Reed, Mama

Reed, Mama Mary Lee Davis Lyricist, muse, and sometimes backing vocalist, Mary Lee Davis was dubbed “Mama Reed” and later the “Boss-Lady” by her famous husband Jimmy Reed (1925–1976). The Reeds married after World War II; they met while teenagers. She is credited as coauthor on Reed’s “Bright Lights, Big City” and “Baby, What’s Wrong.” Lenny Goldberg (from Stormy Weather magazine) contends that Mama Reed brought uncredited help in cowriting much of Jimmy Reed’s songs from the late Vee-Jay…