'It's my gift': At 75, beloved blues icon Francine Reed isn't ready to pass the mic

Francine Reed recalls singing “I Wanna See Jesus” for the congregation at her aunt’s church as a 3-year-old from Pembroke Township, Illinois.

“When I could talk, I could sing,” she says.

By 5, she was the youngest member of the family gospel group, joining her mother and six siblings on a Chicago church radio broadcast.

“There was seven Reeds,” she says. “We all came out of Illinois and we all sang. We were given this gift to share with the world.”

In 1975, her sister Margo moved to Phoenix and the family followed.

“She's gone on to glory, bless her heart,” Reed says. “But Margo just had this idea to go to Phoenix and we were a very close family. So boom boom, we came. That's how the Reed family got to be here.”

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Reed was in her 20s at the time.

“I didn't know very much, but I knew I could sing,” she says. “We all knew we could sing."

So she and Margo started showing up at local clubs and sitting in as often as they could.

“Margo and I would go hear different bands and we would kind of sing along with the songs they were playing from the audience,” Reed says.

“It was pretty much the Phoenix audience that said, 'Let these girls get up and sing with the band.' We were new and we were green.”

It wasn’t long before she and her sister were getting their own gigs.

“We have a history of more than I can tell you because at 75 my memory is not that great,” Reed says.

“But I do remember many of the clubs we played. They're all gone now, of course. The Boojum Tree. Margo sang at Page Four. We played so many clubs it would just make your head swim. I played at Chuy's in Tempe for years. The Bombay Bicycle Club in Scottsdale. We were graced with some wonderful musicians we could pack together and say ‘Let's have a band; let's do it.'"

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How Francine Reed became Lyle Lovett's go-to vocalist

Reed was one of the Valley's most popular jazz and blues vocalists by the time she left for Atlanta in the early '90s.

She also came to the attention of Lyle Lovett, touring and recording as a member of his Large Band from 1985 through 2021, when she decided it was time to come in off the road.

Lovett was an up-and-coming singer-songwriter who’d been invited to record the demos that became his debut album at Chaton Recordings in Scottsdale with the Mr. Lucky’s house band, J. David Sloan and Rogues.

“Lyle needed a singer,” Reed recalls. “So they brought him to Chuy's in Tempe, where I was singing. According to Lyle, I was singing 'Wild Women Don't Get the Blues,' which was kind of my signature song and still is. And he said it changed his life. So he brought me into the studio and boom boom boom, the rest is history.”

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Francine Reed says she and Lovett have 'a special thing together'

Three songs on Lovett’s latest album, “12th of June,” are there specifically to showcase the crowd-pleasing chemistry that’s developed through the years between Lovett and Reed — "Straighten Up and Fly Right," "Gee, Baby, Ain't I Good to You" and "Peel Me a Grape."

Those first two songs have been part of the live show for several tours.

In an interview last year with the Arizona Republic, Lovett explained why he chose to include them on the album.

"A few summers ago, I asked Francine if she'd sing them with me as a way to showcase her more in the live show," Lovett says. "And because we'd played them live, I thought it would be nice for people to be able to have them on a recording."

They did "Peel Me a Grape" to add another standard to the mix when they went back on tour.

Then the pandemic hit.

"This record was supposed to come out two years ago," Lovett said.

"But because of the pandemic isolation, everything stopped. And during that time, Francine decided to just sort of step back and not tour. I was hopeful she would do this tour but I certainly am happy for her to do what she wants to do."

They've had a good run, Reed and Lovett.

“It's been almost 40 years,” Reed says. “So we've been blessed to have each other.”

Reed has no idea why they work so well together.

“I liked what he did, but mostly, I needed the money,” she says. “So I went in the studio and we just kind of clicked.

"I have no idea how that happened or why that happened, except we had a special thing together. And Lyle liked it enough to put me on all these amazing recordings that we've done. I don't know how or why. Why does the sun shine? I have no idea.”

She wasn’t looking at that session as the first step on a road that’s lasted nearly 40 years.

“I just wanted to make some money and raise my four children,” Reed says.

“But after we were done, I was pleased. The next thing you know, we did our first Austin City Limits a few months after we recorded at Chaton. And that was the beginning of it. As I recall.”

Reed laughs then adds, “And I don't recall that great. There may be other stories.”

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When Francine Reed left Phoenix for Atlanta

Asked what inspired the move to Atlanta, Reed says, “It was time to go, you know? When the time comes, you've just got to get up and bust a move.”

Most of her musical family had moved to Telluride, Colorado, for a gig.

“They knew I was busy with Lyle, so they all up and went to Telluride,” she recalls, with a laugh. “I'm going 'OK... then I'm gonna go to Atlanta.'”

As impulsive as she makes it sound, Atlanta was the right move at the right time, bringing Reed to the attention of Ichiban Records, the Atlanta label on which she was able to launch her recording career.

As she recalls the circumstances, “They said, 'Oh, my God, this Francine Reed. She can sing. How about you come and do some songs with us? And we'll put out a record.' I said, ‘OK, fine.'”

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Releasing 'The Incomparable Francine Reed'

She’s back in the Valley now with a record release show set for Wednesday, Feb. 8, at Westside Blues and Jazz in Glendale.

The album, “The Incomparable Francine Reed,” is her second release on Fervor Records, an independent label out of Phoenix that’s gotten her music placed in several television shows.

“I don't pick the titles,” Reed says. “I don't pick the cover. I don't pick the songs. I just sing. And it's an absolute pleasure. Because at the happy age of 75, I still get to do a little singing and recording and my voice can be heard in so many places.”

Andy Gonzales, who introduced Reed to the team at Fervor, served as the album’s producer and primary songwriter.

Her first album on Fervor, released in 2015, was called “Wild Hearted Woman” and played to the soulful side of Reed’s aesthetic, from the horn-driven groove of the upbeat title track to the gospel-flavored ballad “It’s All About You.”

“The Incomparable Francine Reed” has been designed to showcase Reed's incomparable jazz chops in understated arrangements featuring piano by the great Nicole Pesce, with Dwight Kilian on bass and Todd Chuba on drums.

Francine Reed's return to Phoenix

Reed met Pesce after moving back to Phoenix.

“She is, to me, pure genius and a wonderful young lady," Reed says. "She's just an amazing player."

Reed moved back to Phoenix six or seven years ago, when her oldest son had congestive heart failure.

“They said he wasn't going to live long,” Reed says.

“So I packed my stuff. And in three weeks’ time, I moved back here to be closer to him. They thought he was gonna be gone in a very short time. He was in hospice, in fact. And unbeknownst to them, I'm a praying child. I love the Lord. He heard my cry. And I got to spend another five years with my son.”

Now that she’s back, she’s back to stay.

“I'm to the point now, I don't feel like packing up nothing and moving across no country or going anywhere,” she says. “I really don't. And I love Phoenix. I can deal with the summer. For many years, I was with Lyle and every summer we'd tour. So that got me out of the heat.”

When all the venues shut down in response to COVID-19, that gave Reed some extra time to reevaluate her touring lifestyle.

“I was looking at my numbers, ‘Hmm, I'm kind of tired of being on this road,’” she says.

“And I know it was very successful. It was very profitable. But I can't keep doing that. I'm no spring chicken, for God's sake. So it seemed like time. And I was right about that. It was time for me to let that go.”

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She’s still playing locally. And when Lovett came through Mesa Arts Center last year, she rejoined the Large Band for a handful of crowd-pleasing turns in the spotlight.

“I'm not real active, but I do enough to keep the lights on and the food in the refrigerator,” Reed says.

“That's pretty much it. I love sitting at home. What I'm doing now is crocheting and knitting and sewing. Puzzles, cooking, chillin' like a villain and posin' like I'm frozen. That's pretty much it.”

She still enjoys performing.

“If I didn't enjoy it, I wouldn't do it,” she says. “Believe that. But it's my passion. It's my gift. And if I don't do it too often, I'm good.”

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'The Incomparable Francine Reed' release show

When: 6:30 p.m. Wednesday Feb. 8.

Where: Westside Blues and Jazz, 17045 N. 59th Ave., Glendale.

Admission: $10.

Details: 602-761-6816, westsideblues.com.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Blues music icon Francine Reed isn't ready to pass the mic