Irma Thomas

Irma Thomas has had an unusual career, especially for someone who has been singing professionally for such a long time. Her first recording was in 1959 and her most recent, the magnificent Love Is The Foundation, in 2020.

She recorded a string of singles for the Minit and Imperial labels in the early and mid-sixties. Her biggest hit during this time was Wish Someone Would Care, which reached #17 on the Pop charts in 1964. But several other singles were very strong, including the original recording of Time Is On My Side (the Rolling Stones first top ten hit in the U.S.), It's Raining, Ruler Of My Heart, Cry On, and Anyone Who Knows What Love Is (Will Understand). This era is well-documented on two near-identical compilations Sweet Soul Queen of New Orleans (Razor and Tie) and The Irma Thomas Collection 1961-1966 (Capitol). There are others that also include some of her early seventies work, and while they are more inclusive, they are not better at all. And that's because her work for Chess, Canyon, Cotillion, and Fungus records between 1967-1974 just isn't as good as her earlier work, and in some cases, is poorly produced and downright disappointing. The "lost" records Full Time Woman (recorded in 1971, released in 2014) and In Between Tears 1973, are not her best work, and should probably be avoided.

Thomas continued recording the occasional single throughout the seventies with little success. She never stopped live performance completely, and used the stage at The Lion's Den, the New Orleans club she owned with her husband (until Katrina), to perform as often as she wished. She has also participated in the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival for many years and remains popular in her home town. 

In 1986 she began a long association with Rounder Records, releasing nine albums and two compilations between 1986 and 2009. All of her Rounder releases were lovingly produced by Scott Billington, including the fantastic Sing It! 1998 with Marcia Ball and Tracy Nelson, and the Grammy-winning After The Rain 2006, recorded in the aftermath of Katrina. Not to mention her last original studio album release until 2020, Simply Grand 2008, which features a different piano player on each track, and overcomes it's cute premise with outstanding performances by the pianists, as well as Thomas. Good song selection, skilled bands, and Irma's mature soulful singing are the hallmarks of her Rounder output, and you can't go wrong with any of it. Her Rounder material has been the subject of two compilations, If You Want It, Come And Get It 2001 and The Soul Queen of New Orleans: 50th Anniversary Celebration 2009. There are only two songs that appear on both sets, and the latter also includes three new songs recorded in 2009. Then again, Sing It! and After The Rain are well worth owning.

And now, after ten years without a new release, Newvelle Records released Love Is The Foundation in 2020 as part of their four-LP The New Orleans Collection. The recording quality and performance of Irma Thomas and a crack ace band, the top notch song selection, and the sumptuous vinyl pressing all make for an exceptional experience. At 79 years old, Ms. Thomas not only can still sing, she inhabits these songs with her powerful and deep soul. It sounds like hyperbole to me, too, but it isn't. Newvelle recordings are only available as (high-priced) vinyl, but it is still almost too good not to hear.

A sixties soul queen matures into a contemporary gifted blues and soul singer with impeccable taste and deeply profound feeling. Her earliest work as well as her most recent outshine most if not all of the competition. A rare jewel, a treasure.

Poco From The Inside 1972 and A Good Feelin' To Know 1973

Poco were an interesting country-rock band that probably deserved bigger success. The band soldiered on in one form or another into this century, and toured until 2013 with at least one original member, Rusty Young. They got their start in 1969 with Pickin' Up The Pieces, the title a reference to the recently dissolved Buffalo Springfield, from whence both Jim Messina and Richie Furay came. 1970 brought Poco, with a more rock-oriented sound, great songs by Furay, as well as Messina's You Better Think Twice, and the 18-minute jam on Nobody's Fool that set them apart from most country-rock acts of the day, with Rusty Young's remarkable pedal steel guitar playing emulating a Hammond B-3 organ. The record also introduced Timothy B. Schmit, whose bass and high vocals replaced Randy Meisner's, as would happen again in 1977 in the Eagles line-up. In 1971, Poco released Deliverin', a live album that sold better than the first two. And with that, Jim Messina left to begin a producing career that turned into five years in Loggins and Messina.

 

So in 1971, Poco version three replaced Jim Messina with singer/songwriter/guitarist Paul Cotton. Messina left ostensibly due to Furay's dominance of the group. Ironically, although Furay wrote most of Poco's songs on the first three records, Cotton, Schmit, and Young would begin songwriting duties from this point forward, and take on more writing duties on successive albums.
 

From The Inside 1971 features a more mature sound than Poco had produced previously. Produced by Steve Cropper, the recording is excellent. Hoe Down and You Are The One hearken back to the good times, foot-stompin' country of the previous records, but Paul Cotton's Bad Weather and Ol' Forgiver have a darker tone, and his Railroad Days just rocks. Schmit writes the title track, and it is a lovely song and a fine vocal delivery. And Furay delivered three of his finer love songs in What Am I Gonna Do, What If I Should Say I Love You, and Just For Me And You. And again, sales were disappointing.

 

A Good Feelin' To Know 1972 is another strong outing fairly similar to From The Inside, but with even less country leanings. The record features a solid-rocking cover of the Steve Stills-written Buffalo Springfield song Go And Say Goodbye, and Furay's title track would go on to be one of the early band's most recognizable songs. Overall, the songs, while good, don't always sound like the same band. Cotton's Keeper Of The Fire and Early Times are not his strongest writing, and Furay's Sweet Loving is a bit overblown. Schmit's I Can See Everything is sweet and fine, and he even writes the solid rocker Restrain. Overall, it is a good record, with solid playing, singing and writing for the most part. Produced by Jack Richardson, it was supposed to seal their forward momentum and open them up to new fans, but it did not.

 

It wasn't enough for Richie Furay, who recorded Crazy Eyes in 1973 with one foot out the door to join The Souther-Hillman-Furay Band. After Furay left, Poco continued as a quartet with Young, Cotton, Schmit, and Grantham until Schmit left to join the Eagles in 1977. The original line-up reunited in 1989 to record Legacy as a one-off. Young and Cotton carried on until 2006, and Young kept the name alive touring until at least 2013. Any of the first five Poco records is recommendable. The first one is historic as a rather early country-rock outing, while From The Inside is my personal favorite.