REEDY, JOHN WILLIAM (1918-1983)
REEDY, FRANCES WILLIEBOB (RIDNER) (1922-2006)
John Reedy was born in Tennessee and his wife, Frances, was born in Bell County, Kentucky. They were married in 1936 in Harlan, Kentucky where they appeared on radio for 17 ½ years. In 1939 John wrote his most famous song “Somebody Touched Me” which has become a gospel standard. Their first recording of it was in 1949 on the Twin City label in Bristol, Tennessee/Virginia. Around 1953 they moved to Dayton and John went to work in one of the GM plants. While in Dayton, they recorded an EP on Cincinnati’s Ark label, three singles on Jalyn, one on Rusty York’s Jewel label in Cincinnati, and four self-produced singles on their own label which gives an address on 5180 Wolf Creek Pike in Dayton. One of the self-produced singles was “Oh Death” and although John didn’t write it, his recording of it was highly influential. In the early 1960s they cut six EPs on Starday on which Dayton’s Dorsey Harvey was reputed to have been the mandolin player. They moved back to Kentucky in the mid 1960s, went through a divorce and re-marriage and started recording again in the mid 1970s with three singles on the Viola label in Barbourville, Kentucky, an LP on the Barbourville label, and a self-produced Eight Track. “Oh Death” and “Somebody Touched Me” were anthologized numerous times on Various Artists LPs on Starday and Rounder and CDs on Fuel, JSP, Gamco, and Gusto.