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Francine Reed gushes over Al Green gig
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Without a doubt, Atlanta vocalist Francine Reed is one of the most confident, self-assured singers we’ve ever encountered on this beat.
After all, Reed once opened for jazz legend Miles Davis, and afterward the notorious perfectionist poked his head into her dressing room to tell her, “You were great.” The woman sang “The Lord’s Prayer” solo and a cappella at Lyle Lovett and Julia Roberts’ 1993 wedding.
Only once have we seen the beloved performer completely and utterly star-struck to the point of shrieking. But in 2000, when the Rev. Al Green stepped into Chapter 11 Books at Ansley Mall in Midtown to sign copies of his autobiography “Take Me to the River,” Reed lost it to the point of us speculating that she might not remain vertical.
Atlanta, prepare the smelling salts.
Last week, Reed received a phone call from Atlanta Bureau of Cultural Affairs director Camille Love. Might she be interested in opening for the Rev. Al on April 29 at his Chastain Park Amphitheatre gig as part of the city’s Soulful Sounds of Summer concert series?
“Baby, you could have scraped me off the ceiling!” Reed, laughing, told Buzz Tuesday. For the first time in a week, the ever-busy performer finally found a moment to “take off my wig and put my [posterior] on the couch.” And, well, talk to us.
“I cannot wait,” she said of the gig. “I’m just secretly hoping that he remembers that a million years ago, sometime in the late ’80s, he gave me a big old kiss at the Grammys.” Reed performed on the telecast as the featured vocalist in Lovett’s Large Band.
Last year, for the first time in at least 15 years — because of a prior European solo tour booking — Reed was unable to perform with her bandmates when Lovett and company made their annual summer stop at Chastain.
“That just about killed me, not to sing for y’all,” she recalled. “But this year, I’m gonna come back to Chastain in a big way. And I’m gonna be all over that man’s dressing room door until they make me move, too!”
Tickets, priced at $48.50, $38.50 and $33.50, go on sale at 10 a.m. Saturday at all Ticketmaster locations. For more info, visit www.atlantafestival.com.
Overscene
Finally, we can quit inspecting those weekend pictures of Britney Spears at Vision nightclub, analyzing them for baby “bumps.” Well, unless she’s contemplating adding fetal alcohol syndrome to her baby’s DNA coding, that is. Buzz Central on Tuesday was e-mailed the cocktail menu of the artist formerly known as a “toxic” pop tart. When she and hubby Kevin Federline checked out B.E.D. downtown prior to K-Fed’s long-awaited debut as a professional nightclub attendee Saturday night, she ordered up a Red Head in Bed. The concoction of muddled strawberries, fresh lemon juice and Absolut citron, topped with Robert Mondavi muscato, came with a request by K-Fed — keep it on the weak side. Federline ordered a cocktail with an even more suggestive name and snacks, including a phyllo-wrapped baked brie, smoked shrimp, cheddar grits and jumbo lump crab ravioli.
FYI to our fellow AJC toilers who recently have had difficulty gaining entry to our new neighborhood hot spot on Marietta Street: B.E.D.’s persnickety dress code has now apparently been amended to include sideways ball caps and white tank top undershirts. See you after work!
Sick bay update
“The View” co-host Star Jones Reynolds says reports of her plastic surgery perils were greatly exaggerated.
Jones Reynolds called in to her daytime talk show workplace Monday to discuss her breast-lift surgery and to dispute what another host, Meredith Vieira, described as “rumors circulating that she almost died.”
“How are you, Star?” Vieira asked her in the on-air conversation.
“Well, can we first start with … I did not almost die,” Jones Reynolds replied. “I mean there is nothing worse than sitting in a bed watching a scroll across the TV that says ‘Star Jones faces death.’ … [The doctors] all knew that I was anemic and just in case I ended up needing some blood, which I did, they were prepared. They gave me the blood and literally I was fine right afterwards.”
Jones Reynolds added that she was conscious during the transfusion. Jones Reynolds said the surgery included receiving implants.
Oh yeah, and before she hung up, the author of “Shine: A Physical, Emotional & Spiritual Journey to Finding Love” called co-worker Joy Behar the name of a female dog.
Celebrity birthdays
Host John McLaughlin (“The McLaughlin Group”) is 79. Comedian Eric Idle is 63. Composer Vangelis (“Chariots of Fire”) is 63. Singer Perry Farrell of Porno for Pyros and Jane’s Addiction is 47. Model Elle Macpherson is 43. Singer-harmonica player John Popper of Blues Traveler is 39. Actress Lucy Lawless (“Xena: Warrior Princess”) is 38. Country singer Brady Seals is 37.
Contributing: news services. If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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