Lula Reed

A longtime cohort of pianist/maker Sonny Thompson, singer Lula Reed recorded steadily for Cincinnati-based Ruler Records through the mid-’50s after debuting on polish in 1951 to sing Thompson’s original edition from the moving ballad “I’ll Drown in my own Tears” (a 1956 smash for Ray Charles as “Drown in my Tears”). After providing as Thompson’s vocalist initially, the appealing chanteuse was sufficiently founded by 1952 to price her own Ruler produces. She was flexible, singing metropolitan blues more often than not but switching to gospel for any 1954 program. Reed’s strident 1954 waxing “Rock and roll Like” was later on revived by labelmate Small Willie John. She briefly relocated to the Chess subsidiary Argo in 1958-1959 but came back to the collapse in 1961 (as usually, under Thompson’s path) on King’s Federal government imprint. While at Federal government, she waxed some sassy duets with guitarist Freddy Ruler in March of 1962. Another move — to Ray Charles’s Tangerine logo design in 1962-1963 — quickly followed. From then on, her whereabouts are unfamiliar.