George Washington Thomas

For other people named George Thomas, see George Thomas (disambiguation).

George Washington Thomas Jr. (March 1883 – March 6, 1937)[1] was an American blues and jazz pianist and songwriter.

The son of George W. Thomas, he was born in Plum Bayou Township, just outside the Delta town of Pine Bluff, Arkansas. The combination of the Delta blues, jazz, and gospel sounds from the Arkansas Delta Lowlands made a lasting impression on him even as his proclivity for the piano began to develop early. By the time he was 15, his family moved to Houston, Texas where the east Texas barrelhouse style of blues/jazz further influenced him and his music.

Thomas was the pianist head of an important Texas blues clan which included his daughter Hociel Thomas, his siblings Beulah ‘Sippie’ Wallace and Hersal Thomas, plus Bernice Edwards, not a blood relative, but raised with the family. Thomas was an important composer (of "New Orleans Hop Scop Blues" and "Muscle Shoals Blues" among other tunes), and a publisher, for a time in partnership with Clarence Williams.

Williams attributed the origin of the boogie woogie piano style to Thomas. Thomas was certainly among its earliest important exponents. "New Orleans Hop Scop Blues", published in 1916, is claimed to be the first twelve-bar blues to be written with a boogie-woogie bass line.[2] With brother Hersal, he also copyrighted "The Fives" in 1921, a classic later performed by many pianists.

On disc records, the recording of "The Rocks" in 1923, credited to Clay Custer, is generally accepted as being Thomas using a pseudonym.[2] The solo contains the earliest recording of a walking bass, and he was accompanied by Sippie's friend Tiny Franklin. He also made one record under his own name, and a few with his jazz group, the Muscle Shoals Devils.

Some sources date his death to 1930 or 1936.

References

  1. ↑ Eagle, Bob; LeBlanc, Eric S. (2013). Blues - A Regional Experience. Santa Barbara: Praeger Publishers. p. 155. ISBN 978-0313344237.
  2. 1 2 Peter J. Silvester, A Left Hand Like God : a history of boogie-woogie piano (1989), page 47-52.


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