Guitarist Jimmy Reed's laid-back style remains one of the friendliest entry points into the blues. His low-volume electric approach, though relatively quiet, was rhythmically relentless; in the 1950s he was one of the prime architects of the style known as the blues shuffle, which was a key building block of rock music. (The Who, Neil Young, and legions of other rockers are deeply indebted to Reed's sound.) Along the way, Reed also exerted a pivotal influence on the British blues boom of the mid-1960s.