Jimmy Reed Big Boss Men CD

Jimmy Reed's four live 1972 tracks on this CD take up only half of this disc, the other half being comprised of live Willie Dixon numbers recorded in 1971 at the same venue (Liberty Hall in Houston). Out of respect to Reed's memory, perhaps even aficionados who think they need everything he's done might want to consider leaving it alone. The band -- personnel unlisted, except for Johnny Winter, who plays guitar -- is sloppy and untogether. Concise Chicago blues classics like "Big Boss Man," "You Don't Have to Go," and "Bright Lights Big City" are stretched to an unseemly six-to-12-minute length with the sluggish, overlong arrangements. The recording quality is subpar. Worst of all, Reed himself is in poor form, mumbling or skipping lyrics, and not sounding at all in command of his own compositions. The six songs by Dixon on the CD, incidentally, are much better performance-wise, but also suffer from lackadaisical fidelity, and two of the songs credited to Dixon are really Winter performances, since he joins the players to take over the lead vocals and guitar. ~ Richie Unterberger

The six live 1971 tracks by Dixon on this disc comprise only about half of the CD; the remainder consists of live 1972 material by Jimmy Reed, recorded at the same venue (Liberty Hall in Houston). Although Dixon offers strong vocal performances (as well as playing bass) on these cuts, the sound quality isn't so hot, and adequate at best. The band's okay, the name sideman being Walter Horton on harmonica. In addition to the familiar classics "Spoonful" and "I Just Want to Make Love to You," there's also the much lesser-known emotional, minor-key slow burner "Sitting and Crying the Blues," with uncredited piano, and the instrumental "Chicago Here I Come." On the final two songs, it might be hard to even consider Dixon as the featured artist, since Johnny Winter (credited as "John Winter") takes the vocal and guitar on "Tore Down," and then lead guitar on an instrumental, the Winter composition "Roach Stew." If this was longer and in decent fidelity, it would be a good record, but its shortcomings limit its attraction to severely dedicated Chicago blues fans. And, unfortunately, the four Jimmy Reed tracks drag the album's worth to a lower level, with sluggish performances (featuring Winter on guitar throughout) and sadly past-his-peak vocalizing by Reed. ~ Richie Unterberger

Twelve live tracks from 1971-72 by two of the blues' greatest artists. Over 70 minutes of music, digitally remastered. Includes a 6 page booklet including informative liner notes, artists biography & photographs.

Recorded live in Houston, Texas in 1971 and 1972.

Personnel: John Winter (vocals, guitar); Johnny Winter, Lee Jackson (guitar); Clifton James (drums).

Liner Note Author: Harry Shapiro.

Recording information: Liberty Hall, Houston, TX (1972).

Photographer: Mike Doyle.