Eddie Taylor: "Ride 'em On Down" (1956)

adapted from box set bio: Eddie Taylor, himself a fine guitarist, will always be best remembered an an accompanist -- not only alongside Jimmy Reed, but also with Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, Homesick James, Roosevelt Sykes or Elmore James. Born in Benoit in Bolivar County, Mississippi, on Jan. 29th, 1923, Eddie would stand by the side of the local juke-joints as a little boy, soaking up the sounds of blues-icons like Charlie Patton or Robert Johnson. He got his first guitar at 13, taught himself to play and soon started to work around the Delta. He moved to Memphis at age 20, apprenticing on Beale Street, before finally settling in Chicago in 1949. His partnership with Jimmy Reed began in 1953 -- the two had not only met back in the Delta, but Reed originally learned to play guitar from Taylor. Through their collaborative work, Eddie also got a chance to record some sides on his own for VEE-JAY Records -- listen here to 1955's "Ride 'Em On Down" and connect the dots. The man with the old sound and modern ideas died on Christmas Day 1985, two years before his induction into the Chicago BLUES HALL OF FAME. Released April 1956 on shellac VEE-JAY 78 #VJ 385 (55-385) Reissued 2010 on 52-disc DOCUMENTS various artists CD box set #233168, "ABC OF THE BLUES (The Ultimate Collection from the Delta to the Big Cities)"