Mike Reid (singer)

Michael Barry Reid(born May 24, 1947)is an Americancountry musicartist, composer, and former professionalfootballplayer. He played as adefensive tacklefor five seasons with theCincinnati Bengalsin theNational Football League(NFL).

Mike Reid
Born	(1947-05-24)May 24, 1947 Altoona, Pennsylvania,U.S.
Musical career
Birth name	Michael Barry Reid
Also known as	Mike Reid
Origin	Nashville, Tennessee,U.S.
Genres	Country music,rock,musical theatre
Occupation(s)	Songwriter,musical theatrecomposer, musician
Instrument	Vocals
Years active	1960s–present
Labels	Columbia
American football career
No. 74
Position:	Defensive tackle
Personal information
Height:	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Weight:	255 lb (116 kg)
Career information
High school:	Altoona Area
College:	Penn State(1966, 1968–1969)
NFL draft:	1970/ round: 1 / pick: 7
Career history
Cincinnati Bengals(1970–1974)
Career highlights and awards
First-teamAll-Pro(1972) Second-team All-Pro (1973) 2×Pro Bowl(1972,1973) Cincinnati Bengals 40th Anniversary Team Cincinnati Bengals 50th Anniversary Team Maxwell Award(1969) Outland Trophy(1969) Unanimous All-America(1969) Second-teamAll-America(1968)
Career NFL statistics
Sacks: 49 Fumblerecoveries: 2 StatsatPro Football Reference
College Football Hall of Fame

Born and raised inAltoona, Pennsylvania,Reid attended and graduated fromPennsylvania State University,where he playedcollege footballfor thePenn State Nittany Lions.Selected by the Bengals in the first round of the1970 NFL draftwith the seventh overall pick, he earned trips to thePro Bowlafter the 1972 and 1973 seasons, before retiring after the 1974 season. He subsequently focused on his musical career, co-writing several hit singles for country music artists, includingRonnie Milsap's "Stranger in My House",which won aGrammy Award for Best Country Songin 1984. Reid later began a solo recording career, releasing two studio albums forColumbia Records.He charted seven singles on theBillboardHot Country Singles & Tracks (nowHot Country Songs) chart as a singer, including the number one hit "Walk on Faith".

Football career

At college, Reid was a captain on both the Nittany Lions undefeated 1968 and 1969 teams that went 22–0. In his senior year (1969), the tackle spearheaded Penn State on defense with 89tacklesand was a unanimousAll-Americachoice and All-East selection. He won the Outland Trophy as the best College football interior lineman in 1969, and also was awarded the 1969Maxwell Awardand finished fifth in theHeisman Trophyballoting. Reid alsowrestledat Penn State and in 1967 he won the Eastern heavyweight wrestling title.In addition to athletics, Reid played Chicago gangster Big Julie in Penn State's production of the musical Guys and Dolls.

Reid was the first-round selection (#7 pick overall) of theCincinnati Bengalsin the1970 NFL draft.In the team's third season, it won theAFC Central Divisionand made the playoffs. In 1971, Reid established himself as one of the NFL's best pass rushers by recording 12sacks,a figure he repeated in 1972. In 1971 Reid was a consensus All-AFC selection and the following year he was consensusAll-Proas well as being voted consensus All-AFC again.

In 1973, he topped those marks by recording 13 sacks. He was named All-Pro by theNewspaper Enterprise Association(NEA) and was second-team All-Pro according to theAssociated PressandPro Football Writers Association.For the third consecutive season Reid was consensus All-AFC.

In 1974, due primarily to injuries, he recorded only seven sacks, bringing his career total to 49. In his final season, Reid was again an All-AFC selection byPro Football Weekly.Although sacks were an unofficial statistic, the Bengals kept track of them and Reid retired as the leading sacker in the team's short history.

He made two trips to thePro Bowl(1972 and 1973) before his retirement following the1974 seasondue to knee and hand injuries and his desire to focus on a music career. In 1996, he received theNFL AlumniCareer Achievement Award for his success in his post-NFL career.

He was elected to theCollege Football Hall of Famein 1987 and received theWalter Camp "Alumnus of the Year"award in 1987. In 1995, he received theNCAA Silver Anniversary Award.Reid was named as part of the Bengals' 40th Anniversary All-Time team in 2007. In 2017, Reid was named as part of the Bengals' 50th Anniversary All-Time Team.

Music career

After receiving hisBAin music fromPennsylvania State Universityin 1969, Reid would perform as a pianist for theUtah Symphony Orchestra,Dallas Symphony Orchestra,andCincinnati Symphony Orchestra.

When he abandoned his football career, he formed a band and began playing at a Holiday Inn location across the Ohio River from Cincinnati, then abandoned the idea of performing in bands and began playing solo at the Blind Lemon, and in the process, beginning to write his own songs. Living in Mount Lookout, he drove Eastern Avenue daily, and slowly "Eastern Avenue River Railway Blues" grew out of that. After a gig in Atlanta, Reid and some other musicians attended Southeastern Music Hall about 3:30 a.m. A cassette tape of that session somehow found its way to Jerry Jeff Walker, who, in 1978, became the first artist to record a Reid song, that being "Eastern Avenue River Railway Blues".

In 1980, Reid moved to Nashville, and quickly became known as an in-demand songwriter forRonnie Milsap.Larry Gatlinalso helped Reid spearhead his songwriting career.

In 1984, Reid won aGrammy Award for Best Country Songwith "Stranger in My House",which was recorded by Ronnie Milsap. Reid would also contribute compositions to artists such asMarie Osmond,Tanya Tucker,Collin Raye,Alabama,andConway Twitty.In the 1980s and 1990s, Reid wrote 12 No. 1 singlesincluding "Forever's as Far as I'll Go",which was recorded in 1990 byAlabama;their 29th number one country hit. He was also featured as a guest vocalist on Milsap's "Old Folks",a No. 2 hit from early 1988. He also co-wrote, withAllen Shamblin,Bonnie Raitt's hit "I Can't Make You Love Me",which reached #18 on the Billboard Pop Charts and has been covered by countless artists.

In 1990, Reid signed toColumbia Recordsas a recording artist. His debut albumTurning for Homeproduced a No. 1 country hit in its lead-off single "Walk on Faith",although the album's other singles were not as successful. His second album, 1992'sTwilight Town,produced two singles which both missed the Top 40.

A third album,New Direction Home,was released two decades later in 2012 by the small Off Row Records labeland is available on iTunes and Spotify as well as in an mp3 download from Reid's website.

By 1991, Reid composed the music for theCivil WarmusicalA House Divided.Over the following two decades, he wrote moremusicals,includingQuilts,Different Fields,Eye of the Blackbird,Tales of Appalachia,In This House,andThe Ballad of Little Jo,a 1997 winner of theAcademy of Arts and Letters''Richard Rodgers Award for Musical Theater'.

In 2019, he again returned to the musical theater stage withThe Last Day,a commissioned production co-written with NYU Tisch School of Performing Arts Assistant Dean, Sarah Schlesinger, for Reid's alma mater, Penn State.

Reid was inducted into theNashville Songwriters Hall of Famein 2005.

Discography

Studio albums

Title	Album details	Peak positions
		US Country
Turning for Home	Release date: February 2, 1991 Label:Columbia Records	22
Twilight Town	Release date: September 29, 1992 Label: Columbia Records	59
New Direction Home	Release date: February 6, 2012 Label: Off Row Records	—

Singles

Year	Single	Peak positions		Album
		US Country	CAN Country
1988	"Old Folks"(withRonnie Milsap)	2	12	Heart & Soul
1990	"Walk on Faith"	1	1	Turning for Home
1991	"Till You Were Gone"	17	8
	"As Simple as That"	14	11
	"I'll Stop Loving You"	23	11
1992	"I Got a Life"	54	81
	"Keep On Walkin'"	45	52	Twilight Town
	"Call Home"	43	42

Songwriting

For the most notable recordings of songs written by Mike Reid, seeCategory:Songs written by Mike Reid (singer).

Music videos

Year	Video	Director
1991	"Walk on Faith"	Deaton-Flanigen Productions
1992	"I'll Stop Loving You"
	"Keep On Walkin'"	Phil Tuckett
1993	"Call Home"	Deaton-Flanigen Productions

External links

• Mike Reidat theCollege Football Hall of Fame
• Career statistics fromNFL·Pro Football Reference·