Lacee
Daddy B. Nice's #77 ranked Southern Soul Artist
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LaceeDaddy B. Nice's #77 ranked Southern Soul Artist |
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"I Ran A Good Man Away" Lacee Composed by Lamanuel Boykins, Jerry Flood & Lacy Reed November 10, 2018: Read Heikki Suosalo's in-depth interview with Lacee in Soul Express. 
May 4, 2017: NEW ALBUM ALERT! Sample/Buy Lacee's new MIND GONE CD at Amazon Listen to Lacee singing "Mind Gone" on YouTube. Track List:1 Mind Gone by Lacee 2 Cheating on Your Woman by Lacee 3 Don't Come for Me by Lacee 4 Three Way Love Affair by Lacee & Willie Clayton 5 No Broke Man by Lacee 6 Marry Me by Lacee & Calvin Richardson 7 Who's Is It by Lacee 8 Don't Let the Clean up Woman by Lacee 9 Get It Together by Lacee 10 Away from Him by Lacee 11 Gotta Leave Gotta Go by Lacee 12 Ladies Night by Various artists Listen to Lacee singing "Who's Is It" on YouTube. Sample/Buy Lacee's MIND GONE CD at CD Express.
January 27, 2017: From Daddy B. Nice's BEST OF 2016:  Best Ballad: "Do You Think About Me?" by Wendell B. feat. LaceeListen to Wendell B. and Lacee singing "Do You Think About Me?" on YouTube.
Daddy B. Nice's Original Critique: "I Ran A Good Man Away," Lacee's break-out hit from her sophomore album, Lacee's Groove (Advantage), was an exceptional song when it was released as a single in 2009, and time has only proven it to be as good or better.
Several factors combine to make it a Southern Soul classic for the ages. The song brings together a great young songstress (incidentally, the title of Lacee's debut CD, Songstress 2006, JEA), with a top-drawer composition. The Memphis-based singer's delivery has the heft and clarity of Aretha Franklin or Tina Turner in their prime, or--more recently--the enormously popular singles of rock/folk singer Cheryl Crow. "Ladies--" Lacee begins-- "Can I tell you a story? Can you listen To what I have to say? I want to tell you how I ran a good man away. I met this guy Who showed me things, Things I'd never seen. The man was so good to me. He treated me like a queen." Like a great short story or novella, the whole of the tale is implied in those introductory words. The listener immediately senses the trajectory of the narrative. What did the heroine do to mess up this ideal situation? Listen to Lacee singing "I Ran A Good Man Away" on YouTube while you read. "You see, I came with a lot of baggage From my past. I had been with a few other guys Who mistreated me so bad. But there was one other guy That stayed in my head. He really didn't mean me no good. He was just good in bed." You don't have to be a detective to know Lacee's heroine is skating on thin ice, and Lacee throws out the lyrics with a passion that brooks no inattention. In a 2006 interview with Heikki Suosalo of "Soul Express," in reply to a question about her influences, Lacee noted: "Patti LaBelle! I love Patti LaBelle. All through school I would do Patti LaBelle, and I would do some Gladys Knight, but Patti--I love her. And I got to add my mom, too. She was ingenious in her own way. "I learned music from my mom. She was a dynamic gospel singer, and my father was a pastor, a preacher of a church. I owe it all to my mother. She taught me everything." You can hear echoes of Patti LaBelle's "Lady Marmalade"-- "Mmm Hmmm Gitchi Gitchi Ya Ya Da Da Gitchi Gitchi Ya Ya Here. . . " --in the conversational tone and no-nonsense immediacy of "I Ran A Good Man Away." The song is compact, a scant three minutes, which further amplifies its power. None of its strengths are dissipated in an extra two minutes of needless repetitions, as is so frequently the case with chart-aspiring Southern Soul singles. "So here I was, ladies, Lying to my man at home. Going behind his back To be with the man I know did me wrong." The guitar hook is a key component. As Lacee sings, the guitar fills in with special poignancy and taste on the song's linchpin stanza: "One day he pulled up in his car, Saw me with the other guy. He said he'd followed me For quite some time, And he drove away With tears in his eyes." And so the domestic parable comes to its succinct and bitter end. "I ran a good man away. I know I made a mistake." You could throw a blanket over it--you could pour a chute full of ready-mix cement over it--and you couldn't muffle the message in "I Ran A Good Man Away," "Lacee's Groove," the title tune from the album featuring Lacee's "I Ran A Good Man Away," can't boast the same compositional excellence as "Ran A Good Man Away," but Lacee's vocal expertise carries over, making the mid-tempo rocker an interesting bookend. Listen to Lacee singing "Lacee's Groove" while you read. The remix of "Lacee's Groove"--included on the LACEE'S GROOVE album--is also noteworthy, adding some hiphop-flavored synthesizer fills that accentuate its rhythmic appeal. Lacee's Groove is without a doubt Lacee's finest CD. Her debut disc, Songstress, while showing much promise, was an uneven effort without a true chitlin' circuit anthem on the level of "I Ran A Good Man Away" or even "Lacee's Groove." It captures a young singer searching for her style, experimenting with everything from urban R&B to lightly-flavored hiphop to tentative Southern Soul. Lacee's third CD, Soulful, just out in 2011 (as this critique is being written), on first impression bears more similarity to the variety and urban-r&b experimentation of the SONGSTRESS CD than to the mainline Southern Soul of LACEE'S GROOVE. (Scroll down to "Tidbits #1 below to sample two songs from the new album featured on YouTube.) --Daddy B. Nice About Lacee Lacy Yvonne Reed was born in Memphis, Tennessee on July 1st in the early seventies. After winning competitions which showcased her talent, Lacee's professional career began as a background singer for Little Milton, which led to contributions to work by Memphis's Archie Love and J. Blackfoot, Shalamar's Howard Hewett and gospel singer Stevenson Clark.
Song's Transcendent Moment "So here I was, ladies,
Tidbits 1.October 27, 2011: Listen to Lacee singing "Can't Say No" on YouTube. Listen to Lacee singing "Don't You Hate It" on YouTube. 2.September 29, 2011: Lacee was given prominent mention in Daddy B. Nice's year-end review of Southern Soul in 2009 as follows: The best lines of the year came from Lacee Reed's "I Ran A Good Man Away"--also one of the best titles of the year. "You see, I came with A lot of baggage from my past. I had been with a few other guys Who mistreated me so bad." 3.More Lacee on YouTube:Listen to Lacee and Wendell B. singing "Do You Think About Me?" on YouTube. Listen to Lacee singing "Move Something" on YouTube. Listen to Lacee singing "Who's Is It" on YouTube. Listen to Lacee singing "Sex You Up" on YouTube. Listen to Lacee singing "Juice Lips" on YouTube. Listen to Lacee and Tucka singing "Move Something (Remix)" on YouTube. If You Liked. . . You'll Love If you liked Tina Turner's version of "Proud Mary," you'll love Lacee's "I Ran A Good Man Away."
Honorary "B" Side "Lacee's Groove" |
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