Editing Jimmy Reed (section)

==Biography==
Reed was born in [[Dunleith, Mississippi]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.mswritersandmusicians.com/mississippi-musicians/james-jimmy-mathis-reed|title=Biography of Jimmy Reed, Mississippi Rhythm and Blues Musician|website=Mswritersandmusicians.com|access-date=October 6, 2021}}</ref> He learned the harmonica and guitar from his friend [[Eddie Taylor]].<ref name=pc4/> After several years of [[busking]] and performing there, he moved to [[Chicago]], [[Illinois]], in 1943.<ref name="LarkinGE"/> He was then drafted into the U.S. Navy and served in [[World War II]].<ref name="LarkinGE"/> He was discharged in 1945 and returned briefly to Mississippi,<ref name="LarkinGE"/> marrying his girlfriend, Mary (henceforth known as Mama Reed). Mama Reed would be an [[uncredited background singer]] on many of his recordings, notably the hits "[[Baby What You Want Me to Do]]", "[[Big Boss Man (song)|Big Boss Man]]" and "[[Bright Lights, Big City (song)|Bright Lights, Big City]]".<ref name=pc4>{{Pop Chronicles|4|3}}</ref> He then moved to [[Gary, Indiana]], to work at an [[Armour & Co.|Armour]] meat-packing plant.

{{quote box|quote="At his best—on Vee-Jay in the '50s—Reed sang with the languid self-assurance of a man who never ran for the bus because he wanted to spend the fare on a glass of wine, and the unindustrious shuffle rhythms of the Vee-Jay band ambled right along behind."|source=–''[[Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies]]'' (1981)<ref name="CG">{{cite book|last=Christgau|first=Robert|author-link=Robert Christgau|year=1981|title=[[Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies]]|publisher=[[Ticknor & Fields]]|isbn=089919026X|chapter=Consumer Guide '70s: R|chapter-url=https://www.robertchristgau.com/get_chap.php?k=R&bk=70|access-date=March 10, 2019|via=Robertchristgau.com}}</ref>|width=24%|align=right|style=padding:8px;}}

By the 1950s, Reed had established himself as a popular musician. He joined the Gary Kings with [[John Brim]] and played on the street with Willie Joe Duncan.<ref name="Koda"/> Reed failed to gain a recording contract with [[Chess Records]], but signed with [[Vee-Jay Records]] through Brim's drummer, [[Albert King]].<ref name="LarkinGE"/> At Vee-Jay, Reed began playing again with Eddie Taylor and soon released "You Don't Have to Go",<ref name="LarkinGE"/> his first hit record.<ref name="Koda"/> It was followed by a long string of hit songs.

Reed maintained his reputation despite his rampant alcoholism; his wife sometimes had to help him remember the lyrics to his songs while recording.<ref name="LarkinGE"/> In 1957, Reed developed [[epilepsy]], though the condition was not correctly diagnosed for a long time, as Reed and doctors assumed it was [[delirium tremens]].<ref name="Koda">{{cite web|author=Koda, Cub|author-link=Cub Koda|url=http://www.allmusic.com/artist/jimmy-reed-mn0000076881/biography |title=Jimmy Reed: Biography |website=[[AllMusic]] |access-date=August 31, 2015}}</ref> When Vee-Jay Records closed, his manager signed a contract with the fledgling [[BluesWay Records|ABC-Bluesway]] label, but Reed never produced another hit.<ref name="LarkinGE"/>  In 1968, he toured Europe with the [[American Folk Blues Festival]].<ref name="russell">{{cite book
| first= Tony
| last= Russell
| year= 1997
| title= The Blues: From Robert Johnson to Robert Cray
| publisher= Carlton Books
| location= Dubai
| pages= 76–77
| isbn= 1-85868-255-X}}</ref>

[[File:Grave of Mathis James Reed (1925–1976) at Lincoln Cemetery, Blue Island, IL.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Reed's grave at Lincoln Cemetery]]

Reed died of [[respiratory failure]] in 1976, in [[Oakland, California]],<ref name="LarkinGE"/><ref name="Dead">{{cite web|author=Doc Rock |url=http://thedeadrockstarsclub.com/1970.html |title=The 1970s |publisher=The Dead Rock Stars Club |access-date=2015-08-31}}</ref> eight days short of his 51st birthday. He is interred in the [[Lincoln Cemetery (Cook County)|Lincoln Cemetery]], in Blue Island, Illinois.  Reed was posthumously inducted into the [[Blues Hall of Fame]] in 1980,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://blues.org/blues_hof_inductee/jimmy-reed/|title=Jimmy Reed|website=Blues.org|access-date=March 10, 2021}}</ref> and the [[Rock and Roll Hall of Fame]] in 1991.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.rockhall.com/inductees/jimmy-reed|title=Jimmy Reed &#124; Rock & Roll Hall of Fame|website=Rockhall.com|access-date=March 10, 2021}}</ref>