Lula Reed

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Lula Reed
Birth nameLula Marietta McClelland
Also known asLulu Reed
Born(1926-03-21)March 21, 1926
Tangerine

Lula Reed (born Lula Marietta McClelland, March 21, 1926 – June 21, 2008)

Freddy King
. She was occasionally credited as Lulu Reed.

Background

Reed was born in Mingo Junction, Jefferson County, Ohio. As a child her family moved to Port Clinton, Ohio,[2] where she sang in her local church choir.

Career

Reed was mentored by blind gospel singer Professor Harold Boggs, before winning an audition over 50 other contestants in Toledo to become the vocalist with Sonny Thompson's band.[3] Credited as vocalist on Thompson's records, she made her recording debut for King Records in Cincinnati in late 1951, on the song "I'll Drown in My Tears" written by Henry Glover. The song reached no.5 on the Billboard R&B chart in 1952, and was recorded by Ray Charles in 1956 as "Drown in My Own Tears", with wider commercial success.[4][5]

Reed's next record with Thompson, "Let's Call It A Day", also written by Glover, reached no.7 on the Billboard R&B chart.

Cash Box annual poll in 1954, and continued to record for the King label until 1956. However, Reed failed to have any further chart hits. King released an album of her recordings, Blue And Moody, in 1958.[1][4][8]

Reed and Thompson recorded for the

Tangerine label set up by Ray Charles, and recorded a series of singles in the early 1960s. Her final single was released in 1967.[1][7][8]

She then left the music business, due to lack of true promotion by the last record company she signed with. But she always talked with family and friends about her career singing and recording secular rhythm and blues music and wanted her granddaughters to follow her footsteps. She died in Detroit, Michigan in 2008 at the age of 82.[2] Her son, also a talented vocalist is Reginald Melvin Reed and great-granddaughters Dejah McKenzie and Dominique Johnson great-grandsons Joel Fox and Joshua Weaver granddaughter is Melludee G. and Nicole G.(Detroit, Michigan).

Several compilation albums of her recordings have been issued, including I'll Drown in My Tears – The King Anthology.[8]

Legacy

In Episode 4, Season 1 of Totems (2021), French CIA agent Virgil'e (José Garcia) listens to Reed in his apartment.

References

  1. ^ a b c Lula Reed at SoulfulKindaMusic.com. Retrieved December 29, 2013
  2. ^
    ISBN 978-0313344237
    .
  3. ^ Jet, 22 January 1953, p.62. Retrieved December 29, 2013
  4. ^ a b Dave Penny, Lula Reed, Black Cat Rockabilly. Retrieved December 29, 2013
  5. ^ a b Whitburn, Joel (1996). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942–1995. Record Research. p. 443.
  6. ^ Jet, 9 September 1954, p.63. Retrieved December 29, 2013
  7. ^ a b Biography by Bill Dahl at Allmusic.com. Retrieved December 29, 2013
  8. ^ a b c Pete Hoppula, Lula Reed Discography, WangDangDula.com. Retrieved December 29, 2013
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