Jesse Thomas (musician)

Jesse "Babyface" Thomas (February 3, 1911 – August 13, 1995)[1] was an American Louisiana blues guitarist and singer.[2] Known at different times as "Baby Face" or "Mule", and occasionally billed as "The Blues Troubadour", his career performing blues music extended eight decades.[3]

Career

Born in Logansport, Louisiana, United States,[4] Thomas is best known for the song "Blue Goose Blues", which he recorded for Victor in 1929. He recorded and performed throughout the 1940s and 1950s, based in the Los Angeles area.[3] He recorded for Specialty Records in 1953.[3] While in Los Angeles he operated his own Club record label.[5] Thomas returned to Shreveport in the late 1950s and in the mid-1960s made recordings on his Red River label.[5]

His career spanned over 60 years – in 1994 he appeared at the Long Beach Blues Festival. The Louisiana bluesman, Ramblin' Thomas, was his brother,[6] and fellow Louisiana blues guitar player, Lafayette Thomas, was his nephew.

A longtime resident of the Lakeside neighborhood of Shreveport, Louisiana, Thomas died there on August 15, 1995 at the age of 84.[7][8]

Discography
  • 1996 Lookin' for That Woman (Black Top – BT 1128)
  • 2001 Blues Is A Feeling (Delmark)

References
  1. "Jesse Thomas discography". Wirz.de. Retrieved October 7, 2015.
  2. Du Noyer, Paul (2003). The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Music (1st ed.). Fulham, London: Flame Tree Publishing. p. 181. ISBN 1-904041-96-5.
  3. Russell, Tony (1997). The Blues – From Robert Johnson to Robert Cray. Dubai: Carlton Books Limited. pp. 176–7. ISBN 1-85868-255-X.
  4. Colin Larkin, ed. (1992). The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music (First ed.). Guinness Publishing. p. 2480. ISBN 0-85112-939-0.
  5. Tomko, Gene (2020). Encyclopedia of Louisiana Musicians: Jazz, Blues, Cajun, Creole, Zydeco, Swamp Pop, and Gospel. Baton Rouge: LSU Press. p. 241. ISBN 9780807169322.
  6. "Willard Ramblin' Thomas / Jesse Babyface Thomas". Thebluestrail.com. Retrieved November 19, 2011.
  7. Obituary for Jesse Thomas, The Times. 17 August 1995
  8. Guido Van Run (2006). "THOMAS, JESSE "BABYFACE'". In Edward M. Komara (ed.). Encyclopedia of the Blues: K-Z, index. Routledge. p. 986. ISBN 9780415927017.
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