Here's a much better obituary --

Obit: Susan Reed

Linn

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The entire text (added by Joe Offer):

Susan Reed, Folk Singer, Dies at 84

April 30, 2010, 12:33 AM ET [Wall Street Journal]

Susan Reed, one of the top folk singers of the 1940s and 1950s, has died. She was 84 years old.

Born in Columbia, S.C., her father was an entertainer and she encountered a wide range of performers while growing up. Leadbelly was among those who helped introduce her to folk music, and the poet Carl Sandburg was a family friend. She often performed traditional numbers such as “Danny Boy” and “He Moved Through the Fair” and became known for her work on the harp and the zither.

Reed appeared on the screen as well as the stage and starred in the movie “Glamour Girl” in 1948 with Gene Krupa. “GENE KRUPA’S drummin’ SUSAN REED’S strummin’” read one of the movie’s promotional taglines.

Like a number of other folk-music performers, Reed was blacklisted in the 1950s, and her career withered.

“Where do you find all these unusual songs of yours?” she was once asked.

“Oh, almost anywhere, or wherever people live and work and play, you’ll find songs that they like to sing,” she replied.

Here’s a clip of Reed on a radio show from the 1940s.