Biography
Vocalist Francine Reed has no recollection of a period in her life before singing began. Born in Chicago and raised in Phoenix, the stylist performed in church and grammar school during childhood, turned professional alongside family members at age five, and sustained that work through her teenage years. Married early, she raised four children on her own while holding assorted daytime employment that kept music an avocation until 1985, when acquaintances brought her to Lyle Lovett’s attention. Seeking a female voice for his emerging ensemble, Lovett selected Reed, who then spent a decade touring as a featured member of his Large Band and joined the Texas songwriter for multiple television appearances. Although that partnership persists, Reed has also launched the independent solo path she long envisioned during her years of day jobs.
For the Atlanta-based Ichiban imprint she issued two albums, I Want You to Love Me in 1995 and Can't Make It on My Own in 1996; Lovett’s large-venue concerts with Reed undoubtedly boosted both releases. Additional opportunities included vocal work for television commercials, and a scene in the 1993 film The Firm shows Tom Cruise playing one of her records at high volume. The first Ichiban set contains a duet with bandleader Lovett, while the second features a duet with Delbert McClinton. Across both projects Reed extends the lineage established by earlier soul-blues singers such as Carla Thomas, Irma Thomas, and Etta James. She returned in 1999 with Shades of Blue on Intersound. After Ichiban’s initial closure in 2001 left her debut pair out of print, Reed and longtime associate Marvin Taylor revisited select material in a live studio setting, issuing the results as I Got a Right!...To Some of My Best. When the label revived in 2002 it assembled American Roots: Blues, a compilation drawn from those first two Ichiban recordings.
For the Atlanta-based Ichiban imprint she issued two albums, I Want You to Love Me in 1995 and Can't Make It on My Own in 1996; Lovett’s large-venue concerts with Reed undoubtedly boosted both releases. Additional opportunities included vocal work for television commercials, and a scene in the 1993 film The Firm shows Tom Cruise playing one of her records at high volume. The first Ichiban set contains a duet with bandleader Lovett, while the second features a duet with Delbert McClinton. Across both projects Reed extends the lineage established by earlier soul-blues singers such as Carla Thomas, Irma Thomas, and Etta James. She returned in 1999 with Shades of Blue on Intersound. After Ichiban’s initial closure in 2001 left her debut pair out of print, Reed and longtime associate Marvin Taylor revisited select material in a live studio setting, issuing the results as I Got a Right!...To Some of My Best. When the label revived in 2002 it assembled American Roots: Blues, a compilation drawn from those first two Ichiban recordings.
Albums
