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Henry Thomas (blues musician)

 

 
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Henry Thomas (blues musician)
 
 
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Henry Thomas (1874-1960s?) was an American
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 pre-World War II
World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a Participants in World War II, including all of the great powers, organised into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War II and the Axis powers....
, country
Country music

Country music is a blend of popular American music forms originally found in the Southern United States and the Appalachian Mountains. It has roots in Traditional music, Celtic music, gospel music, and old-time music and evolved rapidly in the 1920s....
 blues
Blues

Blues is a music genre based on the use of the blues chord progressions and the blue notes. Though several blues musical form s exist, the 12-bar blues chord progressions are the most frequently encountered....
 singer, songster
Songster

The term "songster" is most often used to denote a wandering musician, usually but not always African American, of the type which first appeared in the late 19th century in the southern United States....
 and musician
Musician

A musician is a person who plays or writes music. Musicians can be classified by their roles in creating or performing music:* An instrumentalist plays a musical instrument....
.

Thomas, billed as "Ragtime Texas", was born in Big Sandy
Big Sandy, Texas

Big Sandy is a town in Upshur County, Texas, Texas, United States. The population was 1,288 at the 2000 census. Since it is the only "wet city" in Upshur County, Smith County, Texas and Wood County, Texas residents often come to Big Sandy to purchase beer, wine, and liquor....
, Texas
Texas

Texas is a U.S. state located in the South Central United States, nicknamed the Lone Star State. Texas is the second largest U.S. state in both area and population, spanning , and with a growing population of 24.3 million residents....
, and began his musical career as an itinerant songster
Songster

The term "songster" is most often used to denote a wandering musician, usually but not always African American, of the type which first appeared in the late 19th century in the southern United States....
 (minstrel
Minstrel

A minstrel was a Middle Ages European bard who performed songs whose lyrics told stories about distant places or about real or imaginary historical events....
), and recorded
Sound recording and reproduction

Sound recording and reproduction is the electrical or mechanics inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects....
 twenty-three song
Song

A song is a musical musical composition which contains vocal parts that are performed, 'sung,' and feature words , commonly accompanied by musical instruments ....
s from 1927 to 1929. He accompanied himself with the guitar
Guitar

The guitar is a musical instrument with ancient roots that is used in a wide variety of musical styles. It typically has six Strings , but Tenor guitar, Seven-string guitar, Eight-string guitar, Ten-string guitar, Eleven-string guitar, Twelve-string guitar, Thirteen-string guitar and doubleneck guitar string guitars also exist....
 and the quills, a folk instrument made from cane
Cane

A cane is a long, straight wooden stick, generally of bamboo, or some similar plant, mainly used as a support, such as a walking stick, or as an instrument of corporal punishment....
 reeds that sound similar to the zampona, used by musicians in Peru
Peru

Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
 and Bolivia
Bolivia

The Republic of Bolivia , named after Sim?n Bol?var, is a landlocked country in central South America. It is bordered by Brazil on the north and east, Paraguay and Argentina on the south, and Chile and Peru on the west....
.






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Henry Thomas (1874-1960s?) was an American
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 pre-World War II
World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a Participants in World War II, including all of the great powers, organised into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War II and the Axis powers....
, country
Country music

Country music is a blend of popular American music forms originally found in the Southern United States and the Appalachian Mountains. It has roots in Traditional music, Celtic music, gospel music, and old-time music and evolved rapidly in the 1920s....
 blues
Blues

Blues is a music genre based on the use of the blues chord progressions and the blue notes. Though several blues musical form s exist, the 12-bar blues chord progressions are the most frequently encountered....
 singer, songster
Songster

The term "songster" is most often used to denote a wandering musician, usually but not always African American, of the type which first appeared in the late 19th century in the southern United States....
 and musician
Musician

A musician is a person who plays or writes music. Musicians can be classified by their roles in creating or performing music:* An instrumentalist plays a musical instrument....
.

Thomas, billed as "Ragtime Texas", was born in Big Sandy
Big Sandy, Texas

Big Sandy is a town in Upshur County, Texas, Texas, United States. The population was 1,288 at the 2000 census. Since it is the only "wet city" in Upshur County, Smith County, Texas and Wood County, Texas residents often come to Big Sandy to purchase beer, wine, and liquor....
, Texas
Texas

Texas is a U.S. state located in the South Central United States, nicknamed the Lone Star State. Texas is the second largest U.S. state in both area and population, spanning , and with a growing population of 24.3 million residents....
, and began his musical career as an itinerant songster
Songster

The term "songster" is most often used to denote a wandering musician, usually but not always African American, of the type which first appeared in the late 19th century in the southern United States....
 (minstrel
Minstrel

A minstrel was a Middle Ages European bard who performed songs whose lyrics told stories about distant places or about real or imaginary historical events....
), and recorded
Sound recording and reproduction

Sound recording and reproduction is the electrical or mechanics inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects....
 twenty-three song
Song

A song is a musical musical composition which contains vocal parts that are performed, 'sung,' and feature words , commonly accompanied by musical instruments ....
s from 1927 to 1929. He accompanied himself with the guitar
Guitar

The guitar is a musical instrument with ancient roots that is used in a wide variety of musical styles. It typically has six Strings , but Tenor guitar, Seven-string guitar, Eight-string guitar, Ten-string guitar, Eleven-string guitar, Twelve-string guitar, Thirteen-string guitar and doubleneck guitar string guitars also exist....
 and the quills, a folk instrument made from cane
Cane

A cane is a long, straight wooden stick, generally of bamboo, or some similar plant, mainly used as a support, such as a walking stick, or as an instrument of corporal punishment....
 reeds that sound similar to the zampona, used by musicians in Peru
Peru

Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
 and Bolivia
Bolivia

The Republic of Bolivia , named after Sim?n Bol?var, is a landlocked country in central South America. It is bordered by Brazil on the north and east, Paraguay and Argentina on the south, and Chile and Peru on the west....
. Some of his songs are difficult to categorize — they sound more like precursors to the blues, rather than what is now called "blues." They are, therefore, a rare testimony of the kind of music which preceded the establishment of the blues around 1900.

His springy guitar-playing, probably inspired by banjo
Banjo

The banjo is a stringed instrument developed by Slavery in the United States Africans in the United States, adapted from several African instruments....
-picking styles, implies that he was used to catering for dancing.

His best-known influence has been through three songs. "Fishin' Blues" was covered
Cover version

In popular music, a cover version, or simply cover, is a new rendition of a previously recorded, commercially released song.In its current use, it can sometimes have a pejorative meaning — implying that the original recording should be regarded as the definitive version, usually in the sense of an "authentic" rendition, and all...
 by Taj Mahal
Taj Mahal (musician)

Henry Saint Clair Fredericks , who goes by the stage name Taj Mahal, is an internationally recognized blues musician who folds various forms of world music into his offerings....
 and The Lovin' Spoonful
The Lovin' Spoonful

The Lovin' Spoonful is an United States pop rock band of the 1960s, named to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000. The band's name was inspired by some lines in a song of Mississippi John Hurt called the "Coffee Blues." John Sebastian credits Fritz Richmond for suggesting the name....
; "Bull Doze Blues", was recorded by Canned Heat
Canned Heat

Canned Heat is a blues-rock/boogie band that formed in Los Angeles in 1965. The group has been noted for its own interpretations of blues material as well as for efforts to promote the interest in this type of music and its original artists....
 as "Goin' Up The Country"; and "Don't Ease Me In" was covered by the Grateful Dead
Grateful Dead

The Grateful Dead was an American rock band formed in 1965 in the San Francisco Bay Area. The band was known for its unique and eclectic style, which fused elements of Rock music, Folk music, bluegrass music, blues, reggae, country music, jazz, Psychedelic rock, space rock and gospel music?and for live performances of long musical improvisati...
 on their album Go to Heaven
Go to Heaven

Go to Heaven is the eleventh studio album by the Grateful Dead. It was released on April 28, 1980.The album was released for the first time on CD in 1990 by Arista Records before being re-released in 2000 by BMG International....
. Modern listeners can hear Henry Thomas's recording of "Don't Ease Me In" on the compilation album
Compilation album

A compilation album is an album featuring tracks from multiple recording artists, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, source or subject matter....
 The Music Never Stopped: Roots of the Grateful Dead
The Music Never Stopped: Roots of the Grateful Dead

The Music Never Stopped: Roots of the Grateful Dead is a 1995 compilation album of songs, performed by the original artists, that the American rock group the Grateful Dead covered and performed live throughout their career....
.

See also

  • Origins of the blues
    Origins of the blues

    Little is known about the exact origins of the music we now know as the blues. No specific year can be cited as the origin of the blues, largely because the style evolved over a long period of time and existed in something approaching its modern form before the term blues was introduced, before the style was thoroughly documented....
  • Anthology of American Folk Music
    Anthology of American Folk Music

    The Anthology of American Folk Music is a LP album compilation released in 1952 in music by Folkways Records , comprising eighty-four American folk music, blues music and country music recordings that were originally issued from 1927 to 1932....


External links

  • at Allmusic website
    Website

    A Web site is a collection of related Web pages, images, videos or other digital assets that are hosted on one Web server, usually accessible via the Internet....