Mathis James "Jimmy" Reed (September 6 1925 - August 29 1976IMDb biography details - accessed December 2007) was an American blues singer notable for bringing his distinctive style of blues to mainstream audiences. Reed was a major player in the field of electric blues, as opposed to the more acoustic-based sound of many of his contemporaries. His lazy, slack-jawed singing, piercing harmonica and hypnotic guitar patterns were one of the blues most easily identifiable sounds in the 1950s and 1960s..