Journey To Nawlins, Chapter VII : Irma Thomas

→ Thanks also to the late Blue DeVille

The Soul Queen of New Orleans

The soul voice of Irma Lee, aka Irma Thomas, born in 1941 in Ponchatoula, Louisiana, has been heard on airwaves, jukeboxes and in concert halls by several generations since her debut nearly 65 years ago. Her early career wasn't easy and she had to be thoroughly tenacious to become one of New Orleans icons. But she had a treasure : her voice.

Married and divorced twice and already mother of four children before reaching the age of 20, she was working as a waitress at the Pimlico Club in New Orleans where she “occasionally” sang along house band leader Tommy Ridgley. When the club's boss fired her for spending more time singing than waiting tables, Ridgley recommended her to the Ron label.

A 65-year Career (so far…)

1964, at age 23

Ron released her first single  ("You Can Have My Husband (But Don't Mess with My Man" !) in 1959. In 1960 or 61, she started a successful period working with legendary New Orleans pianist, songwriter, arranger and producer Allen Toussaint, on the Minit label. Her 1963's "Ruler of My Heart" was revisited by Otis Redding as "Pain in My Heart".

Minit was acquired by Imperial Records, and Thomas contract was part of the deal, but the company finally called it off in 1966 for insufficient commercial success of her two LPs “Wish Someone Would Care" (1964) and "Take A Look" (1966).

In 1968

She moved to Chess who immediately sent her to Muscle Shoals (Alabama) to record a series of songs, from which only three singles were issued at the time, but again with insufficient success.

This marked the beginning of a low in her career. In 1969, after the devastating hurricane Camille, she relocated in California (Oakland, then L.A.) and had to take a regular job in a department store to support her children, performing in clubs on week-ends and recording a few singles for obscure labels like Canyon, Roker and Atlantic's Cotillion label (“Full Time Woman”, 1971).

She also worked with producer Jerry Williams, Jr. aka Swamp Dogg, recording a series of good singles (featuring an uncredited Duane Allman on guitar) for the small label Fungus which gathered them in 1973 on the LP "In Between Tears". Later acquired by Sanachie Records, these songs were completely ruined with new backing tracks and reissued on the compilation “Turn My World Around” in 1993.

In 1976, she returned to New Orleans, but her recording career was almost nonexistent for the next decade (but not her performing activities), except for the kind of “welcome back” album “Live” recorded at the 1976 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, released on Island records in 1977, for a compilation of old titles, "Soul Queen Of New Orleans", on the label Maison De Soul in 1978, and for a failed try at disco in 1979 (“Safe with Me”). Her recording career.

In the early 1980s with her third husband and manager Emile Jackson, she opened the Lion's Den club where she performed regularly of course, but also proposed her home cooking ! Her intimate live performances at the club revived her legendary status in New Orleans in between tours of Europe, where her popularity never waned.

She resumed her recording career in 1986 with the release of “The New Rules”, produced by Scott Billington, on her new label Rounder Records, an album which marks her real come-back. It was followed in 1988 by “The Way I Feel”, and in 1991 by “Live! Simply The Best”, recorded during of a series of shows in San Francisco. The album earned her a Grammy nomination.

Rounder quickly capitalized on her regained reputation with a studio opus, “True Believer”, a collection of heartbreak songs in the classic 1950s New Orleans tradition. In 1993 with “Walk Around Heaven: New Orleans Gospel Soul”, she returned to the gospel roots of her early teens when she was singing with a Baptist church choir.

The Grammy... at last!

The outstanding “The Story of My Life” came out in 1997 always on Rounder, and in 1998 she teamed up with Marcia Ball and Tracy Nelson for “Sing It!” which got her a second Grammy nomination.

At the turn of the century, in 2000, Thomas released “My Heart's In Memphis: The Songs of Dan Penn” featuring exclusively material written by the Memphis and Muscle Shoals soul songwriter Wallace Daniel Pennington, who wrote some of the greatest soul songs of the 1960s.

After six years away from the studios and following Hurricane Katrina, “After the Rain” came out in 2006 while she celebrated her 65th birthday, showing an artist at the peak of her talent. She was at last rewarded by her first Grammy (category “Best Contemporary Blues Album”) in 2007.

“Love Is The Foundation”

The next year (2008), Rounder released “Simply Grand”, a series of duets with some of the best pianists, mainly from New Orleans.

Finally, approaching the age of 80, Thomas recorded the peaceful “Love Is The Foundation” released in 2020, a moving message from the Soul Queen of New Orleans.

The Albums

Released on vinyl LP in 1989 by the label Charly, "Ruler Of Hearts" gathers sixteen valuable sides recorded by Thomas between 1960 and 1962 for the Minit label, most of them written by Allen Toussaint under his Naomi Neville usual pseudonym. The CD edition issued simultaneously is completed with eight live tracks captured at the 1976 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival.

The sonic quality of the transfers, badly dubbed from the original pressings or through a still novice digital technology at the time, is far from being faultless (notably spoiled by incongruous clicks). Too bad because these early recordings testify of Thomas vocal talent from the beginning of her career.

In the golden years of Rhythm and Blues, dominated by artists like Aretha Franklin and Otis Redding (who was going to die in December 1967), Thomas recorded “Something Good - The Muscle Shoals Sessions” in 1967, an album completely in the manner of those two artists, but released only in 1990. Four years later, in 1971-1972, during her Californian period, she recorded the songs of “Full Time Woman : The Lost Cotillion Album” but here again the album was released only in 2014. On both works, the sound is of much better quality, doing justice to Thomas' powerful soul voice, although the material and, for some tracks, the arrangements, with strings for example, sounds rather kitsch today.

These three albums have the deliciously throw-back charm of early works, but the best is yet to come.

“Live! Simply the Best”, recorded live in San Francisco in August 1990 and released in 1991, is a kind of transitional opus, closing the first half of Thomas' career through energetic live remakes with more contemporary sound and arrangements of some of her famous mid-1960s recordings (“Breakaway”, “Hip Shakin' Mama”, “That's What Love Is All About”, “It's Raining”, “Wish Someone Would Care”, “You Can Have My Husband…”, and her big success from 1964 “Time Is On My Side”).

More recent songs (“Thinking of You”, “I Needed Somebody”, “Hittin' On Nothin'” or “Simply The Best”, a cover of Tina Turner's song released in her 1989 album “Foreign Affair”) open a next chapter in her revived career. Two medleys complete the show : a soul-R &B one (“I've Been Loving You Too Long”/”Please Please Please”) and the second, introducing the Second line tradition of New Orleans (“I Done Got Over It”/”Iko Iko”/”Hey Pocky Way”).

All along the lady sounds fueled with energy and passion (“I Needed Somebody”), and her perfect voice is really powerful. Her musicians bring a modern touch to the oldies, and know how to get the groove going when needed (on the exciting “Thinking of You” for example).

“True Believer” (1992), co-produced by herself and Scott Billington, is a collections of tailor-made soul songs designed for Thomas' vocals. The repertoire was written by renowned authors like Dan Penn (“Trying to Catch a Cab in the Rain” and “Smoke Filled Room”), Dr. John and Doc Pomus ("I Never Fool Nobody But Me"), Ahmet Ertegun ("Chains of Love"), Tony Joe White ("Heart Full of Rain"), her old accomplice Allen Toussaint ("Sweet Touch of Love"), Berry Gordy ("I'll Be Satisfied") or Daryl Burgess ("True Believer")...

With producer Scott Billington

Thomas emotional vocals give a mellow flavor to the whole album. She's accompanied by an excellent line-up featuring the cream of New Orleans musicians like Sammy Berfect on Hammond B-3 organ or piano, David Torkanowsky on piano, Cranston Clements on guitar, Chris Severin on bass and Herman V. Ernest III on drums & percussion. The horn section includes Amadee Castenell and Bill "Foots" Samuel (saxophones), Frank Parker and A.J. Pittman (trumpet), and Chris Belleau (trombone).

Thomas' soul” crooning” delivers beautiful melancholic moments like the opening track "Trying to Catch a Cab in the Rain", romantic late-night slows like "Can't You Hear It in My Tears", "Smoke Filled Room" and "Heart Full of Rain".

She's as much at ease on blues (Dr John's "I Never Fool Nobody But Me", or Ahmet Ertegun's fine "Chains of Love" with discreet but excellent guitar from Clements and nice sax solo from Castenell), on reggae-tinged R&B ("Big Talk"), on the funky "Sweet Touch of Love", the rocking R&B "I'll Be Satisfied", and finally on "True Believer" and its gospel accent brought by the backing vocal choir.

A moving and intimate opus for which Thomas deserves more than ever her title of “Soul Queen of New Orleans”.

After her venture into the gospel of her early teens ("Walk Around Heaven: New Orleans Gospel Soul"), Thomas teamed up again with producer Scott Billington for “The Story Of My Life” (1997).

Same producer than previously, same kind of repertoire with three new romantic melodic songs from Dan Penn, definitely one of Thomas' favorite authors ("I Count the Teardrops”, "Hold Me While I Cry” and "I Won't Cry for You"), but different line-up still featuring David Torkanowsky on keyboards but introducing guitarist Michael Toles and ex-Meters bassist George Porter, Jr.

The line-up of "The Story Of My Life" (click to enlarge)

And also livelier R&B tracks like “No Use Talkin'”, “Love Don't Get No Better Than This”, "I Won't Cry for You", “Keep The Faith”, and Aretha Franklin's blues “Dr. Feelgood” with superb soulful guitar from Toles.

At now 56, Thomas' voice, full of feeling, is more superb than ever.

Two years after the Grammy wining “After the Rain”, Thomas, always teaming up with producer Scott Billington and always on Rounder, recorded a series of fourteen acoustic duets with twelve “grand” players : “Simply Grand" (2008). The “grand” mentioned here is the grand piano and among her partners sitting at the keyboard are famous names, mostly from New Orleans (Dr John, John Cleary, Tom McDermott, Ellis Marsalis, Davell Crawford, and her old accomplices Marcia Ball and David Torkanowsky), but also “outsiders” like the late David Egan (a neighbor from Lafayette !), Norah Jones, Randy Newman and John Medeski.

 With Scott Billington and Dr John

The titles are signed, among others, by John Fogerty, Jon Cleary, Burt Bacharach, David Egan, Norah Jones, Doc Pomus-Mac Rebennack (aka Dr John), Naomi Neville aka Allen Toussaint, Don Nix or Randy Newman.

With David Torkanowsky and George Porter Jr

On their “grand”, all featured pianists are perfect, and Thomas is sumptuous in each style she sings, from blues (“If I Had Any Sense I'd Go Back Home”, “Early In The Morning”, “Same Old Blues”) to old-time (“I Think It's Going To Rain Today”) and jazzy ballads (“This Bitter Earth”) through her more familiar universe of emotional soul (“What Can I Do”, “Cold Rain”, “Overrated”), gospel-flavored numbers (“River Is Waiting”), and more lively early Nawlins R&B (“Too Much Thinking”, “Underground Stream”, “Thinking About You”, “Be You”, “Somebody Told You”).

At 67, her voice is intact as her impressive version of “Cold Rain” proves for example. She sounds at the peak of her long career. The peak but not the end yet... ■

The Albums (audio)
→ “Ruler Of Hearts” (rec. 1960-62 and 1976, rel. 1989)
→ “Something Good: The Muscle Shoals Sessions” (1967) : https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_kvSVi-1UXr_17mc8_FrqBHRJtYLBeziIA
→ “Full Time Woman : The Lost Cotillion Album” (rec. 1971-72, rel. 2014) : https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_mBh7Np1H-WA0MjuOSCgJlTg7rG0FPewUU
→ “Live! Simply the Best” (1991) : https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_lw_-UykgvBbqa1utEuf27z6672QDAakB4
→ “True Believer” (1992) : https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_ns-097uzDYCtsCXaYgP-gW4tmzfKFFQgI
→ “The Story Of My Life” (1997) : https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_lh2lHfM7mE_AVNaAvKKTLJxv9ainNt57k
→ “Simply Grand” (2008) : https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_kZkfmf60Y6wN0cS19ULHNKZvGp38POFqg
→ Bonus : Grammy winner “After the Rain” (2006) : https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_nd0hxl6wMPr5AZ-d1v75d_0ZLl28vCubI

Videos

At The Sands, NO, 1968

■ New Orleans atmosphere : best of the Jazz & Heritage Festival 1989 : https://youtu.be/rSpQfntkRTA

► At 23, on American Bandstand, 1964 : https://youtu.be/9bfzxVEwHXs?t=176
► “I've been loving you too long”, 1989 : https://youtu.be/94e3tT5iV8U
► “Simply The Best”, New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, 1990 : https://youtu.be/62lCPlq-2ps
► "I Needed Somebody", 1990 : https://youtu.be/rFXwkSuv4lA

With Dr John, Allen Toussaint & Aaron Neville

► The Neville Brothers, Irma Thomas ― “Gonna Cry Til My Tears Run Dry”, “It's Rainin'”, “Oh Me, Oh My (I'm a Fool For You Baby)” ―, Rebirth Brass Band on Robbie Robertson's Full Moon Show, 1991 : https://youtu.be/N1ZAKwa_edI
"Time Is On My Side" with Bonnie Raitt, New Orleans, 1992 : https://youtu.be/p5QCd4hN-Sc
► Allen Toussaint, Chick Carbo, Earl King & Irma Thomas, New Orleans, 1991 : https://youtu.be/kFbz24eApHI

With Marcia Ball

► "Hold Me While I Cry", 2006 : https://youtu.be/gb-NdlUInT0
► At Snooks Eaglin's Jazz Funeral Service, New Orleans, 2009 : https://youtu.be/5RsG08e7apk
► “Take My Hand, Precious Lord”, Tribute to Mahalia Jackson, New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, 2010 : https://youtu.be/Dh5xwHr5-CI
► With Marcia Ball, New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, 2011 : https://youtu.be/PTbQKVyn77M
► “It's Raining”, St. Jude Community Center Benefit Concert, New Orleans, 2011 : https://youtu.be/e-83dN8wIYw?t=51
► Jackson Square, New Orleans, 2011 :
→ “Done Got Over” : https://youtu.be/SBNPEi2hNRE
→ “You Were Here” & “Ruler Of My Heart” : https://youtu.be/WdJst3pEMPQ
► Second Line, “Iko Iko”, “Hey Pocky Way”, 2011 : https://youtu.be/GVyPGqJhyq0
► Saenger Theater, Mobile, AL, 2011 : https://youtu.be/PgP3DdF66iI
► Oyster Festival, 2011 :
→ https://youtu.be/vKGKLrHv4Bg
→ “Proud Mary”, “Simply The Best” : https://youtu.be/-FSRmKNFj1o
► Ascona Jazz Festival, Switzerland, 2012 :
→ “Forever Young” (Bob Dylan cover) : https://youtu.be/MK8o9xHfiR4
→ Press conference : https://youtu.be/NGZLt3IZtqg
► "Love Don't Change" & "Let It Be Me", New Orleans, 2012 : https://youtu.be/qZcLqieNzyM
►Tribute to Mahalia Jackson (again !), New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival 2013 : https://youtu.be/WzICrV4rCEs
► Barcelona, Spain, 2013 :
→ #1 : https://youtu.be/KHc2kN63RiU
→ #2 : “Time Is On My Side” & “I Need Your Love So Bad” : https://youtu.be/tRRvVGVabYU
► With Marcia Ball, Legendary Rhythm and Blues Cruise #21, 2013 : https://youtu.be/7BU05y6gUGs
► Jackson Square, New Orleans, 2013 : https://youtu.be/hoaNKj07sPE
► Madrid, Spain, 2014 :
→ "Please Send Me Someone To Love"... : https://youtu.be/8YAnXyjc6KA
→ "You Can Have My Husband" : https://youtu.be/md6AYIvk39w
→ "You Ain't Hittin On Nothing”/“Ruler Of My Heart" : https://youtu.be/xNzpWx75-mw
→ "I Done Got Over”/“It's Raining" : https://youtu.be/L5IXNYtAEWs
→ "Wish Someone Would Care”/“We Got Something Good" : https://youtu.be/V5IDkPs1-aY

With Allen Toussaint

► With the Funky Meters (Art Neville, George Porter Jr., Brian Stoltz and Terrence Houston) plus special guests Allen Toussaint (one of his last New Orleans performances), Blues & BBQ Festival, New Orleans, 2015 (Irma Thomas appear at 30:40, and Toussaint, at 42:00) : https://youtu.be/W4UCstWGdU0
► New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival 2015 : https://youtu.be/MQsHxPzmXlU

With Davell Crawford

► Chicago Blues Festival 2016 : https://youtu.be/FlU3ZI6Rg9A
► "I Done Got Over It” medley with Davell Crawford, City Winery, NYC, 2016 : https://youtu.be/KzCBAxsviPc
► LRBC #28, 2017 : https://youtu.be/mIHJLjNN7hw?t=509
► “For the Rest of My Life”, Santa Monica, CA, 2017 : https://youtu.be/HTxoetHVg6k
► Bay St Louis, MS, 2018 : https://youtu.be/PNCG7K4dydM
► “I Hear You Knocking”, Jazz Fest Gala, New Orleans, 2018 : https://youtu.be/Rn-5K_EurSA
► Dr John Memorial Celebration, New Orleans, 2019 : https://youtu.be/QJ7aSDRlZa8
► Live from WWOZ radio station, New Orleans, 2020 :

At the Jazz Preservation Hall, New Orleans

https://youtu.be/4TXeIm_Vro0
► Holidays New Orleans Style Concert, 2020 : https://youtu.be/EjgWpq6Rc1I?t=104
► French Quarter Festival, New Orleans, 2022 (big sound !) : https://youtu.be/EI5mRYhr_4A
► Ground Zero Blues Club Biloxi, MS, 2022 : https://youtu.be/16-hEGQDwdc

82 years old and she's still got it !

► With Marcia Ball, Antone's, Austin, TX, 2023 : https://youtu.be/KJhPon8nKJE
► “Even Now”, honoring  Walter Wolfman Washington, New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival 2023 : https://youtu.be/Q3Jtqb5WgeI
► A little taste of Second line with her friend Wanda Rouzan, New Orleans, 2023 : https://youtu.be/EvTuRPLk1X0?t=246