Jimmy Reed was always been one of the more reliable Chicago blues musicians, never really changing his thick, harmonica-laced style that he spent so much time developing. But in the blues industry, not changing is not always a good thing, as Funky Funky Soul proves. Although most of these songs were recorded in the '50s and '60s, Reed's obvious weaknesses as a musician come to the forefront. For one thing, most of his arrangements sound almost exactly the same, with very little to differentiate the songs besides the pace. Another problem is that most of his funkier numbers (which are prominently featured, hence the title) consist of little more than some spacy guitar and a quickened beat. Now they are still quite funky, mostly because of Reed's excellent singing voice and clever lyrics, but they do get repetitive and stay rather simplistic. Overall, this is not a very good place to first discover Reed, but fans of his music may want to give this a listen. Funky Funky Soul is the sound of a blues musician helping to pioneer a musical genre, but not quite reaching the place where the music tries to go.
© Bradley Torreano /TiVo