Reed was born in Dunleith, Mississippi, in 1925, learning the harmonica and guitar from Eddie Taylor, a close friend. After spending several years busking and performing in the area, Reed moved to Chicago, Illinois, in 1943 before being drafted into the US Navy during World War II. In 1945, Reed was discharged and moved back to Mississippi for a brief period, marrying his girlfriend, Mary "Mama" Reed, before moving to Gary, Indiana to work at an Armour & Co. meat packing plant. Mama Reed appears as an uncredited background singer on many of his songs, notably the major hits "Baby What You Want Me to Do", "Big Boss Man" and "Bright Lights, Big City".
By the 1950s, Reed had established himself as a popular musician and joined the "Gary Kings" with John Brim, as well as playing on the street with Willie Joe Duncan. Reed failed to gain a recording contract with Chess Records, but signed with Vee-Jay Records through Brim's drummer, Albert King. At Vee-Jay, Reed began playing again with Eddie Taylor and soon released "You Don't Have to Go", his first hit record. This was followed by a long string of hits.
Reed maintained his reputation despite his rampant alcoholism; sometimes his wife had to help him remember the lyrics to his songs while recording. In 1957, Reed developed epilepsy, though the condition was not correctly diagnosed for a long time, as Reed and doctors assumed it was delirium tremens.
In spite of his numerous hits, Reed's personal problems prevented him from achieving the same level of fame as other popular blues artists of the time, though he had more hit songs than many others. When Vee-Jay Records closed down, Reed's manager signed a contract with the fledgling ABC-Bluesway label, but Reed was never able to score another hit.
In 1968 he toured Europe with the American Folk Blues Festival.
Jimmy Reed died in Oakland, California in 1976, of respiratory failure, eight days short of his 51st birthday. He is interred in the Lincoln Cemetery in Worth, Illinois.
In 1991 Reed was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
The Rolling Stones have cited Reed as a major influence on their sound, and their early set lists included many of Reed's songs, including tracks like "Ain't That Lovin' You Baby", "The Sun is Shining" (also played at the Stones' 1969 Altamont concert), "Bright Lights, Big City" and "Shame, Shame, Shame" ; the B-side of their February 1964 hit single "Not Fade Away" was a pastiche of "Shame, Shame, Shame" entitled "Little by Little". Their first album, The Rolling Stones, (subtitled England's Newest Hit Makers in America), released in April 1964, featured both "Little by Little" and their cover of Reed's "Honest I Do".
The Yardbirds recorded an instrumental dedicated to him entitled "Like Jimmy Reed Again", which was released on the "definitive edition" of their album Having a Rave Up.
Van Morrison's group Them covered "Bright Lights, Big City" and "Baby, What You Want Me To Do", both of which can be found on The Story of Them Featuring Van Morrison.
"Big Boss Man" was sung regularly by Ron "Pigpen" McKernan with the Grateful Dead during the 1960s and early 1970s and appears on their live album Skull and Roses. It was revived a few times by Jerry Garcia with the Dead during the 1980s. Bob Weir of the Dead also played it a few times with Kingfish in the mid 70s, and more recently with Ratdog. Phil Lesh also plays it with Phil & Friends. The Grateful Dead have also performed Baby What You Want Me to Do with Brent Mydland on vocals.
Elvis Presley recorded several of Reed's songs, scoring a 1967 hit with "Big Boss Man" and recording several performances of "Baby, What You Want Me to Do" for his 1968 Comeback TV Special. (However, Presley's 1964 hit, "Ain't That Lovin' You Baby" is a different song than that recorded by Reed.) The song "Baby, What You Want Me to Do" was also covered by Wishbone Ash on their 1972 live album, Live Dates. "Baby What You Want Me to Do" was also frequently performed by Etta James and Hot Tuna. Johnny and Edgar Winter performed the song live in 1975 and included it on Johnny and Edgar Winter Together.
Reed's recordings of "Big Boss Man" and "Bright Lights, Big City" were both voted onto the list of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll.
Noted Austin, Texas musicians, Omar Kent Dykes and Jimmie Vaughan released an album entitled On the Jimmy Reed Highway as a tribute to Reed.
Bill Cosby covered 4 of Reed's songs – "Bright Lights, Big City", "Big Boss Man", "Hush Hush" and "Aw Shucks, Hush Your Mouth" – on his 1967 album Silver Throat: Bill Cosby Sings.
Steve Miller Band covered 5 of Reed's songs – "You're So Fine" on his 1968 album Sailor; "I Wanna Be Loved (But By Only You)", "Big Boss Man", "Caress Me Baby" and "Ain't That Lovin' You Baby" on his 1986 album Living in the 20th Century.
Neil Young historically plays Reed's music to his audience before his shows.
British punk pioneer Billy Childish and his band Thee Headcoats released an EP of Reed covers entitled The Jimmy Reed Experience on Get Hip Records in 1997.
I'm Gonna Get My Baby
Jimmy Reed Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And my knees start a-rockin'
Gonna find my baby boomer
Built to start to a-rockin'
I'm gonna get my baby
I'm gonna get my baby
Gonna get my baby
Well, she's my mama
Loochy-hoochy goo-dee hoochy-goochy
Once you got the love, now
On the way to the movies
I'm gonna get my baby
Gonna get my baby
I'm gonna get my baby
Gonna get my baby, right now
Well, I called California
And I called New York
For it's over I'm gonna
Call me a problem
I'm gonna get my baby
Gonna get my baby
I'm gonna get my baby
Gonna get my baby, right now
The song ‘I’m Gonna Get My Baby’ by Jimmy Reed is a classic blues tune that captures the excitement and thrill of reuniting with a lover. The song begins with an upbeat tempo that sets a joyful tone to the lyrics that follow. The lines ‘Well, my things a-start hoppin' / And my knees start a-rockin' / Gonna find my baby boomer / Built to start to a-rockin'’ are indicative of the lead singer’s anticipation, as he is all set to get his lover back.
The next few lines of the song talk about the singer's baby and how he plans to get her back, singing ‘I'm gonna get my baby / Gonna get my baby / Gonna get my baby / Gonna get my baby for me’. The repetition of these lines adds to the excitement and urgency of the singer's mission. The phrases ‘Loochy-hoochy goo-dee hoochy-goochy’ and ‘Once you got the love, now / On the way to the movies’ show how much the singer loves and misses his lover.
The song concludes with the lines ‘Well, I called California/ And I called New York / For it's over I'm gonna / Call me a problem / I'm gonna get my baby / Gonna get my baby / I'm gonna get my baby / Gonna get my baby, right now’. The singer states that he has made phone calls to far-off places to sort things out and is now ready to get his baby back. The repetition of the same lyrics highlights the determination the singer feels in achieving his goal of reuniting with his lover.
Line by Line Meaning
Well, my things a-start hoppin'
Things are finally starting to pick up and get exciting.
And my knees start a-rockin'
I'm getting so excited that I can't even stand still.
Gonna find my baby boomer
I'm on a mission to find my baby and nothing will stop me.
Built to start to a-rockin'
Once I find my baby, we're gonna rock and roll all night long.
I'm gonna get my baby
I am determined to find and be with my true love.
Well, she's my mama
She is the one I love and cherish the most.
Loochy-hoochy goo-dee hoochy-goochy
She's got that special something that makes my heart skip a beat.
Once you got the love, now
When love is real, you'll do anything to be with the one you love.
On the way to the movies
We'll do all the fun things together, like any normal couple would.
Gonna get my baby, right now
I'm not going to wait any longer, I'm going to find my baby now.
Well, I called California
I've called everywhere I can think of to try and find my baby.
And I called New York
I've explored every possible option to try and locate my true love.
For it's over I'm gonna
I won't stop until I find her, no matter how long it takes or where I have to go.
Call me a problem
People might think I'm crazy or obsessed, but finding my baby is the most important thing to me.
Lyrics © Wixen Music Publishing, BMG Rights Management
Written by: JIMMY REED, MARY REED
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Shim267
You're officially one of my favorite people in the world... Thanks so much for the uploads!
Betty Kubat
My favorite singer forever❤️❤️
Bob Aldo
I especially love all Jimmy's Vee Jay singles from the 50's. After a certain point in the 60's Jimmy's singles became more formulaic - & kind of all sounded the same. (That was after Vee Jay was defunct.) But I still enjoyed every one of the singles anyway. Jimmy's personality, character, whatever you want to call it, always came through. He was such a sweet guy.
jacques casier
you are a great musician !!!
Tex Todaro
Jim I am 75 still dig your music god blessyou
GibbSaw
I'm 20, blues never dies! It just hibernates.
Bob Aldo
Me too! And I still have all Jimmy's 1950's 45 rpm records..
Aria Cinquantuno
I've just transcribed the lyrics for my uncle and I thought of posting them here as weel, seen as they don't seem to come up in any search results.
Jimmy Reed "I'm going to get my baby".
Well, my things a-start hoppin’
and my knees start a-rockin’...
gonna find my baby boomer
built to start a-rockin’...
I’m gonna get my baby,
I’m gonna get my baby,
gonna get my baby,
gonna get my baby for me.
Well, she’s my mama...
Loochy-hoochy goo-dee hoochy-goochy
once you got the love, now
on the way to the movies...
I’m gonna get my baby
gonna get my baby
I’m gonna get my baby
gonna get my baby, right now.
Well, I called California
and I called New York
for it’s over, I’m gonna
call me a problem.
I’m gonna get my baby,
gonna get my baby,
I’m gonna get my baby,
gonna get my baby, right now.