AMG Review of Big Legged Woman

Steve Leggett
All Music Guide

Jimmy Reed followed a limited formula, but it worked time and time again, and his songs, because of their inherent structural simplicity, are among the most versatile in the blues canon and have been covered by countless blues and pop artists. With his laid-back, slurred singing style stretched over a lazy, easy boogie rhythm, and punctuated by short runs on his racked harmonica, Reed brought a kind of hushed, unhurried urgency to everything he recorded. The lyrics to his songs were actually written by his wife, Mary Lee Reed, and although she remains in the background on his records, they were very much a songwriting team, turning out such enduring classics as "Baby, What You Want Me to Do," "Big Boss Man," "Bright Lights, Big City," and "Ain't That Lovin' You Baby." Unfortunately the late period tracks collected here on Big Legged Woman, full of wah wah pedals and other then-cool and in-demand guitar effects, lose a good deal of the ragged, swampy tone that made Reed so original in the first place, and aside from pieces like the lightly funky "Over the Hump," there is little that's truly interesting going on here, making this an album for serious Reed fans and collectors only.