Birth name Ernest Joseph Thomas Name Tabby Thomas Role Musician | Years active before 1960s–2013 Children Chris Thomas King Labels Excello Records Genres Blues, Swamp blues | |
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Born January 5, 1929
Baton Rouge, Louisiana ( 1929-01-05 ) Died January 1, 2014, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, United States Albums Going To New Orleans, Remembering Tabby Thomas, Drinking Blues, Hoo Do Man Similar People Chris Thomas King, Raful Neal, Silas Hogan, Henry Gray, Larry Garner | ||
Instruments Piano, guitar, vocals | ||
Tabby thomas popeye train excello 1962 ny night train party platter
Ernest Joseph "Tabby" Thomas, (January 5, 1929 – January 1, 2014), also known as Rockin' Tabby Thomas, was an American blues musician. He sang and played the piano and guitar and specialized in swamp blues, a style of blues indigenous to southern Louisiana.
Contents
- Tabby thomas popeye train excello 1962 ny night train party platter
- Tabby thomas born blue
- Life and career
- References
Tabby thomas born blue
Life and career
Thomas was born and grew up in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. After graduating from high school he served in the U.S. Air Force, and while serving won a talent contest on KSAN radio in San Francisco in 1959. He made a few unsuccessful recordings for Hollywood Records and then he returned to Baton Rouge. He recorded for several small local labels, before he became more successful with Excello Records, based in Crowley, Louisiana; his records for Excello included "Hoodo Party" in 1961. He also worked in various jobs, including a time with Ciba Geigy, when he was a union steward.
He became one of the best-known blues musicians in Baton Rouge with his band, the Mellow, Mellow Men, but briefly retired from performing in the late 1960s to set up his own record label, Blue Beat, which released his recordings and those of other local musicians. In 1978, with other members of his family, including his son Chris Thomas King, he reopened a rundown building on North Boulevard. He ran the venue as an authentic blues club, Tabby's Blues Box and Heritage Hall. The club moved in 2000 and eventually closed in November 2004. Thomas also became a popular performer in the UK and Europe, where he made regular appearances.
Thomas had a serious automobile accident in 2002 and a stroke in 2004, which affected his playing but not his singing. He later hosted the radio show Tabby's Blues Box on the Baton Rouge stations WBRH-FM and KBRH-AM. He died in the early hours of January 1, 2014.
