Blues

James 'Son' Thomas - Hard Times (2003)

2013-04-09T16:37:32Z

James 'Son' Thomas - Hard Times (2003)


1. Good Morning Little School Girl - 3:12
2. Sugar Mama Blues - 3:24
3. Rollin' And Tumblin' - 3:56
4. Nelson Street Blues - 2:51
5. Standing At The Crossroads - 3:59
6. Bumble Bee - 2:21
7. Hard Times - 3:34
8. Big Fat Mama - 4:26
9. Two Trains Running - 2:59
10. Whiskey Headed Woman - 3:35
11. Bottle It Up And Go - 2:33
12. Ethel Mae - 4:38
13. Forty Four Miles - 2:55
14. Crawlin' King Snake - 4:25
15. Beefsteak Blues - 2:55
16. Mama Talk To Your Daughter - 2:23
17. It Hurts Me Too - 4:17
18. Cairo Blues - 3:36
19. Steel Guitar Rag - 3:28

James 'Son' Thomas - vocals, guitar

Recorded in Paris, France March 19th, 1986

No one could ever say that James "Son" Thomas didn't have the right to sing the blues. A Mississippi share cropper and grave digger (and later, a furniture store laborer), Thomas lived a hard life that included being shot by his ex-wife, being severely burned by a space heater, surgery for a brain tumor, long battles with emphysema and epilepsy, and the final series of strokes and heart attacks that finally took his life. Along the way he developed into a skilled folk sculptor and a captivating guitarist and singer. He was officially "discovered" in 1967 by folk researcher William Ferris, who featured Thomas as the centerpiece of his book Blues From the Delta as well as several short films, opening the way for Thomas' entry on to the international folk and blues circuit, which led to this album, which was recorded in May 1981 in the Netherlands by Leo Bruin. It features Thomas alone with an acoustic guitar holding forth on fairly traditional Delta blues material in a generally high, near falsetto voice (he drops down in tone for a couple of songs, like "Hard Time Blues"). The hushed intimacy of the setting gives several of these tracks tremendous power, and although Thomas isn't particularly unique or innovative on anything here, his calm sincerity and easy style are immensely affecting.

As an intimate glimpse at one of the last true folk-blues musicians from the Delta, this is a valuable historical recording, but also an enjoyable one. ---Steve Leggett, allmusic.com

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James Son Thomas – Son Down On The Delta (1982)

2010-09-03T14:58:27Z

James Son Thomas – Son Down On The Delta (1982)


1-Highway 61
2-Ludella
3-Monologue On Bottlenecks
4-Steel Guitar Rags
5-Monologue On Ghosts
6-Crawlin' Kingsnake
7-Bottle It Up And Go
8-Big Fat Mama
9-Mean Old Frisco
10-Beefsteak Blues
11-Monologue On Getting Old
12-Mama Don't 'Low / Boogie Chillun

Guitar, Vocals – James "Son" Thomas

Son Thomas: ‘Son Down on the Delta’ is a very good live album recorded in Fort Worth, Texas in 1981. Thomas largely sticks to standards here, but the reason to listen to him is the subtle textures of his guitar and voice, which make these well-known songs come alive.--Thom Owens, Rovi

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James Son Thomas – Beefsteak Blues (1998)

2010-09-02T20:01:38Z

James Son Thomas – Beefsteak Blues (1998)


1-Mama Don't 'Low No Guitar Playin' 'Round Here
2-Big Fat Mama
3-Beefsteak Blues
4-Rock Me Mama
5-Catfish Blues [Unexpurgated Version]
6-Standing At The Crossroads
7-Highway Sixty One Blues
8-Good Morning Little Schoolgirl
9-Stormy Monday
10-Catfish Blues
11-Ludella Ludella
12-Highway 61 Blues

Bass – Cleveland Jones (tracks: 4), J.W. Williams (tracks: 9)
Drums – Mose Rutues (tracks: 9)
Vocals, Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar – James "Son" Thomas

Down-and-dirty blues don't get any downer or dirtier than James "Son" Thomas. A former sharecropper and grave digger (as well as an accomplished sculptor) who was shot by an ex-wife, Thomas, to put it mildly, lived the blues life he sang about. Eventually his hard road took him all the way to the White House, where he sang the blues for the Reagans (those noted blues lovers) in 1982. This Evidence collection of early-'80s performances features Thomas accompanying himself on acoustic and electric guitar on a set of blues standards associated with his Mississippi Delta mentors Elmore James, Arthur Crudup, and Sonny Boy Williamson. Compare the two versions of "Catfish Blues" for an example of what "unexpurgated" really means. – mississippimoan.

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