I was greatly enjoying Alligator Records’ Living Chicago Blues, Vol. 3 collection this past weekend (ALCD 7703) – tunes originally released in 1980), and in particular, was reveling in A.C. Reed’s “She’s Fine.”  The loping cadence of the song, with Reed declaring to all the world the fabulous attributes of his lady’s “structure,” perhaps represents the perfect crowd-pleasing club rave-up.  Reed and his band, the Spark Plugs, consisting of Larry Burton and Phil Guy providing ideal funky blues guitar stylings, Allen Batts’ meandering keyboard runs, Aron Burton supplying staunch bass frameworks, and Casey Jones keeping everything together with his solid drumming, across their four selections of the disc remind me of some of my favorite times at Chicago’s Kingston Mines blues joint on N. Halsted St. when Reed would hold down a weekend slot.  Listening to “She’s Fine” I could close my eyes and see Reed on the club’s stage, saxophone in hand, a mischievous twinkle in his eyes, and rousing the crowd with his always-gratifying blues tunes and on-stage demeanor.

Of course, hearing Reed on the Alligator Records compilation compelled me to seek out his other superb recordings, and over the weekend I reacquainted myself with his pleasing brand of blues.  To that end, since I’ve not previously offered a brief overview of A.C. Reed’s life and blues trajectory, now seems the ideal time to do so.

The blues saxophone and vocal great we all know as A.C. Reed came into the world as Aaron Corthen in early May, 1926 in Wardell, Missouri, a very small town in Pemiscot County, a region in the extreme southeast portion of the state nearly abutting northwest Tennessee.  As one would imagine in a rural town that consisted of a meager 0.28 miles, there wasn’t much in the way of entertainment, just the day-to-day hardships of rural life.

Like many of the blues artists profiled here, and for Reed (who took his performing name from bluesman Jimmy Reed), music provided an outlet for joy in his life.  And Reed wasn’t alone in his early appreciation for music, and stated during his life that he was exposed to it from a young age along with other family members.  He repeatedly acknowledged that he had a couple of brothers who played music, one having apparently fashioned a single-string bass out of a wash tub and pole, while another was drawn to the piano. 

It’s interesting how blues artists arrive at their instruments-of-choice, and  it is said that Reed had zero interest in pursuing playing anything other than the saxophone.  Was their someone in his hometown area who played the instrument, was he perhaps attracted to it through listening to the radio (if the family did indeed have one), or did a  musician who performed on the saxophone passing through town drive his desire to take up the instrument?  I am not clear if anyone really knows.

What is certain is that Reed, at the age of 16-years-old, made his way northward to Chicago.  For anyone in 1942 during the height of World War II to make such a move was bold, but for a teen it had to be especially daunting.  However, Reed truly wanted to be a saxophone musician, and he saw Chicago as certainly offering way more chances to do so rather than the rustic area of Missouri from where he came.

Obviously, the first items on Reed’s list after arriving in the big city was to find shelter and employment, and he was able to obtain a position in a steel plant.  Then, to satisfy his yearning to play the saxophone, he dedicated a portion of one of his early paychecks to acquire a tenor saxophone from a pawnshop operation.

Reed continued working in the steel mill, and knew he needed formal instruction on the saxophone, especially because one of his biggest musical interests was the big band format, and those assemblages not only needed top-tier musicians who were highly proficient on their instruments, but could also read charts, as well.  He cited Jay McShann as an early musical inspiration.  To achieve the musical training he felt he needed, Reed enrolled in the Chicago Conservatory Of Music.  Like many aspiring musicians, Reed had his musical heroes, and he affinity for noted tenor saxophone giant Gene Ammons. 

Without asking Reed directly why he found Ammons’ style of play so appealing, perhaps the answer is really quite apparent.  As he continued his employment in the steel plant, Reed ventured out onto Chicago’s vibrant music scene to sit-in the blues bands to be found about town (though he was not of legal age).  But remember, Reed found attraction to Ammons’ variety of play.  Though Ammons was a jazz man, he tended to play, unlike others in his jazz circles, in a more soulfully rich, bluesy manner.  It is only reasonable, then, to believe that Reed’s turning toward the blues was in some measure precipitated by Ammons’ more blues-designed jazz framework.

Sometime during Reed’s initial journey onto Chicago’s blues landscape, he was able to witness the legendary blues slide guitar titan, Elmore James, perform in the clubs, and thus was able to make contact with his saxophone bandmate, J.T. Brown (aka Nature Boy Brown, Bep Brown, and Saxman Brown).  As Brown also performed on the tenor saxophone, making friends with Brown provided Reed someone to talk with and learn from regarding both his saxophone play and the blues panorama in Chicago.  The biggest lesson it is said that Reed took from Brown was that it was not necessary to be that performer that tries to show-off and play as many notes as possible; no, it was very important to be sparse with how many notes one plays and to make each one count.  Playing the saxophone behind a bandleader or as a bandleader, Brown strongly suggested, was about conveying the essence of the narrative upon which a particular song is based; the backing and solo should always complement the song.

World War II eventually ended in early September, 1945 and, when it did, Reed was still not old enough to be able to play in the clubs legally, though he continued to be let in the venues to sit-in.  But once he turned 21 years of age, Willie Mabon, the blues and R&B piano player, singer, and harmonicist recruited Reed to perform with his bands in Chicago’s numerous music joints. 

Reed had, up until this point, played exclusively on the Chicago circuit.  However, Earl Hooker, the esteemed blues slide guitar great, saw the expertise Reed had on the saxophone and hired him into his band.  After playing with Hooker for a bit, Reed signed on with Dennis “Long Man” Binder in 1956 as a member of Binder’s Rhythm & Blues All-Stars band, a gig that lasted for roughly four years, with a bulk of the performing taking place in the U.S. Southwest.  Reed often intimated that while with Binder the group play a lot of up-tempo R&B music; think Little Richard type of fare.  And interestingly, Reed often told of how the outfit played a considerable number of shows for Caucasian spectators.

But Reed tired of life on the road and missed Chicago, and in the very early 1960s he returned to the big city.  There, he continued to gig in the clubs, though he had made a big enough name for himself to begin recording.  In 1961, on Mel London’s Age Records label, Reed made his recording debut with Earl Hooker & His Band on one side of a 45rpm release, with Hooker having a release on the other side. 

During the 1961-1963 period, however, Reed saw six sides released on Age Records under his own name.  It is important to note that Hooker played on Reed’s records where he was the leader.

All the while Reed continued to play the blues joints he was also in demand as a session player, backing various bluesmen including singer Ricky Allen, vocalist Lillian Offitt, and the great post-war blues colossus Muddy Waters, while he also continued to back Hooker’s studio efforts.

Reed also saw the 1965 release of a 45rpm record on Chicago’s U.S.A. Records.

The year 1967 was to be big for Reed.  Things were happening for the blues with young British fans devouring the music, and it was likewise the beginning of a domestic blues boom.  Young Caucasians were increasingly turning toward the blues in America, and Reed saw the opportunity to make an alliance with Chicago blues guitar giant Buddy Guy and Chicago blues harmonica great Junior Wells as very advantageous.  By joining forces with Guy and Wells, Reed experienced roughly a decade touring with them, playing shows across the United States.  Through his association with Guy and Wells, Reed was able to be included on albums for them both. 

However, even bigger things were to happen for Reed, as during the period when he was aligned with Guy and Wells he also toured with none other than rock-n-roll royalty, The Rolling Stones. 

For the ten-year period when Reed was with Guy, Wells, and The Rolling Stones, there probably wasn’t a corner of America he didn’t perform in, even having the opportunities to ply his saxophone trade in far-away lands such as Japan and Africa.

It should be noted that during this period, Reed cut 45rpm records in 1969 and 1970 for the Chicago-based Nike Records and T-D-S Records labels, respectively.

But again, like other touring blues associations, the one with Guy and Wells concluded.  Back in Chicago, Reed was leaning toward shying away from the endless touring road, only to play local shows. 

However, there must be something about touring the countryside playing music that someone who is not a musician can’t understand because Reed’s absence for the road was very short-lived as he signed-on for a 1978 series of shows with the up-and-coming bluesman, Son Seals, that took place overseas.

But it can be successfully argued that Reed’s already significant awareness on the blues scene was about to grow exponentially when he became a five-year member of Albert Collins’ famed Icebreakers band.  Through this association, two major things majorly and positively impacted Reed’s musical career.  First, with Collins he got to relentlessly tour and be seen and heard by many thousands of fans, especially because he was put in the spotlight on each show to sing, giving the crowd a big taste of his world-weary, tongue-in-cheek, surly vocals and stellar saxophone work.  Plus, he was able to be included on five of Collins’ Alligator Records release.  Now, his profile had been extremely raised.

Also, in 1981, Reed had released a 45rpm record on the Chicago Ice Cube label.

Finally, 1982 was the year when Reed saw the release of his first full-length recording, one for the Ice Cube label entitled Take Thes Blues And Shove ‘Em!, an extremely enjoyable eight-song outing under the name A.C. Reed & His Spark Plugs, one that was the ideal for his, again, jaded and pained observations of life.  One tune off of the release was nominated for a Blues Music Award.

1986 was another good year, as Reed and multi-instrumentalist Maurice John Vaughn released “I Got Money” on the Blue Phoenix label (also re-released on the Black & Blues label in 2002).  But it was Reed’s 1987 Alligator Records release of I’m In the Wrong Business that again upped his blues profile.  Here, the ten-song outing completely and abundantly presented the entire Reed blues package.  The tunes were top-shelf, certain of his touring band were strongly behind him, his singing was never better, and the international stars who made guest appearances, guitarists and singers Bonnie Raitt and Stevie Ray Vaughan, brought their fans into the Reed world.  This was, and remains, the definitive Reed collection.  Alligator Records was indeed very good for Reed.

With his trademark dress shirts, striped pants, and small-billed hat, Reed and his band found a wanting blues public on the road, and they toured extensively all over the U.S. in venues both small and large, and upon festival stages, due to the success and exposure the Alligator Records release provided.

Another collection entitled Junk Food for Ice Cube Records saw the light of day in 1997 (re-released on Delmark Records in 1998), and there are other outings to be found, including one on Wolf Records.

Into 2003, Reed was still touring.  But, in 2004, he died from cancer in early 2004, leaving behind a legacy of a very small-town Southern boy whose dream of playing the saxophone for a living came true, finding him multitudes of fans the world over.