Originally published in DoSavannah
Hard-driving jazz/blues singer Francine Reed to perform at Mars Theatre
04 May 2015
Francine Reed has been Lyle Lovett’s singing partner for more than 30 years, but she also performs as a solo artist.
On May 9, Reed will appear at Mars Theatre in Springfield. A member of Lovett’s Large Band, she also has recorded duets with Willie Nelson, Roy Orbison and Delbert McClinton, and appeared on stage with Miles Davis, Stanley Jordan, Smokey Robinson, Etta James and The Crusaders.
In 1985, friends introduced Reed to Lovett, who was searching for a female singer for his band. At that point, Lovett was still a struggling unknown performer.
“Lyle was my mainstay,” Reed says. “I’ve recorded with and did a couple of concerts with Willie Nelson and a song or two with Delbert McClinton. I love the Texas men and they love me.”
Together, Reed and Lovett appeared on such television shows as “Late Night with David Letterman,” “The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson” and “Regis and Kathie Lee.”
“We appeared several times with Johnny Carson,” Reed says. “Every time was great. People are wonderful.”
In the 1990s, Reed moved to Atlanta, where she released her first solo album, “I Want You to Love Me.” She is best known for her performance of “Wild Women (Don’t Get the Blues),” written in 1924 by Ida Cox.
Born near Chicago, Reed was reared in Phoenix, Ariz. Her entire family sang.
She and her siblings — Margo, Michael, Tony, Laverne, Melody and Bucko — performed professionally with their mother, Girlie. Their father, Leonard Reed, had his own group, The Original Singing Crusaders.
”I was the baby girl of seven and everyone sang,” Reed says. “I didn’t know anything else. That was the way we had fun.”
Reed clearly remembers her first performance.
“I was 3 years old and it was at my aunt’s church in Chicago,” she says. “She was the leader of the choir.
“I sang ‘I Want to See Jesus’ in front of the congregation. That song hooked on me and I learned it. “She said, ‘Sing it in church,’ and there we go,” Reed says. “Any time anyone said, ‘Hit it, girl,’ I was performing.”
For a time, Reed didn’t realize she could sing as a career.
“I didn’t think about that until probably high school,” she says. “I had something and I knew I could do it any time I wanted to.
“I just knew what I could do. I didn’t realize until I was in high school or so that this was what I was supposed to do.
“Then I got married and started having kids and it all went another direction,” Reed says. “I didn’t stop singing, I just didn’t go a lot faster. Anything is hard with kids.”
Although Reed had to put her dream of singing full-time on hold until her children were older, she kept the dream alive by performing in local jazz clubs and at functions in Phoenix. She opened for artists such as Miles Davis, Etta James, Smokey Robinson and The Crusaders.
None of Reed’s children sing.
“I have a grandson who is rapping, but doesn’t every grandson?” she says. “I don’t see the musical thing going on.
“However, my brother Michael has two daughters who are on their way,” Reed says. “They’re showing signs of being professional singers.”
There have been many highlights in Reed’s career.
“I’ve had so many wonderful, blessed opportunities in life, it’s ridiculous,” she says. “They kept coming and coming.
“The angels have been leading me in my musical career,” Reed says. “I was lucky enough to get around a lot of great people.”
IF YOU GO
What: Francine Reed
When: 8 p.m. May 9
Where: Mars Theatre, 109 S. Laurel St., Springfield
Cost: $25
Info: 912-754-1118 or www.marstheatre.com
Originally published on May 4, 2015.
For more information visit DoSavannah