NEW YORK CITY/ The Blues Yesterday/ Volume 9
Let's
start this
New York City/ The Blues Yesterday Volume 9 with the very underrated singer and
guitarist
Dickie Thompson. Although
he is mostky known for being the creator of
Thirteen
Women which would become a classic R&R tune thanks to an expurgated
Bill Haley's version, Dickie was much more than that. Born in
Jersey
City,
NJ on 13 December 1917,
James Edward Thompson first played ukulele but switched to guitar around 15
years old, largey influenced by some friends and later by Bill Jennings'
records, particularly
Jennings'
work behind Bill Doggett. During the 1940's to the 60's, Thompson made himself a
name in New York City as a trustworthy and talented sideman, playing jazz or
R&B with the same efficiency behind Cozy Cole, Lawrence Brown, Sam
Woodward, Wild Bill Davis, Clifford Scott, Harry Edison, Johnny Hodges, Dinah
Washington etc... He also will be the lead guitarist of famed singer Jackie
Wilson and the Jonah Jones Quintett. Thompson managed to make some R&B
records as a leader but the success eluded him and he confessed he was anyway
more at ease as a sideman than in front of a band. But his own records are
mostly very good and
Thirteen women
could have been a hit but the lyrics seemed to risqué to the ears of the DJ of
that time and the song was rewritten by (or for) Bill Haley, replacing the
"only man" with thirteen women in a context of an H-Bomb survival!!!
This edulcorated version would be recorded by numerous artists like Ann
Margret,
Dinah Shore, Danny Gatton etc... After a long
career as a musician in
New York City
and
touring across the nation and overseas, Dickie Thompson retired in the sunny
Tucson in 1991, playing
around town quite often and becoming a local legend. He died in
Tucson on 22 February
2007. I have tried to gather all his recordings but unfortunately some are very
rare. If anyone got them and would share, it would be great!
I
must say I don't know nothing about blues belter Bob Marshall who recorded 12 fine sides in 1949-50, some as
vocalist of the Cozy Cole's Orchestra. All infos are much needed and welcome!
Joey Thomas (Joseph Thomas Jr who not
must confused with band leader Joe Thomas) has fortunatley an entry on the
essential book Blues/ A Regional Experience (by Eric Leblanc and Bob eagle). He
was born in Muskogee,
Ok. on 23 December 1908 and relocated with his saxophonist brother Walter
Thomas in New York City around 1930, recording with Jelly Roll Morton and a few
tracks under his name. But he mostly made a career as an A&R man for Decca
and RCA. Joey Thomas died in New York
on 15 April 1997.
That's
all folks (from the time being)!
Gérard
HERZHAFT
DICKIE THOMPSON, vcl/g; Ted Bannon, pno; John Hardee, t-sax; Frank Skeete, bs; Gene
Groves, dms. august 1946
01. Hand in hand blues
02. Tailor made girl
03. Swing song
04. Stardust
Dickie Thompson, vcl/g; Teddy
Brannon, pno; Gene Groves, bs. New
York City, september 1949
05. Gambler's blues
Dickie Thompson, vcl/g; Teddy
Brannon, pno; Ray Abrams, t-sax; Aaron Bell, bs; Denzil Best, dms. Linden, NJ.
october 1949
06. Don Newcomb really throws the ball
07. Everybody gets together
Dickie Thompson, vcl/g; Taft
Jordan, tpt; Tyree Glenn, tb; Buddy Tate, t-sax; Cecil Payne, b-sax; Joe Black,
pno; Aaron Bell, bs; Jimmy Crawford, dms. New
York City, 21 september 1951
08. What's the reason?
09. Whiskey and gin
Dickie Thompson, vcl/g; Taft Jordan, tpt; Tyree Glenn, tb; Buddy Tate,
t-sax; Cecil Payne, b-sax; Joe Black, pno; Aaron Bell, bs; Jimmy Crawford, dms.
New York City,
22 avril 1952
If you got some place to go
If I can't wear the pants
Dickie
Thompson, vcl/g; Zilla Mays, vcl; George Kelly, tpt; Grady Fats Jackson, t-sax; band. Atlanta, Ga.
1953
10. On the other side
Dickie
Thompson, vcl/g; Mickey Baker, g; band. New
York City, 1954
11.
Thirteen women and one man
12.
I'm innocent
Jockin'
If I hadn't been drunk
Dickie
Thompson, g; George Kelly, t-sax; Earl Knight, pno; Barney Richmond, bs; Chink
Hines, dms. New York City,
1959
13.
Real zan-zee I & II
BOB MARSHALL, vcl; Joe Wilder, tpt; Big Nick Nicholas, t-sax; Cecil Payne, b-sax;
June cole, pno; Billy Taylor Sr, bs; Cozy Cole, dms. New York City, 2 march 1949
14. Red light
15. Milk cow blues
16. Until I fell for you
The huckle buck
Bob Marshall, vcl; Shad Collins, tpt; Tony
Faso, tpt; Mort Bullman, tb; Henderson Chambers, tb; Eddie Brown, t-sax; Sid
Cooper, t-sax; Budd Johnson, t-sax; Art Drellinger, t-sax; Dave Mc Rae, b-sax;
Billy Kyle, pno; Earl Barker, g; Bill Pemberton, bs; Bob Rosengarden, dms. New York City, 13 may
1949
17. Nine o'clock gal
18. That's the gal for me
Bob Marshall, vcl; Ray Parker,
pno; band. New York City,
january 1950
19. Call me darling
20. Just one more time
21. It's a great great pleasure
22. I'm going to live for today
Bob Marshall, vcl; Eddie Wilcox,
pno; band. New York City,
may 1950
23. I shouldn't love you
24. Are you lonesome tonight?
JOEY THOMAS, vcl/ldr; Frank Galbraith, tpt; Dickie Wells, tb; Walter Thomas, a-sax;
Harry Johnson, t-sax; Andy Brown, b-sax; Bill Doggett, pno; Abie Baker, bs;
Jimmy Crawford, dms. New York City,
28 march 1951
25. Bad luck child (vcl: Freddie Jackson)
26. Sarah Kelly from Plumbnelly (vcl: Charlie Singleton)
27. There ain't enough room here to boogie
Investigation blues
Joey Thomas, vcl/ldr; Johnny
Letman, tpt; Alton Moore, tb; Walter Thomas, a-sax; Skippy Williams, t-sax;
Pinky Williams, b-sax; Howard Biggs, pno; Everett Barksdale, g; Abie Baker, bs;
Herman Bradley, dms. New York City,
6 august 1951
28. Cherokee boogie
29. Hobo boogie