J. "LEO" Allred

Leo (aka TATER RED) passed away on Saturday, June 1, 2024 at his home.  Leo was born October 29,1958 and grew up in Ruleville, Mississippi.  He is better known world wide by his friends and family as Tater Red, proprietor of Tater Red’s Lucky Mojos on Beale Street in Memphis.  He is predeceased by his father, Johnny Leo Allred, Sr.

 

Tater Red grew up in the Mississippi Delta and was surrounded by the blues music of the Delta which became a very large part of his life.  During high school, he played baseball, football, and loved fishing.  His love and passion of fishing led him to becoming one of the youngest Bass Tournament fishermen in Mississippi at the age of 16.

 

After high school, Tater graduated from Delta State University in Cleveland, Mississippi and moved to Memphis, Tennessee.

 

Tater’s love for Blues Music and the Blues artists drew him to Beale Street.  Working in various restaurants and venues in the Hospitality Industry around the city fed his passion for cooking.  He is a member of the Clopton United Methodist Church Men’s Club and participated in many cooking events held at the church.  During this time, he was surrounded by more local Blues music and artists from around the world.  Tater’s larger than life personality led him to becoming a well know radio personality hosting radio shows on local Memphis radio stations.  He featured Blues music and Blues artists from around Memphis, around the nation, specifically the Mississippi Delta, and then from around the world. Tater then partnered and managed the Tater Red’s Lucky Mojos for more than 20 years.  This venture kept him in touch with anything Blues, especially the Musicians and Artists and Blues organizations.

 

He is survived by his wife of 26 years, Sharron Coleman; his mother,  Ruby Allred (Jimmy) Chunn of Beulah, MS; his brother, Tim (Donna) Allred and niece Madison, of Southaven, MS; aunts, Jane Ward of Beulah MS and Mary Ida Williams of Ruleville MS; his stepson, Marvin (Laura) Coleman; step-granddaughters, Lesley Coleman and Anna Leigh Coleman, both of Collierville; brother in-law, Bill (Cheryl) Jordan of Burr Ridge Ill; sister-in-law,  Tammy (Ernie) Gray of Atoka and nephew Palmer Gray of Chattanooga, TN.

 

Services will be held at 11 a.m. on Friday, June 7, at the Clopton United Methodist Church with visitation beginning at  10 a.m. Graveside services will be held at 3:30 p.m. on Friday, June 7 at the Lehrton Cemetery in Ruleville, MS. 

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorials be made to the Lewy Body Dementia Foundation or the Clopton United Methodist Church.