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Willard "Ramblin'" Thomas (1901 or 1902 – 1944 or 1945) was an American country blues singer, guitarist and songwriter. He is best remembered for his
slide guitar Slide guitar is a technique for playing the guitar that is often used in blues music. It involves playing a guitar while holding a hard object (a slide) against the strings, creating the opportunity for glissando effects and deep vibratos tha ...
playing and for several
recordings A record, recording or records may refer to: An item or collection of data Computing * Record (computer science), a data structure ** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity ** Boot sector or boot record, r ...
he made in the late 1920s and early 1930s. Blues scholars seem undecided if his nickname referred to his style of playing or to his itinerant nature. He was the brother of the blues musician Jesse Thomas.


Biography

Thomas was born in
Logansport, Louisiana Logansport is a town in western DeSoto Parish adjacent to the Sabine River in western Louisiana, United States. The population was 1,340 in 2020. It is part of the Shreveport–Bossier City metropolitan statistical area. History The area, ...
, one of nine children in his family. His father played the
fiddle A fiddle is a bowed string musical instrument, most often a violin. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including classical music. Although in many cases violins and fiddles are essentially synonymous, th ...
, and Willard and his brothers Joe L. and Jesse learned to play the guitar, with Willard particularly practicing slide guitar techniques. Thomas relocated to Deep Ellum, Dallas, Texas, in the late 1920s and was influenced by the playing of Lonnie Johnson,
Blind Lemon Jefferson Lemon Henry "Blind Lemon" Jefferson (September 24, 1893 – December 19, 1929)Some sources indicate Jefferson was born on October 26, 1894. was an American blues and gospel singer-songwriter and musician. He was one of the most popular blues sing ...
and Blind Blake. He performed in San Antonio, Oklahoma and possibly St. Louis, Missouri, in his subsequent travels. He recorded in Dallas and Chicago between 1928 and 1932, for
Paramount Records Paramount Records was an American record label known for its recordings of jazz and blues in the 1920s and early 1930s, including such artists as Ma Rainey, Tommy Johnson and Blind Lemon Jefferson. Early years Paramount Records was formed in 19 ...
and Victor Records. His playing is said to have influenced Black Ace and Robert Johnson. Thomas reportedly died of tuberculosis in 1944 or 1945 in Memphis, Tennessee. Compilations of his work have been released on CD by various record companies, including Document Records, in addition to LPs previously issued by Heritage, Biograph, and Matchbox Records.


Discography

*''Ramblin' Mind Blues: Chicago Blues, 1928'' *''Complete Recorded Works 1928–1932 in Chronological Order'', Ramblin' Thomas and the Dallas Blues Singers,
compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one or several Performing arts#Performers, performers. If by one artist, then generally the tr ...
( Document, 1992) His known recorded songs are the following: *"So Lonesome" *"Hard to Rule Woman Blues" *"Lock and Key Blues" *"Sawmill Moan" *"No Baby Blues" *"Ramblin' Mind Blues" *"No Job Blues" *"Back Gnawing Blues" *"Jig Head Blues" *"Hard Dallas Blues" (take 2) *"Hard Dallas Blues" (take 4) *"Ramblin' Man" *"Poor Boy Blues" *"Good Time Blues" *"New Way of Living Blues" *"Ground Hog Blues" *"Shake It Gal" *"Ground Hog Blues No. 2" *"Little Old Mama Blues".


See also

* List of country blues musicians *
List of Texas blues musicians Texas Blues is a subgenre of the blues, and of course is not limited to Texas-based musicians. It has had various style variations but typically has been played with more swing than other blues styles. Texas blues differs from styles such as Ch ...


References


External links


Illustrated discography at Wirz.de
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Ramblin 1900s births 1945 deaths People from Logansport, Louisiana American blues guitarists American male guitarists American blues singers Songwriters from Louisiana Country blues musicians 20th-century deaths from tuberculosis Blues musicians from Louisiana Slide guitarists Texas blues musicians Paramount Records artists 20th-century American singers 20th-century American guitarists Songwriters from Texas Singers from Louisiana Guitarists from Louisiana Guitarists from Texas 20th-century American male singers Tuberculosis deaths in Tennessee American male songwriters