Reedy CD Box Set Coming Soon!

Cover of 2-CD Collection
on Shanachie Records

In our last post, we acknowledged Nathan Gibson's public hints about Ivy Sheppard working on a "collection" of Reedy music. We are pleased to announce that pre-orders are available for the new 2-CD remastered box set "The Legacy of John and Frances Reedy," which will be released September 2, 2022! 

A couple of years ago, Ivy and Shanachie Records founder Richard Nevins contacted the Reedys' granddaughter Timi Reedy about their music housed at Berea College Special Collections and Archives. They also travelled to Kentucky last year to visit the archives and met Timi and several of her cousins in Corbin. 

Bluegrass Today recently posted about the upcoming album release,* which includes the cover image and sample tracks reposted here. The first CD includes re-releases of commercial recordings from Starday Records, and the second CD includes some never-before-heard tracks from homemade reel-to-reel recordings. Timi and her partner Tammy Clemons contributed to the liner notes in the 20-page booklet included with the CDs. 

The first page of Google search results for the phrase "Legacy of John & Frances Reedy" includes numerous retailers offering pre-orders of the album, and the second page includes Ivy Sheppard's repost of the Bluegrass Today article on her "Born in the Mountain" Facebook page and several Japanese websites. We already knew the Reedys were "big in Japan," but the global pre-release publicity is exciting to see!

Screen Image of "Legacy of John & Frances Reedy Google Search

Plans for a release party are underway, so we'll share additional details about where and when that will happen. We are endlessly grateful to Ivy Sheppard and Richard Nevins for making the dream of remastering and rereleasing the Reedys' music finally come true! We are so glad they will reach wider audiences around the world. Enjoy this brief excerpt and look for the complete 2-CD collection soon!

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* Note: The Bluegrass Today author erroneously stated that Starday Records was in Dayton instead of Nashville.

Reedys Remembered in Starday EP Series

In October 2021, musician and ethnomusicologist Nathanial Gibson included the Reedys on a blog post and a "Back to the Country" (WORT) radio program playlist about the Starday Extended Play (EP) Series, including a complete Starday EP record list. We shared a blog post of "Reedy References" a few years ago that mentioned Gibson's publication,The Starday Story (2011), and several other previous posts mention Starday among the Reedys' multiple record labels.

The radio program begins about 4:43 minutes into the audio file, and Gibson first mentions the Reedys (and mentions them first) among the "best bluegrass gospel recordings Starday ever issued" about 6:03 minutes in. He later includes about 20 minutes' worth of Reedys in an extended segment!

The Reedy playlist starts at timecode 2:19:23 with Frances' opening vocals on "Oh Death" (Starday SEP 166, Side A/Track 1). After the song, Gibson sings the chorus, claps, and exclaims "What a jam!" He mentions both John and Frances Reedy by name and credits Frances singing lead even though John's name is the only one listed on the record. He also references the Stanley Brothers learning the song from the Reedys based on Reid and Rosenberg's book The Music of the Stanley Brothers (2014), also mentioned in the "Reedy References" post. [2:23:18] 

After discussing the origin of the song and recapping another Starday artist, Ramona Jones (wife of "Grandpa Jones"), Gibson introduces an extended set by the Reedys [2:24:15]. He even says that his "favorite of all the Starday EP's are those by John Reedy and the Stone Mountain Trio." He goes on, "They're pretty hard to find, but they're wonderful! That "Oh Death" is just the tip of the iceberg of some of the awesome music sung by John and Frances Reedy." He corrects the Rounder Records liner notes, which erroneously referred to them as brother and sister instead of a married couple, but he mistakenly names "Oh Death" instead of "Somebody Touched Me" as their song that was included on the "Early Days of Bluegrass" compilation (Rounder 1013). He does credit "Somebody Touched Me" as a "John Reedy original" and "very popular gospel music standard."

Gibson returns to Frances saying he "just loves her voice" and then plays an entire set of tracks with her on lead vocals! "She's one of my favorite vocalists. So let's do a set of Frances Reedy songs." 

Timecode	Song Title	Record ID	Side/Track
2:26:20	"Climbing the Stairway to Heaven"	Starday SEP 179	Side B/Track 1
2:28:50	"Come and Go with me"	Starday SEP 222	Side B/Track 2
2:30:32	"I Feel Jesus"	Starday SEP 209	Side B/Track 1

When the playlist ends, Gibson notes it is "Just an absolutely wonderful, wonderful collections of records." He also acknowledges Frances and John's granddaughter and documentary co-producer Timi Reedy and mentions that a "collections is in the works" (hint, hint) that Ivy Sheppard is helping work on. He shares additional biographical information about the Reedys, including their migration, brief divorce, and return to Kentucky. He also mentions the multimedia "treasure trove" on the Reedy documentary blog as well as the Reedy Collection at Berea College. 

Gibson says, "I don't think we've heard enough of them" and then plays another Starday set of "John Reedy and friends," including "Jonah" featuring Jimmy Murphy on lead, "Mighty Hand of God" with John Reedy on lead vocals, and "That Big Hand of God" with Jimmy Murphy singing again.

Timecode	Song Title	Record ID	Side/Track
2:37:17	"Jonah"	Starday SEP 209	Side A/Track 2
2:39:51	Mighty Hand of God"	Starday SEP 209	Side A/Track 1
2:41:35	"That Big Hand of God"	Starday SEP 209	Side B/Track 2

Nathan Gibson holding Reedy records on his
blog post "The Starday Extended-Play (EP)
Series on Back to the Country"

At one point, Gibson mentions that he is holding the Reedy Starday records in the image on his related blog post (though there is no photo caption). Gibson closes the Reedy segment with another shout-out to our documentary blog [2:45:12-2:45:28]. "If you're interested in learning more about John and Frances Reedy, please check out the RemembeReedy Blogspot webpage, or check out the Special Collections at Berea, or just go to YouTube and check out some of these really cool oral histories and things that are available."

Gibson personally followed up with us and shared a link to a re-edited version of the WORT radio program that includes more complete playback of the featured songs. We are grateful and excited to see and listen to such a knowledgeable scholar and collector celebrate the Reedys' music career on the Starday label.