Fred Thomas is an American

bassist A bassist (also known as a bass player or bass guitarist) is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass (upright bass, contrabass, wood bass), bass guitar (electric bass, acoustic bass), keyboard bass (synth bass) or a low br ...

best known for his work with

James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, musician, and record producer. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th-century music, he is referred to by Honorific nick ...

for over thirty years. He performed on many of Brown's

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the ...

and R&B hits of the 1970s. His most recent works include releasing three singles in 2024 as a solo artist, and his recordings with

The J.B.'s The J.B.'s (sometimes punctuated The JB's or The J.B.s) was James Brown's band from 1970 through the early 1980s. On records, the band was sometimes billed under alternate names such as Fred Wesley and the JBs, The James Brown Soul Train, Mace ...

in 2018.

Career

Thomas grew up in the US state of

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

. He moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

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 A pocket is a bag- or envelope-like receptacle either fastened to or inserted in an article of clothing to hold small items. Pockets are also attached to luggage, backpacks, and similar items. In older usage, a pocket was a separate small bag o ...

. 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

saw the band at

Smalls Paradise Smalls Paradise (often called Small's Paradise and Smalls' Paradise), was a nightclub in the Harlem neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. Located in the basement of 2294 Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard at 134th Street, it opened in 1925 ...

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 ...

. 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 t ...

'' was in 1971. He also recorded on releases by

. Many of these recordings were later

sampled Sample or samples may refer to: * Sample (graphics), an intersection of a color channel and a pixel * Sample (material), a specimen or small quantity of something * Sample (signal), a digital discrete sample of a continuous analog signal * Sample ...

hip hop music Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music Music genre, genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African Americans, African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide r ...

, such as " Pass the Peas", "

Gimme Some More "Gimme Some More" is a song by American rapper Busta Rhymes. It was released as the second single from his third studio album '' Extinction Level Event: The Final World Front'' on October 26, 1998, by Flipmode Entertainment and Elektra Records. ...

", 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 "Papa Don't Take No Mess" is a funk song performed by James Brown. An edited version of the song released as a two-part single in 1974 was Brown's 17th and final number one R&B hit and peaked at number thirty-one on the Hot 100. The full-length v ...

". 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

in 2018. He released three singles in 2024 as a solo artist on Curtis E Records which were titled "Living in New York City", "Nothing;s Gonna Change (My Love for You)" and "For a Lick and a Promise".

Discography

Credits adapted in part from

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

. As solo artist * "Living in New York City" (2024) * "Nothing;s Gonna Change (My Love for You)" (2024) * "For a Lick and a Promise" (2024) With

*'' Revolution of the Mind'' (1971) *''

'' (1971) *'' Get on the Good Foot'' (1972) *''

The Payback ''The Payback'' is the 37th studio album by American musician James Brown. The album was released in December 1973, by Polydor Records. It was originally scheduled to become the soundtrack for the blaxploitation film ''Hell Up in Harlem'', but ...

'' (1973) *''

Hell In religion and folklore, hell is a location or state in the afterlife in which souls are subjected to punishment after death. Religions with a linear divine history sometimes depict hells as eternal destinations, such as Christianity and I ...

'' (1974) With

*''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 complete, ...

'' (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 a concept that encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and Social norm, norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, Social norm, customs, capabilities, Attitude (psychology), attitudes ...

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

Notes

References

External links

Official websiteFred Thomas
at

MusicRadar Future plc is a British publishing company. It was started in 1985 by Chris Anderson. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. History 1985–2012 The company was founded by Chris Anderson a ...

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)