A.C. Reed; 77, Blues Saxophonist, Singer and Songwriter

A.C. Reed, 77, a Chicago-based blues saxophonist, vocalist and songwriter, died of complications from cancer Wednesday at a Chicago hospital.

During a career that began in the late 1940s, Reed played his fat-toned tenor sax on records and in live performances with artists including Albert Collins, Buddy Guy, Bonnie Raitt, Son Seals and Stevie Ray Vaughan. Reed recorded three solo albums and led his own band, the Spark Plugs.

Born Aaron Corthen in Wardell, Mo., he was raised in southern Illinois. He moved to Chicago in 1942 and found work at a steel mill.

He bought a saxophone at a pawnshop after hearing a Jay McShann record, and studied at the Chicago Conservatory of Music at night while working at the mill.

Reed turned to the blues in the 1950s and, by the early 1960s, had become an in-demand session player for some small Chicago-based record labels. He joined Buddy Guy and Junior Wells’ band in 1967, toured Africa with the group and opened a Rolling Stones tour in 1970. He left Guy’s band in 1977 and joined first Seals and then Collins for more than a decade.