''Jimmy Reed at Carnegie Hall'' is a double album by
Jimmy Reed
Mathis James Reed (September 6, 1925 – August 29, 1976) was an American blues musician and songwriter. His particular style of electric blues was popular with blues as well as non-blues audiences. Reed's songs such as "Honest I Do" (1957), " ...
, released in 1961. Though the title suggests that the record was recorded live, it consists of studio recreations of a
Carnegie Hall performance along with additional studio recordings.
"
Bright Lights, Big City", which opens the album, was released as a single around the same time. It became one of Reed's most successful and last songs on the
''Billboard'' Hot R&B charts.
[
] The album includes several other Reed songs that appeared on the charts between 1956 and 1961.
Critical reception
Writing for
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...
, critic
Richie Unterberger
Richie Unterberger (born January 19, 1962) is an American author and journalist whose focus is popular music and travel writing.
Life and writing
Unterberger attended the University of Pennsylvania, where he wrote for the university newspaper '' ...
gave the album five out of five stars. He noted "In some ways, it almost does make for a greatest-hits compilation, as it contains most of Reed's most popular tunes".
Track listing
All songs by Jimmy Reed; except where noted.
Record 1, side 1:
#"
Bright Lights, Big City" – 2:50
#"I'm Mr. Luck" – 3:34
#"Baby What's Wrong" – 3:24
#"Found Joy" – 3:41
#"Kind of Lonesome" – 2:52
Record 1, side 2:
#"Aw Shucks, Hush Your Mouth" – 2:33
#"Tell Me You Love Me" (Jimmy Reed, Al Smith) – 2:54
#"Blue Carnegie" – 2:53
#"I'm a Love You" – 2:07
#"Hold Me Close" – 2:38
#"Blue Blue Water" – 2:45
Record 2, side 1:
#"
Baby What You Want Me to Do
"Baby What You Want Me to Do" (sometimes called "You Got Me Running" or "You Got Me Runnin'") is a blues song that was written and recorded by Jimmy Reed in 1959. It was a record chart hit for Reed and, as with several of his songs, it has appeal ...
" – 2:31
#"You Don't Have to Go" – 3:10
#"Hush Hush" – 2:43
#"Found Love" – 2:24
#"Honest I Do" (Jimmy Reed, Ewart Abner) – 2:50
#"You Got Me Dizzy" – 2:58
Record 2, side 2:
#"
Big Boss Man" (
Luther Dixon
Luther Dixon (August 7, 1931 – October 22, 2009) was an American songwriter, record producer, and singer. Dixon's songs achieved their greatest success in the 1950s and 1960s, and were recorded by Elvis Presley, the Beatles, the Jackson 5, B. ...
, Al Smith) – 2:54
#"Take Out Some Insurance" (
Jesse Stone) – 2:31
#"Boogie in the Dark" – 2:41
#"Going to New York" – 2:26
#"Ain't That Loving You Baby" – 2:25
#"The Sun is Shining" (Jimmy Reed, Ewart Abner) – 2:57
Personnel
*Jimmy Reed - guitar, vocals, harmonica
*
Eddie Taylor
Eddie Taylor (January 29, 1923 – December 25, 1985) was an American electric blues guitarist and singer.
Biography
Born Edward Taylor in Benoit, Mississippi, as a boy Taylor taught himself to play the guitar. He spent his early years playing ...
- guitar
*
Phil Upchurch
Philip Upchurch (born July 19, 1941) is an American jazz and blues guitarist and bassist.
Career
Upchurch started his career working with the Kool Gents, the Dells, and the Spaniels, before going on to work with Curtis Mayfield, Otis Rush, an ...
- guitar
*
Lonnie Brooks
Lonnie Brooks (born Lee Baker Jr., December 18, 1933 – April 1, 2017) was an American blues singer and guitarist. The musicologist Robert Palmer, writing in ''Rolling Stone'', stated, "His music is witty, soulful and ferociously energetic, b ...
- guitar
*
William "Lefty" Bates - second guitar
*
Willie Dixon - bass guitar
*Earl Phillips - drums
*Mary Lee Reed - backing vocals
References
{{Authority control
Jimmy Reed albums
Vee-Jay Records albums
1961 albums
Albums produced by Calvin Carter