Fred Thomas is an American bassist best known for his work with singer James Brown for over thirty years. He performed on many R&B hits of the 1970s. His last recording is on the 2018 album ''We Came to Play''.

Career

Thomas grew up in the US state of

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

. He moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

in 1965 and co-founded his own band with guitarist Hearlon "Cheese" Martin. He was the bassist as well as the lead vocalist of the group. He said: "I did my own thing, which is to keep a nice bottom in the pocket. I never bothered with any fancy stuff because I always did the singing in my bands, and you can't be fancy and sing". In 1971 James Brown saw the band at Smalls Paradise club in

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater Ha ...

. Brown was in search of new musicians for his own band. He did an impromptu performance with the band and decided to hire the whole group. Thomas said his band used to cover Brown's songs and that joining Brown was a smooth transition for them. He recorded on Brown's releases during 1970s. The first album titled ''

Hot Pants Hotpants or hot pants are extremely short shorts. The term was first used by ''Women's Wear Daily'' in 1970 to describe shorts made in luxury fabrics such as velvet and satin for fashionable wear, rather than their more practical equivalents th ...

'' was in 1971. He also recorded on releases by The J.B.'s. Many of these recordings were later

sampled Sample or samples may refer to: Base meaning * Sample (statistics), a subset of a population – complete data set * Sample (signal), a digital discrete sample of a continuous analog signal * Sample (material), a specimen or small quantity of so ...

in hip hop music, such as " Pass the Peas", " Gimme Some More", and " Escape-ism". Thomas performed with Brown for more than thirty years, longer than other bassists in that position. He recorded on several R&B number one hits such as "

", " Make It Funky", and " Papa Don't Take No Mess". In a 2005 interview he expressed satisfaction with his work, stating: "I've been involved in one of the biggest, most legendary acts in the world. It's gone on for a long time – 33 years, on and off – and I feel good about the musicians I've played with". After Brown's death in 2006, Thomas transitioned back to fronting his own group and collaborating with various bands. His later recordings are with Naomi Shelton & the Gospel Queens in 2014 and The J.B.'s in 2018.

Discography

Credits adapted in part from

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

. ;With James Brown *'' Revolution of the Mind'' (1971) *''

'' (1971) *''

Get on the Good Foot "Get on the Good Foot" is a funk song performed by James Brown. It was released in 1972 as a two-part single that charted #1 R&B and #18 Pop. It also appeared on an album of the same name released that year. Partly due to the unwillingness of ...

'' (1972) *'' The Payback'' (1973) *'' Hell'' (1974) ;With The J.B.'s *''Food for Thought'' (1972) *''

Doing It to Death "Doing It to Death", also known as "Gonna Have a Funky Good Time", is a funk song recorded by The J.B.'s featuring James Brown. A 10-minute, two-part version of "Doing It to Death" was included on a J.B.'s album of the same name. The comple ...

'' (1973) *''Funky Good Time: The Anthology'' (1995) *''Pass the Peas: The Best of the J.B.'s'' (2000) *''Bring the Funk on Down'' (2002) *''The Lost Album'' (2011) *''We Came to Play'' (2018) ;With

Culture Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups ...

*''Good Things'' (1989) ;With Naomi Shelton & the Gospel Queens *''Cold World'' (2014)

Notes

References

External links

Fred Thomas
at MusicRadar by Rob Power, 2017
The J.B.'s members 2019
at archive.org {{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Fred Living people American funk bass guitarists American male bass guitarists American rhythm and blues bass guitarists James Brown Orchestra members American male guitarists Guitarists from Georgia (U.S. state) Musicians from New York City 20th-century American guitarists 20th-century bass guitarists Year of birth unknown Year of birth missing (living people)