "Baby What You Want Me To Do" (#37, 1960).

"I Ain't Got You," from 1955, will be recognized by most Baby Boomers as a Yardbirds cover, and Reed's original material would be covered by artists from Elvis Presley to the Rolling Stones.

Reed rerecorded many of his early hits for ABC-Bluesway from the mid-Sixties into the Seventies, but the tracks included here are all the original Vee-Jay recordings from 1953 to 1963. Quite simply, this is the best single-disc collection of Reed's work. His other must-own release is Mobile Fidelity's Jimmy Reed at Carnegie Hall/The Best of Jimmy Reed (now available on Collectables.) HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

MCA's pitiful "20th Century Masters" series made me skeptical of the cursory and careless patch-work that constitutes the "greatest hits" collections of most Blues and Rock masters. But Rhino, as usual, proves to be the industry's most adept anthologizing entity here and has gone quite far to put the work of Rock 'N Roll's many geniuses into the kind of perspective that does proper justice to the artists. This Jimmy Reed collection, with its careful, dense and precise song selection, is no exception. Its 17-song track list reflects exactly the kind of generosity that the "20th Century Masters" series lacks. Not a single one of Reed's original classics eludes the radar here, from the particularly raw and aggressive early numbers, "High and Lonesome" and "Aint That Lovin' You Baby" to the smoother and more casual knockouts that stole crowds from Carnegie Hall to London in the late 50s, such as "Bright Lights Big City" and "Baby What You Want Me to Do," admirably covered by Neil Young (one of Reed's biggest fans) & Crazy Horse on their 1996 album, "Broken Arrow." That Reed would earn such a tribute from an artist whose roots are steeped in a tradition so dramatically distinct from his own testifies to the immensity of his influence. This is the document of a true American innovator whose work and talent made Rock 'N Roll possible.

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Rhino's great Blues Masters series finally lands on Jimmy Reed. With Vee Jay's 1993 25 cut collection now out-of-print this is the way to go. Sound is good and the liner notes are typically Rhino excellent. Reed's sound was pretty simple: "laid-back" vocals and guitar and records whose sound had an appeal beyond his blues base. Also, a special shout out to Reed's sideman Eddie Taylor who supplies most of the great guitar moments on these cuts. All of this made these records cross over to the pop charts in the late 50's and early 60's. It's those attributes that often gets Reed overlooked when critic's talk about the great bluesmen. But time and his great songs have been good to Reed's legacy. That and the fact that many of his best songs got covered and still get played every night somewhere in a blues club near you make this an essential part of your record collection.

There's really no sound in the blues as easily digestible, accessible, instantly recognizable, or as easy to play and sing as the music of Jimmy Reed. His best-known songs have become such an integral part of the standard blues repertoire, it's almost as if they have existed forever.
Elvis Presley covered Jimmy Reed, and so did The Rolling Stones and numerous hopeful garage bands, making him in reality one of the most influential bluesmen in history, and it's not hard to see why so many people found (and still find) Reed's music so appealing.

Many, many Jimmy Reed compilations have been released over the past forty years, including several repackagings of his classic 50s Vee-Jay material. Some of these compilations have been excellent, particularly the superb 1993 collection "Speak The Lyrics To Me, Mama Reed", while others have been really shabby, and since many of them have featured the same basic songs, it's kinda hard to discern which are worthwhile and which aren't.

Fortunately, Rhino's 2000 Blues Masters release provides first-timers with the ideal introductory package, presenting seventeen songs, including virtually all the very best of Reed's simple but catchy blues n' boogie.
"Baby What You Want Me To Do" is here, perhaps the single most covered blues tune of all time, and so is "Shame, Shame, Shame", "You Got Me Dizzy", "Ain't That Loving You Baby", "You Don't Have To Go", "Big Boss Man", and many more. Right at the top of a long list of Jimmy Reed-compilations sits this fine, well-annotated disc alongside Recall's "Big Boss Man: The Very Best Of Jimmy Reed".

A budget price Blues Master series issue sounding great with booklet from this loose down and out bluesman giant who so much influenced rock and roll and it's seniors such as the Stones,Dead,Them,Neil Young,The Yardbirds who covered these Reed originals as their own on their individual band cd's.
All I can say is the sparse sound is typical of this genre with it's artists such as Slim Harpo and Reed.
Now all can give credit to the originators because all are familiar with the imitators such as the early UK Invasion groups and latter day jam bands emulating Jimmy Reed's sincere uncomplicated style.

JIMMY REED-THE VERY BEST OF JIMMY REED: Delta legend JIMMY REED's lazy, loping rhythms and sleepy vocal style appealed to a wide range of music fans, making him one of a small handful of blues artists to score regularly on the pop charts. Plain 'n simple offerings like BIG BOSS MAN, BABY WHAT YOU WANT ME TO DO, and BRIGHT LIGHTS BIG CITY became deserved standards, inspiring tone-cool covers by everyone from ELVIS and ERIC CLAPTON to HANK WILLIAMS and THE STONES; KEEF RICHARDS in particular has cited him as an influence. REED's rudimentary, lo-fi harmonica and guitar work were actually his strengths, accompanied by that unmistakable mumble of a voice (usually augmented by his main squeeze MAMA REED) and highly accessible songwriting. Undisputed retro comp kings RHINO RECORDS have trotted out the definitive collection of REED's most memorable work, complete with informative liner notes and gritty black & white photos of the true master of laid back groovin'.

RATING: FIVE MUMBLES

Jimmy Reed's 1950s blues recordings seem, at first listen, to be one song recorded many times over. There's the same Reed shuffle groove, the sharp drum accents, and wailing harmonica solos in every track the man laid down. But the similarity is only skin-deep.

In fact, every song on this disc offers something a little different. The haunting violin of "Odds and Ends", for example, is an instrument eons away form the blues but one that fits perfectly. Willie Dixon's bass on "Big Boss Man" adds a depth and heaviness that fits the lyrics perfectly.

But the centerpiece is Reed himself, of course. His distinctive shuffle guitar and drawling voice can pull you deep into his world for the two minutes that most of these songs run. It may, at the surface, seem lazy and homogenous, but at its core, the "Jimmy Reed sound" is intense and mesmerizing. Highly recommended.

It's a great CD, but I get a little disturbed by a little remark by many reviewers of the blues. The remark is "...when the music of bluesmen cross over to pop." That is a misconception! The correct statement is "...when pop crossed over to Blues, R&B, Soul, Rock & Roll, Disco, etc."

THIS MAN IS GREAT LOVE HIS MUSIC. HAROLD MILES SR THE DJ.

Haven't as yet listened to this cd but I don't really need to to know how good this man was in his time. Everybody in to the blues knows Jimmy Reed and his easy going soft flowing style. The man had it all with some of his arrangements having grown into some of the most recognizable blues licks anywhere on the planet. The Stones covered him earlier in their career as did many others, and it;s just a shame how Mr. Reed's own personal life must have been painfull to the point of him drinking himself to death at the early age of 50. What ghosts must have hauted this man to drive him to such an early grave? I suppose we'll never know and it's probably just as well? Jimmy Reed was a public performer it's true. But firstly he was a man deserving of the respect he's been given in death atleast if not in life, and we should leave him to rest peacefully and leave his old past ghosts alone. Sleep well Jimmy!