Jimmy Reed - Down In Virginia [7]

Title: Jimmy Reed - Down In Virginia
Year/Genre/Sub-Genre/City: 1969, Blues, Chicago Blues, Dunleith, Mississippi 10/26
Matrix #: BLS-6024 (BluesWay/ABC US stereo; label BLS-6024-A; runout not fully legible in photo)
Condition: VG++++ (LM) | Members: Jimmy R (25' - 76') | Producer: Al Smith
Cultural Facts: [7]

1. Mama Reed Fed Him the Words: Most of the songs here are credited to Mary Lee Reed, his wife, known to everyone as Mama Reed. She did more than write: on his sessions she often sat right next to him at the microphone and quietly fed him the lyrics line by line, and on some of his classic Vee-Jay sides you can hear her voice in the background.
2. The Old Friend Who Taught Him Guitar: Eddie Taylor, listed here on bass guitar, grew up with Reed in Mississippi and is the man who taught him to play guitar. Taylor's steady boogie lines were the backbone of Reed's 1950s hits, and the two reunited for this late-1960s BluesWay session in Chicago.
3. A Hit Remade a Decade Later: The title track first came out on Vee-Jay in 1958, paired with I Know It's a Sin. By 1969 Reed had moved to BluesWay, ABC's blues label, which also recorded John Lee Hooker and B.B. King. His laid-back harmonica-and-guitar sound had already been picked up by Elvis Presley, who cut Big Boss Man, and the Rolling Stones, who put Honest I Do on their first album.