Honest I Do & Other Classics (CD - 1996)

It seems that after an artist has been around for so many years, record companies stop releasing the artist's proper albums and instead release an array of collections of the artist's songs with tags like "greatest hits," "the best of," or "and other hits" attached to the title. While this practice probably initially came into vogue because many artists only released songs as singles on 45s and the labels were compiling their songs to construct a long-player, there can only be so many collections of an artist's songs released before it starts to feel like greedy repackaging (seriously, there are countless Jerry Lee Lewis compilations with a few fine tracks scattered among throwaways and various takes of "Great Balls of Fire"). Ranking high among these endlessly repackaged artists is Jimmy Reed. Honest I Do & Other Classics is yet another compilation of the Mississippi bluesman's songs. However, whereas many greatest-hits packages really only consist of two hit songs and eight hard to find or not worth finding B-sides, Honest I Do sticks with the hits, offering such blues staples as "Baby What You Want Me to Do," "Bright Lights Big City," the title track, and, of course, "Big Boss Man." Reed's wife can be heard singing on this last one, because by this point in his career the notoriously drunk bluesman couldn't remember the words on his own. (Reed was eventually diagnosed with epilepsy, which may actually have been as much to blame for his deterioration as his drinking.) While he is known for his simplistic, some would say overly so, style of songwriting, Reed is perhaps even more well known for his skill as a harmonica player, which is featured prominently on the tracks selected for this record. Like his songs in general, what makes Reed's harmonica work so great is that it isn't overdone; it's not stiffly utilitarian, but it's not overly flamboyant either, which is a balance that many modern players fail to achieve. Every one of Reed's songs is based around rhythms and chords that are so classic that it is impossible to think of the blues without thinking of them, even if you don't know them by name. Overall, Honest I Do & Other Classics is a fine introduction to Reed's catalog (and probably about all the Reed that most casual blues fans will ever need), though it doesn't really cover any ground that a dozen other compilations haven't already taken care of. ~ Karen E. Graves minimize