“Bright Lights, Big City”
Sonny James
Written by Jimmy Reed
Billboard
#1 (1 week)
July 24, 1971
We’re nearing the end of the number one streak that we picked up midstream, with “Bright Lights, Big City” serving as the fifteenth of sixteen consecutive chart toppers from Sonny James.
The chart performance is as impressive as James’ commitment to the material, but just like this hit’s one week at the top suggests he’s starting to lose steam commercially, the record itself shows James losing the plot artistically.
He has clear reverence for Jimmy Reed’s foundational blues record that was so important for the development of rock and roll. He just can’t pull it off convincingly. James has gone outside his wheelhouse before and delivered effective covers of R&B classics, but this one is too far out of his reach.
It’s painful to say, as I have enjoyed quite a bit of James’ run at the top, but this cover isn’t a throwback to Jimmy Reed and the golden age of rock and roll. It’s a throwback to the Pat Boone covers that lost their relevance once white audiences fully embraced black artists.
“Bright Lights, Big City” gets a C.
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I think it’s a pretty good performance but his vocal is lacking a bit of the energy for the song itself. I would give it a “B”.