When it comes to the blues, "it all sounds the same" is a frequent refrain from the uninitiate. Of course, epithets like this wear the guise of considered opinion, as if, after exhaustive research, one has concluded that there is water, water everywhere but not a drop one would deign to drink. Jimmy Reed is especially susceptible to this type of critique, being such a populist purveyor of the blues. Yes, you'll hear those familiar twelve-bar chord progressions, for the most part played slow and steady. Reed is no virtuoso and never aims to "challenge" his listeners with experimental noodling or soaring solos. But don't confuse his genial, unambitious style with lack of talent or vision. What he seems to understand, maybe better than anyone, is that the foundational pattern of the blues was established not merely because of its simplicity, but rather its deep, abiding power. In the right hands it becomes the sturdy skeletal framework upon which the musician may hang the sustaining stuff of life. In Reed's hands, the way he adorns that skeleton becomes everything, which is what someone who thinks "it all sounds the same" will miss ten times out of ten. The most serious charge I can lob at this album, is that its title constitutes false advertising. "Rockin' with Reed" is the last track and it does, indeed, rock, but the rest of the songs here do everything but. There's his loving desperation on "A String to Your Heart," his penitence (and incorrigibility) on "I Know It's a Sin," his smirking sense of humor on "Take Out Some Insurance," and his smooth cool on "The Moon is Rising." The blues structure is limited and requires a kind of lyrical economy, so he wrings the most out of his lines when he throws in alliterative touches like "green grass grows" on "Down in Virginia." In the same song, he flexes his vocal range, finishing off each verse with a low, smoldering tremolo that hits like a haymaker every time. Blues like this teaches you to "see a world in a grain of sand," to love those tiny details, those little moments that make all the difference. Grade: A-
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