Wiley Dean Reed (5 January 1944 – 7 October 2012) was an

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Aus ...

-based

African-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...

blues musician and songwriter, who sang and accompanied himself on the piano.

Biography

Born in

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville ( ) is the most populous city proper in the U.S. state of Florida, located on the Atlantic coast of North Florida, northeastern Florida. It is the county seat of Duval County, Florida, Duval County, with which the City of Jacksonv ...

on 5 January 1944, Reed began singing in the local church choir at the age of nine, and was already an accomplished musician in his native United States before he arrived in Australia in 1967. He toured extensively throughout the United States, Australia and Europe, and made three trips to Vietnam (1967, 1968, 1969) to entertain troops. Reed began his career in Australia at the Two Eyes Club where he performed with fellow blues artists

Billy Thorpe William Richard Thorpe AM (29 March 1946 – 28 February 2007) was an English-born Australian singer-songwriter, and record producer. As lead singer of his band Billy Thorpe & the Aztecs, he had success in the 1960s with "Blue Day", "Poison Iv ...

, Phil Manning,

Doug Parkinson Douglas John Parkinson (30 October 1946 – 15 March 2021) was an Australian pop and rock singer. He led the bands Strings and Things/A Sound (1965), the Questions (1966–1968), Doug Parkinson in Focus (1968–1970, 1971), Fanny Adams (1970� ...

and Jeff St John. He became known for his deep soulful style and his generosity, helping many musicians. His last recording titled ''Straight from the Heart'' (2003) won three 'Sunnie' awards for Best Male Vocalist, Best Blues Album and Best Male Vocalist at the Gold Coast International Jazz and Blues Festival. In November 2010, Reed collaborated with a new lineup of Brisbane musicians to create and record original material under the pseudonym Moses 'Turkey Slap' Washington, a fictional Delta bluesman who sings blues-rock with comedic lyrics. This was slated for release in 2011. In 2012, Reed and his band opened the 2012 Broadbeach Blues Festival and was a highlight act on the main stage at the 2012 Noosa Jazz Festival. Reed died in hospital due to complications from an earlier fall on 7 October 2012 in Brisbane, Australia.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Reed, Wiley 1944 births 2012 deaths Australian blues musicians American emigrants to Australia Musicians from Jacksonville, Florida 20th-century Australian musicians 20th-century American musicians