Ernest Joseph "Tabby" Thomas, (January 5, 1929 – January 1, 2014), also known as Rockin' Tabby Thomas, was an American

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

musician. He sang and played the piano and guitar and specialized in

swamp blues Swamp blues is a type of Louisiana blues that developed in the Black communities of Southwest Louisiana in the 1950s.Malone, Evelyn Levingston, "Swamp Blues: Race And Vinyl From Southwest Louisiana" (2016). Publicly Accessible Penn Dissertation ...

, a style of blues indigenous to southern Louisiana.

Life and career

Thomas was born and grew up in

Baton Rouge, Louisiana Baton Rouge ( ; ) is a city in and the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. Located the eastern bank of the Mississippi River, it is the parish seat of East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana's most populous parish—the equivalent of counties i ...

, United States. After graduating from high school he served in the

U.S. Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Sign ...

, and while serving won a talent contest on KSAN radio in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

in 1959. He made a few unsuccessful recordings for

Hollywood Records Hollywood Records is an American record label of the Disney Music Group. The label focuses in pop, rock, alternative, hip hop, and country genres, as well as specializing in mature recordings not suitable for the flagship Walt Disney Records l ...

and then he returned to Baton Rouge. He recorded for several small local labels, before he became more successful with

Excello Records Excello Records was an American blues independent record label, started by Ernie Young in Nashville, Tennessee, United States, in 1953 as a subsidiary of Nashboro, a gospel label. History It recorded such artists as Lonnie Brooks, Lightnin' Slim, ...

, based in

Crowley, Louisiana Crowley (Local pronunciation: ) is a city in, and the parish seat of, Acadia Parish, Louisiana, Acadia Parish in the U.S. state of Louisiana. At the 2020 United States census, Crowley had a population of 11,710. Crowley is the principal city of th ...

; his records for Excello included "Hoodo Party" in 1961. He also worked in various jobs, including a time with

Ciba Geigy Novartis AG is a Swiss-American multinational pharmaceutical corporation based in Basel, Switzerland and Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States (global research).name="novartis.com">https://www.novartis.com/research-development/research-loca ...

, when he was a

union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...

steward. He became one of the best-known blues musicians in Baton Rouge with his band, the Mellow, Mellow Men, but briefly retired from performing in the late 1960s to set up his own

record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produ ...

, Blue Beat, which released his recordings and those of other local musicians. In 1978, with other members of his family, including his son

Chris Thomas King Chris Thomas King (born Durwood Christopher Thomas, October 14, 1962) is an American blues musician and actor based in New Orleans, Louisiana. History King was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, United States. He is the son of blues musician Tabby ...

, he reopened a rundown building on North Boulevard. He ran the venue as an authentic blues

club Club may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Club'' (magazine) * Club, a ''Yie Ar Kung-Fu'' character * Clubs (suit), a suit of playing cards * Club music * "Club", by Kelsea Ballerini from the album ''kelsea'' Brands and enterprises ...

, Tabby's Blues Box and Heritage Hall. The club moved in 2000 and eventually closed in November 2004. Thomas also became a popular performer in the UK and Europe, where he made regular appearances. In 1986, his single "Bad Luck and Trouble" backed with "I Can't Hold Out", released on the

Maison de Soul Maison de Soul is a Louisiana-based Zydeco and blues record label. It was founded in 1974 in Ville Platte, Louisiana by Floyd Soileau and remains under his ownership. It is one of four record labels under Soileau's Flat Town Music Company umbr ...

record label, was nominated for a W.C. Handy Music Award in the Blues Single of the Year category. Thomas had a serious automobile accident in 2002 and a

stroke A stroke is a medical condition in which poor blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and hemorrhagic, due to bleeding. Both cause parts of the brain to stop functionin ...

in 2004, which affected his playing but not his singing. He later hosted the

radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmit ...

show ''Tabby's Blues Box'' on the Baton Rouge stations WBRH-FM and KBRH-AM. He died in the early hours of January 1, 2014, and was interred at

Port Hudson National Cemetery Port Hudson National Cemetery is a United States National Cemetery located in Port Hudson, north of the city of Baton Rouge in East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana. Administered by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, it encompasse ...

References

External links

* *
Tabby Thomas interview
by Nick Spitzer, from the radio program ''

American Routes American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

'', June 2006 {{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Tabby 1929 births 2014 deaths African-American guitarists American blues guitarists American male guitarists American blues pianists American male pianists American blues singers Blues musicians from Louisiana Musicians from Baton Rouge, Louisiana Swamp blues musicians Louisiana blues musicians United States Air Force airmen 20th-century American guitarists 20th-century American pianists Singers from Louisiana Guitarists from Louisiana 20th-century American male musicians African-American pianists 20th-century African-American musicians 21st-century African-American people Maison de Soul Records artists