He never sang louder than a man leaning against a doorway, and never played a riff he couldn't repeat in his sleep. Yet Jimmy Reed?Mississippi sharecropper's son, Chicago steelworker, self-taught bluesman?wrote more songs other people wanted to sing than almost anyone of his generation. "Baby What You Want Me to Do." "Big Boss Man." "Bright Lights, Big City." The Rolling Stones learned from him. Elvis covered him.
Behind the laid-back sound was a man wrestling with epilepsy, alcohol, and an industry that paid him pennies for records that made others rich?kept upright by his wife, Mama Reed, who fed him words he couldn't always remember.
Bright Lights, Dark Road is the first book to take Jimmy Reed's music as seriously as the artists who covered it always did.
Know the story. Hear the blues differently.
Autorentext
Simon Godfrey is a lifelong blues enthusiast and avid listener whose deep, self-taught knowledge of the genre comes from decades spent following the music wherever it led ? from the original recordings to the artists, places, and influences behind them. He now writes to put that knowledge into stories, researching each subject in depth so the history behind the music gets the same care as the music itself.
His work is written for blues fans, musicians, and curious newcomers alike, with one aim: to help readers discover and understand the music through deeply researched, engaging stories that connect the artists, songs, recordings, places, and influences that shaped the blues ? so they can uncover forgotten treasures, understand why the music matters, and hear the blues in a whole new way.
Know the story. Hear the blues differently.