Irma Thomas

Born February, 18th 1941 in Ponchatoula, Lousiana, her parents quickly moved to New Orleans with her. Irma Thomas attended school, and would be discovered by band leader Tommy Ridgley. Her early musical influences were Pearl Bailey, Cecil Grant, The Five Blind Boys, and especially Percy Mayfield.

“Wonderful!”, says Irma Thomas. She has every reason to feel wonderful as at sixty odd years old, to still be thought of as a classic soul singer is quite an achievement. She has had an impressive recording and performing career.

Irma Thomas would become pregnant at the age of fourteen, this stopped her going to school. As mentioned, Tommy Ridgley found out about Irma Thomas’ voice, while she was singing at work, at a New Orleans club in 1959. Irma Thomas’ complex personal life along with her active and at times demanding music career. Is why she is known today as the Soul Queen of New Orleans.

“I live! I’m a normal person; I do what normal people do", says Irma Thomsa about the things she does outside of music. "I cook, I clean, I’m a Grandmother, I’m a Great Grandmother, I enjoy my Grand Children and I go bowling when I can. I have many interests but at sixty five I doubt I’d get round to getting any of them done (laughs). The one main thing that I am going to get done and that is get my book written. A biography, I hope it will be interesting (laughs), we started before Katrina but we had to stop and start all over again. It’s going to happen, in about a year or two”, regarding what she currently spends her time doing outside of music.

Irma Thomas says her views on the Hurricane Katrina that hit her home town New Orleans badly. “Well, I go there every other day now because I’m trying to get my home back in livable condition. Things are progressing but very slowly. Everyone that is coming back to the City will have hopes that things will come back to somewhat normality but it’s going to take time. People are still struggling quite a bit with the whole thing. There spirits are still there, so it’s going to happen, its just going to take some time”

Irma Thomas’ debut single was a cover of Dorothy LaBostrie’s (You Can Have My Husband, But Please) Don’t Mess With My Man, it reached number twenty two on the R&B Billboard charts, in May, 1960. Irma Thomas says, “Several people that I have worked with I have enjoyed”

She continues, “I have only had one bad situation, well two (laughs). Other than that, everybody else that I’ve been with I had enjoyed working with. The two experiences that I had that were not all that enjoyable were experiences because I wasn’t aware of the peoples personalities prior to going into the project, but most of the folks I’ve worked with have been enjoyable. Allen Toussaint and I started out together but I’ve worked with many people over the years”

“I needed a job”, says Irma Thomas. “When you get fired for singing on a job twice, that’s motivation wouldn’t you, think?”

Imperial Records would sign the then unsigned, Irma Thomas. Who had already gone through a lot in her personal life, and Wish Someone Would Care was released. It reflected Irma Thomas’ past, as she had three children by the age of Seventeen and had just had her second failed marriage. This song was from her heart, and reached number two in the Cash Box charts. Her recordings with Imperial Records had a big sound, like the Dionne Warwick, Maxine Brown and Gladys Knight & The Pips, at the time.

Irma Thomas recorded songs in Los Angeles with backing vocalists Darlene Love (see interview Darlene Love on page 2) and The Blossoms, and her songwriters included Van McCoy, Randy Newman and Burt Bacharach. Her contract with Imperial Records ran out, and she quickly signed to the popular Chess Records. Somewhere Crying was the first single recorded for Chess in Muscle Shoal, at Rick Halls fame studio.

“I like Beyonce, I like John Legend, quite a few of em’. Some Gladys, some Aretha, some Patti, some of the old stuff I still listen to. There’s quite a few of em’ out there that I listen to, I don’t have any particular preference just anyone that sings songs that make sense”. Her recordings have been made with well-known producers, (she has yet to record with modern producers) Irma Thomas says, “I wouldn’t have a problem with it. I just haven’t been approached to be frank with you. I would still be Irma Thomas. I don’t care what year you recorded me in, that wouldn’t make a difference. I’d still sing what I feel be it a young producer or an older producer, that wouldn’t make that much difference I don’t think (laughs)” Irma Thomas has had quite a journey both professionally and personally. However, Irma Thomas, has no doubt making/made a legacy of her own. She has even toured with James Brown (RIP) and performed at New Yorks Apollo Theater.

“I’ve had many high lights”, says Irma Thomas. “I haven’t had any that have out done the other", admits Irma Thomas. "One that sticks out recently, would be singing at the Grammys, another one would be singing the National Anthem. Others would be doing a duet with B.B King on one of his Grammy winning albums. Meeting Ruth Brown (RIP) for the first time, and enjoying her friendship over the years. Meeting Eric Clapton and having a picture taken back in the eighties but it got lost in the flooding”

“My family didn’t influence me but they supported me”, reflects Irma Thomas.

“I never had a record collection, I just remember the songs that I’ve learned over the years, but the records I did have, most of em’ got lost in the floods, I’ve tried to re-collect them but not that many”

Phone Interview by Matthew Daniel

Soulisms 2008