In A Mellow Tone
Wednesday December 8th, 2010 with Ron Sweetman
LULA REED

LULA REED: A singer with a distinctive style, who came from the church, found fame with R&B bandleader Sonny Thompson, but gave it all up to return to the church.We’ll hear her recordings from December 1951 to February 1962 for the King and Federal labels. Lula Marietta McClelland was born on March 21, 1926 in Minjo Junction, Ohio. She began her singing career in a church choir, but when she came of age she was encouraged by family and friends to make singing her career. Her first recording session was as vocalist Lula Reed with Sonny Thompson and his Orchestra in December 1951. One tune “I’ll Drown In My Tears” was an immediate success, and by October 1952 she was recording as a solo singer, accompanied by Sonny Thompson. On all her recordings for King, she was accompanied by Sonny Thompson, and this partnership led to them getting married. The final date for King was in August, 1956, after which they moved to the Argo label, for whom they made four sessions, before returning to King, who issued their recordings on their Federal subsidiary label. Her final recordings were made for Ray Charles’ Tangerine label. Tonight we’ll be hearing her King and Federal recordings.