JEANNIE REYNOLDS

[Rodmann2]

Hello everyone,

Every record that I hear by Jeannie Reynolds seems to
blow me away. She was wonderful on 'I Don't Mess
Around', 'People Make The World A Better Place', and
'The Fruit Song'. What a powerful voice!

I was saddened to learn that she committed suicide
after taking the lives of her two children in 1980. :cry:
When I decided to dig a little deeper the only thing I
could find out was that the incident was possibly drug
related and that she was the sister of L.J. Reynolds
of The Dramatics. How vague! Can anyone share the
real story of this Tragic Soul Sister with us? And is
there a collection of her work avaliable? Inquiring
minds want to know!

Thanks,

Rod Mann

[Forrrce]

Don't know anything about the lady, but she made two LPs for Casablanca - the second has a magic 'genie' lamp on the cover. You may want to seek out this one, too.

[DISCODISK]

RODMANN 2 jeannie goes right back to the late 60s recording for mainstream records in 69 she recorded a single for chess in 74 just prior to cassablanca,she also had a single in the early 70s released on people records under the name shirley jean

[originalbigm]

<From the AMG Biography written by Ed Hogan>

Singer Jeannie Reynolds, best known for "The Fruit Song," was the sister of L.J. Reynolds of the Dramatics. Though "The Fruit Song" is her signature song, her highest-charting single was the snappy "The Phone's Been Jumping All Day" on Casablanca Records, which went to number ten R&B on Billboard in summer 1975. Her only other R&B charting single was its follow-up, "Lay Some Lovin' on Me." With its "fruitful" cover, the singer's LP Cherries, Bananas and Other Fine Thingson Casablanca was issued in June 1976. One single from the LP, "The Fruit Song," written by Lawrence Payton of the Four Tops and Fred Bridges, became a huge disco hit, a post-release collectible, and a steppers standard. Another Casablanca LP, One Wish, was produced by Don Davis(Johnnie Taylor, the Dramatics, Marilyn McCoo, and Billy Davis, Jr.). Tragically, Jeannie Reynolds took her two children's lives before committing suicide in 1980.

[neonlights]

What a tragic story.. her voice was so raw and unpretentious..

Anyways I remember a couple of years ago I bought a sealed Linda Clifford album on ebay and when I received it, the seller had included Jeannie's "One Wish" album as a surprise bonus. It's such a good album - I ended up enjoying Jeannie's album way more than Linda's (though Linda's album is good too).. It's almost eerie sometimes when in one song she says "i wanted to give up sometimes..now i'm glad i changed my mind." - It's just too bad.. :(