I'm in the Wrong Business! is an album by the American musician A.C. Reed, released in 1987.[2][3] Backed by the Spark Plugs, Reed promoted the album with a North American tour.[4] It sold around 50,000 copies in its first two years of release.[5]
Production
The album was recorded in four studios across the United States.[6] Reed wrote all of the album's songs; his saxophone style was influenced by J. T. Brown.[7][8]Bonnie Raitt, Maurice John Vaughn, and Stevie Ray Vaughan played on I'm in the Wrong Business![9][10]Junior Markham played harmonica on "This Little Voice".[11] The title track is a complaint about the music business; Reed made it a point to use humor in his songs.[12][13]
Robert Christgau wrote that, "title boast to the contrary, Reed has a commercial knack—he knows how to distinguish himself from competing bluesmen, more gifted ones included."[16]The Boston Globe deemed the album a "red-hot session" by the "definitive Chicago blues sax player."[19]USA Today stated that "Steve Diztell's careening guitar break on the irresistibly funky 'Don't Drive Drunk' is impressive."[20]
The Washington Post noted that, "rhythmically, the album generally has the languid, loping feel of a Jimmy Reed tune."[12]The Philadelphia Inquirer determined that Reed "makes his own blues sound both accessible to the marketplace and gratifyingly raunchy."[18] The Herald American wrote: "By not taking the blues too seriously, Reed has produced one of the genre's most contemporary works."[21]
AllMusic called the album "solid, soulful blues, often with humorous, self-deprecating lyrics."[14]
