Born in the rural mississippi delta, he learned to play guitar in. You can also access our site through your mobile phone. Apr 01, 20 hal walker, the multiinstrumentalist, composes and improvises on the guitar, piano, harmonica, the khaen, jews harp and concertina. In the 1950s, no bluesman was more popular than jimmy reed. Liner notes are thin, but recording dates and personnel are all included. The blues move in a has an entirely different feel than the same move in g, yet theyre only one letter away. Download all multiangle video guitar lessons with tab, notation, jam tracks, slo mo, looping, synced tab, and much more. At first listen, his lazy vocals and squeaky harmonica solos might not seem like a sound particularly suited to mainstream taste. He wrote so many great tunes that have been covered over and over again. Jimmy reed ranks as one of the most popular bluesmen of the 20th century.
Someone once compared listening to jimmy reed to eating peanuts. Scrobble songs and get recommendations on other tracks and artists. The sound is good and it includes many of reed s best known recordings. Connect your spotify account to your account and scrobble everything you listen to, from any spotify app on any device or platform. This web site contains my collection of tab sheets and resources for harmonica and guitar. Yet reed found a groove and stuck to it, creating a sound that any blues fan could identify after hearing only a few seconds of his music. Jimmy reed blues harmonica music the bluesharp page. His bestknown songs baby, what you want me to do, bright lights, big city, honest i do, you. Aug 24, 2016 hello and welcome to this weeks harmonica lesson where i will be showing you how to play the solo from jimmy reeds tune baby what you want me to do. You would be much better off watching instructional videos on youtube.
Mathis james reed september 6, 1925 august 29, 1976 was an american blues musician and songwriter. Jimmy reed tabs, chords, guitar, bass, ukulele chords, power tabs and guitar pro tabs including baby what you want me to do, honest i do, shame shame shame, aint got you, bright lights big city. Blues music has had its individualists performers with powerful, poetic feeling, tremendous instrumental virtuosity, or a unique sound. Transcribed by todd christensen bright lights big city. Legions of listeners were inspired to take up the guitar or harmonica because reed made the music sound so effortless. The jimmy reed move has been a blues guitar and rock guitar staple forever. He obviously drank himself to death and he didnt and couldnt take care of business. This is jimmy reed s last performance, and the sound is very good. The success of jimmy reed is one of the most fascinating in american roots music. Learn the bedrock blues rhythm made popular by jimmy reed. Feb 24, 2018 harmonica blues improvisation in jimmy reed style. Listen online to jimmy reed baby what you want me to do and see which albums it appears on. Bright lights big city jimmy reed blues harmonica lesson. Yes, anybody with a range of more than six notes could sing jimmy s tunes and play them the first day mom and dad brought home that first guitar.
Harmonica lesson jimmy reed performance with guitar steven. Listen free to jimmy reed the very best of jimmy reed baby what you want me to do, you dont have to go and more. Bright lights big city ukulele by jimmy reed ultimate. In general, i recommend students have real mastery of highnote blow bends and be able to really rip a great solo in the jimmy reed firstposition blues style before even attempting overblows. He played guitar and harmonica with his childhood friend eddie taylor, who laid down the beat on the bass strings of his guitar.
He learned the harmonica and guitar from his friend eddie taylor. Indeed, jimmy reed s contributions to the development of rock and blues have helped to shape modern music as we know it. Composer, guitar, harmonica, primary artist, vocals. You will need a harmonica in the key of a and we will be playing in 2nd position in the key of e. 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 hed recorded from june 1953 through march 1958. Im jimmy reed, was about as strong a first album as was heard in chicago blues.
He stayed around the area until he was 15, learning the basic rudiments of harmonica and guitar from his buddy eddie taylor, who was then making a name for himself as a semipro musician, working country suppers and juke joints. How to play bright lights big city on harmonica this week we are continuing the theme of first position blues with the jimmy reed classic bright lights big city you will need a harmonica. Reed was as skilled at presenting his guitar work as he was as a singer. The sound quality is good, and the material itself is nothing to complain about. Reeds songs such as honest i do 1957, baby what you want me to do 1960, big boss man. Aug 03, 2017 listen online to jimmy reed baby what you want me to do and see which albums it appears on. An awesome beginners introduction to blues rhythm and the feel of a shuffle played on guitar. Backing reed guitar, harmonica, and vocal are eddie taylor guitar, vernel fournier drums, and an unknown guitarist. Download all multiangle video guitar lessons with tab, notation, jam tracks, slomo, looping, synced tab, and much more. When you use the jimmy reed move in a, the move travels up the neck of the guitar to grab the iv and v chords.
Therefore, even if you gapped your harmonica perfectly for an overblow, it is likely you would not be able to produce an overblow or that it would sound bad. Many great rock and roll legends, such as jerry garcia and the rolling stones, cite jimmy as a major influence. Blues with a feeling is a blues song written and first recorded by rabon tarrant with jack. I do this for fun, to improve my own knowledge, and as a service to other amateur musicans interested in these styles of music. Yet, magically, he achieved to hypnotize his audience with his basic beat and trademark harmonica licks. Learn blues guitar from hawkeye herman with an intermediate guitar lesson for jimmy reed. This sound is very rock n roll and i mean that in a good way and has a less folksy character than the g progression. Aint that lovin you, baby is an upbeat blues song written and recorded by jimmy reed. Jimmy reed sings the best of the blues 1963, vinyl discogs.
Shop our newest and most popular jimmy reed sheet music such as baby, what you want me to do, i aint got you and shame, shame, shame, or click the button. Composer, guitar, guitar bass, harmonica, primary artist, vocals. Reed was nearly a perfect archetype of a blues man in the postwar era. Start with fourtothebar downstrokes on the guitar to ease the feeling of. Baby what you want me to do chords by jimmy reed songsterr. For example, if you have a c harp and you exhale, or blow, on any group of holes, you will hear a c i chord. Jimmy reed was a harp master of melodic playing in the upper register of harmonica in the 1st position. Chuck berry made this technique famous in a straighteighth, rock n roll setting in the late 50s and 60s. The jimmy reed move named after the chicago harmonica player, singer, and. This standard guitar rhythm part is usually credited to blues legend jimmy reed. Soulin is an album by blues musician jimmy reed released by the bluesway label in 1967. Jimmy reed not a celebrated 12string guitar player like leadbelly or any of the other renowned instrumentalists who came up in leadbellys wake cut this acoustic 12string instrumental album, which has become an enduring classic of the genre.
This weeks harmonica lesson will show you how to play bright lights big city jimmy reed. Good condition, the headstock is slightly faded and is missing a couple of pieces of binding. In collaboration, he has developed a modern version of a traditional african instrument called a banakula. Hello and welcome to this weeks harmonica lesson where i will be showing you how to play the solo from jimmy reed s tune baby what you want me to do. Oct 27, 2016 for example, if you have a c harp and you exhale, or blow, on any group of holes, you will hear a c i chord.
Jimmy reed was born in 1925 in dunleith mississippi and became one of the most influential blues musicians until his death in 1976. Jun 14, 2017 how to play bright lights big city on harmonica this week we are continuing the theme of first position blues with the jimmy reed classic bright lights big city you will need a harmonica in the key of a. Every item is basically the same, yet, one is never. Cum on feel the noise solo quiet riot guitar lesson. This 2 cd set is a very good collection of jimmy reed material from the 1950s and 1960s. Baby what you want me to do by jimmy reed blues harmonica. The blues move in a has an entirely different feel than the same move in g, yet. Hal leonard blues harmonica collection songbook guitar center. His work is mostly electric guitar based and had a huge influence on stevie ray vaughan billy gibbons the rolling stones van morrison and elvis presley. Learn to play guitar by chord tabs using chord diagrams, transpose the key, watch video lessons and much more.
Reed was born on september 6, 1925, on a plantation in or around the small burg of dunleith, ms. His bestknown songs baby, what you want me to do, bright lights, big city, honest i do, you dont have to go, going to new york, aint that. Find album credit information for found love jimmy reed on allmusic allmusic. Yet, for the better part of a decade, in the 50s and early 60s, reeds songs. However it is straight and there is still life left in the frets. This standard guitar rhythm part is usually credited to blues.
Browse all jimmy reed sheet music musicnotes features the worlds largest online digital sheet music catalogue with over 300,000 arrangements available to print and play instantly. Jimmy reed born in mississippi, september 6,1925 august 29, 1976 was famous for electrifying his style of blues. Blues singer, guitarist and harmonica player jimmy reed performs on a. He was influenced by lightnin hopkins, jimmy reed, and slim harpo. Jimmy reed had a guitar technique that rarely varied, and his vocals were relaxed to the point where hearers couldnt always understand the words he sang. The authors managed to drain all the blues out of jimmy reed s songs, and just present the reader with chords and standard notation. Perhaps billy vera said it best in his liner notes to a reed greatesthits anthology. Over 40 classics from blues greats little walter, sonny boy williamson, howlin wolf, jimmy reed, and slim harpo complete with an extensive introduction on how to play harmonica to each piece in this music book. It became an important piece for blues harp players and a variety of. The success of jimmy reed were his lazy vocals and squeaky harmonica solos. Reed was born in dunleith, mississippi, on september 6, 1925. Hal walker, the multiinstrumentalist, composes and improvises on the guitar, piano, harmonica, the khaen, jews harp and concertina. But if the tradition ever had its everyman, it would be jimmy reed, the most popular chicago blues performer of the 1950s and early 1960s. Harmonica and guitar tabs and resources computer science.
Reed was born on the shady dell plantation in dunleith, mississippi, on sept. Jimmy reed honest i do song breakdown may 2015 duration. Mathis james reed september 6, 1925 august 29, 1976 was an american blues musician. Reeds screaming highnotes on the harmonica worked really great with his bassy guitar. Start with fourtothebar downstrokes on the guitar to ease the feeling of multitasking. Tips for acoustic guitarists who want to add harmonica to. Guitar background guitar eddie taylor 2 harmonica, lead guitar jimmy reed liner notes sheldon harris 2. Beginners shuffle in ejimmy reed guitar lesson youtube. After several years of busking and performing there, he moved to chicago, illinois, in 1943. Jul 01, 2011 you want to play along with jimmy reed. Try blowing in various spots on the harmonica as you strum a c chord on your guitar. The jimmy reed move named after the chicago harmonica player, singer, and guitarist involves going from the fifth to the sixth degrees in each chord the note e in a g chord, a in a c chord. In chicago, reed began taking his music seriously, hitting upon the idea of playing guitar and harmonica simultaneously, and fashioning a. Guitar, harmonica jimmy reed liner notes lenny goldberg vocals vocal accompaniment mama reed.
August 29, 1976, oakland, ca theres simply no sound in the blues as easily digestible, accessible, instantly recognizable and as easy to play and sing as the music of jimmy reed. The most popular blues singer of the 50s, with simple lazy shuffles and a laconic drawl that made him the most influential as well. He began playing with his longtime partner, guitarist eddie taylor, in the delta and resumed in chicago in the 1940s. Slow, medium or trotting he basically performed the same song over and over. How to play the jimmy reed blues guitar move dummies. Jimmy reed, a harmonica, 95 bpm guitar intro a a bright lights, big city, gone to my babys head d7 a oh bright lights, big city, gone to my babys head e7 d7 a id tried to tell the woman, but she dont believe a word i said e7 a all right pretty baby. Some of his hits include big boss man bright lights big city and baby what you want me to do. The complete singles and other rarities aint that loving you baby. But the thing to remember, its hard to keep in context now with the commercialization of rock and roll, is that it was not popular music. Blues music has had its individualist performers with powerful, poetic feeling, tremendous instrumental virtuosity, or a unique sound. Discover more music, concerts, videos, and pictures with the largest catalogue online at. Tips for acoustic guitarists who want to add harmonica to their songs.