The original Jimmy Reed was born in Mississippi and died young at age 50. He was a successful electric blues guitarist, singer, and harp player recording for Vee-Jay Records in the 1950s. Reed was a major influence on many of the blues stars of the 1960s and 70s and was posthumously inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame and Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame. When he took ill before a show at Louisiana State University, the promoter had the bright idea to plug in a replacement, a local kid who sounded just like him. Hence, Lil’ Jimmy Reed was born. Leon Atkins grew up in Baton Rouge listening to the blues stars of his day like Slim Harpo, John Lee Hooker, and Muddy Waters, but it was Reed’s music that really struck a chord. After that fateful, substitute role, he started to be booked all over the south as Lil’ Jimmy Reed. In the many years since, Lil’ Jimmy has continued to play traditional and Delta blues by many artists and produced several records of his own music. A particular standout is his 2023 album with Ben Levin called Back to Baton Rouge. The common thread is that is all sounds like genuine, down-home, stripped-down blues from another world. It was a world of segregation and pain, of juke joints and house parties, of cotton fields and the chitlin circuit, of pretty girls and endless bus trips. Reed has seen it all in his 70 years touring the world. New York-based guitarist Charlie Apicella recently brought Reed to Howell, New Jersey for a concert with young musicians via his Blues Alive organization, North Jersey Blues Society, and the Jersey Shore Jazz and Blues Foundation. His band Iron City backed up Reed at that event and at a headlining gig at the Lancaster Roots and Blues Festival. Blues Alive is an educational enterprise that aims to expose audiences young and old to the ancestral voices of the blues. Lil’ Jimmy Reed is one of those voices of authentic Louisiana blues that needs to be heard.
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