I'm Jimmy Reed [Import]

Jimmy Reed | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (January 6, 2009)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: 101 DISTRIBUTION
• ASIN: B000089AQR
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #332,945 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

In deciding where to start listening to Jimmy Reed, the man and his record label made it easy -- at the beginning. His debut LP release, I'm Jimmy Reed, was about as strong a first album as was heard in Chicago blues, but also no stronger (relatively speaking) than the first long-players issued of Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf and co. As was the case with most bluesmen of his generation, Reed's debut LP was really a collection of single sides than an actual album of new material (though some of it did hail from its year of release), consisting of tracks he'd recorded from June 1953 ("Roll & Rhumba") through March 1958 ("You Got Me Crying" etc.). So it's no surprise that it rivals The Best of Muddy Waters or any of the other 12" platters that were showing up from Reed's rivals at the end of the 1950s -- most of the blues labels put together their LPs the same way at first. But that also turns I'm Jimmy Reed into a treasure-trove of prime material from his repertory, including the songs on which he'd built his reputation over the previous five years, key among them "Honest I Do," "Ain't That Lovin' You Baby," "You Got Me Dizzy," and "You Don't Have to Go," plus their highly relevant B-sides, which help give this album more depth and breadth than a formal hits collection would have had. And in addition to Reed's singing and harp work, the album is also a superb showcase for guitarists Eddie Taylor and John Brim (the latter on the earliest material here), and drummer Earl Palmer. ~ Bruce Eder, All Music Guide

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars I'm Jimmy Reed, September 8, 2004

By 

Bob Alderisio (New Mexico) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: I'm Jimmy Reed (Audio CD)

These are all great cuts, but very poorly remastered in my opinion. The treble is boosted; there is not enough bass; there is the addition of echo (or maybe reverb) on Jimmy's vocals; and the the speed seems a little off as well. The "feel" of Jimmy's music has been lost in all this. I own all the original JR 45's, & several cd collections. I bought this because I did not have a good digital version of the original Little Rain. I still don't. I am very disappointed - especially considering that this is released under the Vee Jay name.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Meet Mathis James Reed, August 24, 2004

By 

Docendo Discimus (Vita scholae) - See all my reviews

This review is from: I'm Jimmy Reed (Audio CD)

Originally released in 1958 as Vee-Jay LP #1004, "I'm Jimmy Reed" was Jimmy Reed's debut album.
His good-natured two-string boogie had already allowed him to cross over to the pop charts with the 1957 single "Honest I Do", the leadoff track on this album, and one of Reed's best and best-known songs, and Jimmy Reed would go on to outsell everybody from Muddy Waters to Howlin' Wolf (!).

Reed is backed by men like John Brim and Eddie Taylor, and a certain Albert Nelson (better known as Albert King) plays the - well, the drums, actually. Albert King started out as John Brim's drummer. And while Jimmy Reed's easily digestible and extremely accessible brand of blues certainly lacks the power and intensity of the music of Elmore James, Muddy Waters, or Howlin' Wolf, his best songs have long since become an integral part of the fabric of the blues, and everybody from Elvis Presley to The Rolling Stones have had a go at one or more of them.

If you just want one Jimmy Reed-album for your collection, go for Rhino's single-disc "Blues Masters - The Best Of Jimmy Reed", or Recall Records' double-disc compilation "Big Boss Man". But if you want to dig deeper, all of Collectables' excellent reissues of Reed's original LPs can be recommended, and this is one of the best, featuring classics like "Honest I Do", "You Got Me Dizzy", "Ain't That Lovin' You Baby", and "You Don't Have To Go", as well as number of lesser-known but generally very good songs.

5.0 out of 5 stars Music, August 23, 2007

By 

Elizabeth Francis "Love to Cook, Liz" (Phoenix, Arizona) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: I'm Jimmy Reed (Audio CD)

I grew up listening to this album of my brothers and now I have it again. Great. In excellent condition too.