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Buddy's new single 
dropped 
August 8, 2024!

Make your summer a little hot and spicy with some Good Moanin'! 

Listen Now on Spotify!

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MUSIC

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Bio

THIS IS BUDDY

Blues guitarist Buddy Reed
"Really smokes. . .I’m glad you’re still out there doing it right! Keep up the good work.”
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                                    - Charlie Musselwhite

 
“Lots of guys today have studied and learned correct blues guitar, but...if you want the real, lowdown, soulful, and natural feel, you get Elmo “Buddy” Reed to play it. He’s the real deal, straight from his big ol’ Okie heart”
​
                                       - James Harman
“Reed’s guitar has the intensity of a Luther Tucker or a young Buddy Guy with a wicked tone to match”
                                     - Mark Hummel
 
Buddy has been recognized as the creator of the West Coast Blues Sound by the California State Senate and the City of Los Angeles. He is a member of the Arizona Blues Hall of Fame. 
 
Buddy Reed Certificate of Recognition California State Senate
Buddy Reed Certificate of Appreciation of City of Los Angeles
Blues guitarist Buddy Reedy with Muddy Waters

Buddy Reed with Muddy Waters

Buddy Reed with Willie Dixon

Buddy Reed with Willie Dixon

Buddy Reed with Bacon Fat and George "Harmonica" Smith

Bacon Fat with Buddy Reed and George "Harmonica" Smith.

Buddy Reed playing live with Bo Diddley

Ivan Elmo "Buddy" Reed is a seasoned performer and a vital part of blues history. As a teenage guitarist, he would play the “Battle of the Bands” at the National Guard armories around his home town of Rialto, California. Then in 1968, he met Little Walter protege George “Harmonica” Smith.

As Buddy tells it, “George had a lot going on, so I went with him. Unknown to me at the time, he was friends and neighbors with the great Pee Wee Crayton and none other than Willie Mae “Big Mama” Thornton. They lived in the Watts district of L.A. and this is where we started school. Blues school! It was me and Rod Piazza, Richard Innes and Jerry Smith. Sometimes we’d bring down a 14-year-old guitar phenomenon, Greg “Little Guitar” Schaefer. Me from Rialto and the rest of ‘em from Riverside. Then, to round it out, from George’s neighborhood we had the great J. D. Nicholson on piano. J.D. had been a touring and recording artist in his own right for years. We were "The George Smith Blues Band featuring Rod Piazza. We became the house band at George’s neighborhood club 'The Small Paradise' on the corner of 53rd and Avalon. We just called it Small’s. We worked there every Friday, Saturday and Sunday. George was the real thing, from Chicago, actually Cairo, close by. He’d played with Muddy and everybody else. After all the years of performing, man, he had the stage thing DOWN! All the other artists, great and small, looked up to George. I had never even HEARD of Muddy Waters until they hit. When I first heard them and seen all the chicks screamin’ I said 'This is for me'."

The biggest names in the business passed through Small's - Lightnin' Hopkins, Jimmy Reed, Howling Wolf, T-Bone Walker, Muddy Waters, Johnny Otis - and Reed and his bandmates backed them up. George Smith and his disciples were soon touring the states with Big Mama Thornton, and recording and touring in England. Pressed to come up with a new band name in the studio, Reed suggested "Bacon Fat." Smith and band recorded three albums with Fleetwood Mac producer Mike Vernon for the Blue Horizon label.

Back in the States, Buddy left the band to join his rock n' roll idol, Little Richard, playing Las Vegas and touring nationally for a year. Reed then reunited with Jerry Smith and Richard Innes, performing under his own name. Since then, Buddy has traveled the Western states with his current trio (and sometimes quartet) Th' Rip It Ups.

Over the decades, Buddy Reed has crafted a unique style, combining a raw and passionate vocal style, high energy staccato rhythm guitar, and searing leads. He sings and plays with a sweat drenched intensity rarely matched by his peers. A highlight of the show is his slide guitar showcase, inspired by Muddy Waters, Elmore James and J. B. Hutto. His repertoire reflects his love for early rock & roll, including the songs of Chuck Berry, Little Richard and The Coasters. His originals speak of the hard life of an uncompromising blues veteran.

In 1998 Buddy Reed was inducted into the 
Arizona Blues Hall of Fame. In 2012, Reed's recording with the late George "Harmonica" Smith, "Teardrops Are Falling" was nominated for Historical Album of the Year by the Blues Foundation. He has been recognized by the City of Los Angeles and the California State Senate as the creator of the West Coast Blues Sound.

 

Buddy Reed with Bo Diddley

 DISCOGRAPHY

Recordings

Year
Album Title 
1970
1970
1971
Grease One For Me
No Time For Jive
Tough Dude
1971
Arkansas Trap
1983
Short Dress Woman
1985
Tough Enough
1986
Live at Smalls Paradise
2001
2006
Livin' It
The Complete Blue Horizon Sessions
2011
Teardrops Are Falling
2011
2021
Blues Sez It All
This Is Buddy Reed: A Selection of Live Cuts 
Band 
Label
Bacon Fat
Blue Horizon
George Harmonica Smith
Blue Horizon
Bacon Fat
Blue Horizon
George Harmonica Smith
Blue Horizon
Buddy Reed and the Rocket 88's
Trash Records
Buddy Reed and th' Rip it Ups
George Harmonica Smith and Bacon Fat
Taboo Records
Blue Horizon
Buddy Reed and th' Rip it Ups
George Harmonica Smith and Bacon Fat
Buddy Reed and the Rocket 88's Featuring George Harmonica Smith
Buddy Reed and th' Rip it Ups
Ruby Records
Sony BMG
Electro-Fi Recotds
Ruby Records
Buddy Reed and th' Rip it Ups
La Hooty Records

Collaborations

Year
1989
1998
1999
1999
2001
2004
2005
Album
Up and Jumpin'
Takin' Chances
All Star Blues Sessions
All Star Blues Sessions
Blues For Big Walter
Snakes Crawls At Night
No Turn On Red
Artist
Mark Hummel
James Harmon
Clarence Edwards
Jimmy Rogers & Bob Corritore
Jimmy Rogers & Bob Corritore
Chief Schabuttie Gilliame
Lousiana Red & Bob Corritore
Song
Summertime (Inst)
Sweet Sweet Dream
Hear That Rumblin'
Out On the Road
She Loves Another Man
Lie To Me
I Done Woke Up
Cotton Pickin' Blues
Label
Rockinitis Records
Cannonball Records
HMG Sound Recordings
HMG Sound Recordings
Eller Soul Records
Random Chance Records
HMG Records
Mary Dee Shuffle
2007
House Rockin' & Blues Shoutin'
Louisana Red
Red's New Dream
Time Will Tell
Blue Witch Records
2010
2018
2022
Harmonica Blues
Hard Core Harp
Tell Me 'Bout It
Bob Corritore
George Harmonica Smith
Lousiana Red
1815 West Roosevelt
Juke
Mary Dee Shuffle
Delta Groove
Electro-Fi
Vizztone/Sumac Records
New Jersey Blues
Erline Who's Been Foolin' You
Bessemer Blues

Compilations

1970
How Blue Can We Get
Bacon Fat
Boom Boom (Out Go the Lights)
Blue Horizon
1990
Lizards: A Phoenix Compilation
Buddy Reed & th' Rip it Ups Fea.  Bob Corritore
Smalls On 53rd
You Don't Love Me
Zia Records
1992
1993
Cookin' With The Blues
Blue Saguaro: Arizona Blues
Buddy Reed & th' Rip it Ups
Buddy Reed & th' Rip it Ups
Rialto Rock
Rialto Rock
Beehive Records
Fervor Records
1994
1994
1994
1994
1994
1995
1995
1995
1997
1997
1998
1998
2000
Singin' the Blues
Down and Out Blues
Born With the Blues
Red Hot Blues
Blues With A Feeling
Dr. Boogie-Hard To Find
Dr. Boogie-Hard To Find
Shut Up, Play Yer Blues
The Blue Horizon Story: 1965-1970 Vol 1
Blues Collected Vol 3
Blues Box: The World's Famous Blues Tracks
Nothin' But the Blues
Blues Anthology Vol 1
Buddy Reed & th' Rip it Ups
Buddy Reed & th' Rip it Ups
Buddy Reed & th' Rip it Ups
Buddy Reed & th' Rip it Ups
Buddy Reed & th' Rip it Ups
Bacon Fat
Bacon Fat
Buddy Reed & th' Rip it Ups
Bacon Fat
Rialto Rock
Blues For Mud
Rialto Rock
Blues For Mud
Beehive Records
Castle Communications
Emporio Records
Castle Communications
Rialto Rock
Castle Communications
Smalls On 53rd
Smalls On 53rd
Rialto Rock
Boom Boom (Out Go the Lights)
Rowyna Music
Viceroy
Music Club
Columbia
Buddy Reed & th' Rip it Ups
Buddy Reed & th' Rip it Ups
Blues For Mud
Blues For Mud
Buddy Reed & th' Rip it Ups
Buddy Reed & th' Rip it Ups
Rialto Rock
Rialto Rock
HMV
Polymedia
Castle Communications
St. Clair Entertainment Group
2000
2002
2004
Classic Blues Vol 7
Birth of the Blues
The Ways of Blues-Modern Style of Blues
Buddy Reed & th' Rip it Ups
Buddy Reed & th' Rip it Ups
Bacon Fat
Rialto Rock
Digimode
Blues For Mud
Soho
Boom Boom (Out Go the Lights)
Sony Music Media
2009
Blues - Intro Collection
Buddy Reed & th' Rip it Ups
Blues For Mud
Union Square Music

GUTBUCKET BLUES

Press

NEWS AND PRESS

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NEWS

Buddy Reed is excited to announce that he has just signed a deal with Concert First Entertainment in Quebec City, Canada. John Walker of Concert First will be booking Buddy and th' Rip It Ups in the United States, Canada, and Internationally. Stay tuned for more developments! 

Buddy Reed Interview in Inland Empire Magazine
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Contact
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CONTACT

Management: Lost Mind Ranch, LLC

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Booking: Concert First Entertainment

For booking inquiries contact: 
booking@concertfirst.live 
(581)622-1295

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Record Label

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