"Bright Lights, Big City" is a classic

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

song which was written and first recorded by American bluesman

Jimmy Reed Mathis James Reed (September 6, 1925 – August 29, 1976) was an American blues musician and songwriter. His particular style of electric blues was popular with a wide variety of audiences. Reed's songs such as "Honest I Do" (1957), "Baby Wha ...

in 1961. Besides being "an integral part of the standard blues repertoire", "Bright Lights, Big City" has appealed to a variety of artists, including country and rock musicians, who have recorded their interpretations of the song.

Background and lyrics

Called a "textbook Jimmy and Mama Reed duet", "Bright Lights, Big City" was a collaborative writing effort between Reed and his wife, Mary "Mama" Reed. It is a

cautionary tale A cautionary tale or moral tale is a tale told in folklore to warn its listener of a Risk, danger. There are three essential parts to a cautionary tale, though they can be introduced in a large variety of ways. First, a taboo or prohibition is ...

about urban life, with the narrator lamenting the loss of his wife or girlfriend to the nightlife and enticement of an unnamed city: The song has a traditional

twelve-bar blues The twelve-bar blues (or blues changes) is one of the most prominent chord progressions in popular music. The blues progression has a distinctive form in lyrics, phrase, chord structure, and duration. In its basic form, it is predominantly ba ...

form in Reed's signature "steady-rolling style". It was recorded in Chicago in 1961 with Jimmy Reed (vocal and harmonica), Mama Reed (vocal), Jimmy Reed, Jr. (guitar),

Lefty Bates Lefty Bates (March 9, 1920 – April 7, 2007)Doc Rock (2007) TheDeadRockStarsClub.com. Accessed October 13, 2011. was an American Chicago blues guitarist. He led the Lefty Bates Combo and worked with the El Dorados, the Flamingos, Jimmy Reed, Joh ...

(guitar), Earl Phillips (drums), and an unidentified bassist. The song was one of Reed's most popular songs and reached number three in the

Billboard R&B chart The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by ''Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 po ...

as well as number fifty-eight in the pop

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100, also known as simply the Hot 100, is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), o ...

. "Bright Lights, Big City" was included on the album ''

Jimmy Reed at Carnegie Hall ''Jimmy Reed at Carnegie Hall'' is a double album by Jimmy Reed, released in 1961. Though the title suggests that the record was recorded live, it consists of studio recreations of a Carnegie Hall performance along with additional studio recordin ...

'' and appears on many Reed compilations.

Chart performance

Notable versions

British bluesman

Duster Bennett Anthony "Duster" Bennett (23 September 1946 – 26 March 1976) was a British blues singer and musician. Based in London, his first album ''Smiling Like I'm Happy'' saw him playing as a one-man band, playing a bass drum with his foot and blowing ...

(1946-1976) issued in

Blue Horizon (record label) Blue Horizon Records was a British blues independent record label, founded by Mike Vernon and Neil Slaven in 1965, as an adjunct to their fanzine, ''R&B Monthly'', Mike Vernon, ''The Blue Horizon story 1965-1970 vol.1'', notes of the booklet ...

a single with his version of "Bright Lights, Big City" in 1969, recorded live at the Gin Mill Club in

Godalming Godalming ( ) is a market town and civil parish in southwest Surrey, England, around southwest of central London. It is in the Borough of Waverley, at the confluence of the Rivers Wey and Ock. The civil parish covers and includes the settl ...

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

. This song formed part of his live permormances ever since and has been reissued in the compilation of 2006: ''Complete Blues Horizon Sessions,'' a collection of the first three albums plus early singles. American country music singer

Sonny James Jimmie Hugh Loden (May 1, 1928February 22, 2016), known professionally as Sonny James, was an American country music singer and songwriter best known for his 1957 hit, " Young Love", topping both the ''Billboard'' Hot Country and Disk Jockey s ...

recorded "Bright Lights, Big City" in 1971. An early review included: "Jimmy Reed's blues number serves as strong material for the Southern Gentleman both vocally and for some exceptional guitar work". The song was James' fifteenth number-one hit in a row in the country chart as well as reaching number ninety-one in the pop chart. The song is included on James' 1971 album ''The Sensational Sonny James'' and several of his compilation albums.

Chart performance

Recognition and legacy

Jimmy Reed's "Bright Lights, Big City" is included in the

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), also simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum and hall of fame located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States, on the shore of Lake Erie. The museum documents the history of rock music and the ...

list of "500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll".

References

{{authority control 1961 singles 1971 singles Songs written by Jimmy Reed Jimmy Reed songs Sonny James songs Vee-Jay Records singles Blues songs 1961 songs