Irma Thomas has been singing for an audience since the mid-1950s. She was raised (and still proudly lives) in New Orleans. By age 19 she had been married twice and had two children by her first husband, she would have two more children by her second husband in the next few years. Her first single for Ron Records,"[You Can Have My Husband, But] Don't Mess with My Man" hit #22 on the R&B charts in May of 1960. Ms. Thomas achieved additional, modest, commercial successes in the 1960s. During the 1970s and '80s she, like many other blues and soul artists, worked at "regular" jobs to support herself and her children in between paying singing gigs.
Her career made a sharp, upward turn in 1991 with the Rounder Records release of "Live! Simply the Best", which earned her a first-ever GRAMMY nomination. Since then, she has toured North America and made several new recordings.
In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, there was a widely-reported rumor that Irma Thomas had died in the storm. Fortunately, Ms. Thomas had been in Texas, singing club dates, as the storm hit. That rumor, along with an international interest in all things New Orleans, has brought Ms. Thomas more attention and she has worked constantly for the past year. One of the projects that she has been working on is her new album "After the Rain". The album contains a raw sound, filled with emotion, different than many of her previous recordings.
I recently interviewed Ms. Thomas at the 2006 Tanglewood Jazz Festival. Though there is not (yet) a tie between Ms. Thomas' career and Broadway, I would like to think that I am ahead of the curve. In the era of "Jukebox" musicals, I think that her life story and the music that she has sung over the past half-century would make a compelling musical.
Randy Rice: So tell me about your new album "After the Rain"
Irma Thomas: We had selected those songs way before the storm hit. It just happened that some of the songs fit in with the aftermath. The title came
after the storm was over with. The "After the Rain" title was another of Scott's [Billington] brilliant ideas. He asked me what I thought of the title "After the Rain" and I said that I thought it would be just right.
RR: This past year [post-Katrina] has been a hell of a year for you.
IT: It has. Out of every disaster, if you look and believe, you can find something; what they call the "pot of gold" at the end of the rainbow. Now, I don't have a pot of gold, but I have been so busy that I have not had time to concentrate on or even think about what has happened. I am fully aware of it, but I haven't had a chance to be depressed, because I don't want to be depressed, because I don't know how to be depressed. I am very optimistic about life in general. Not being a materialistic person, I got over it kinda quick.
RR: Have you played New Orleans since the storm?
IT: I have only done a couple, three gigs, if you count the Jazz Fest. I did Mardi Gras at Harrahs. I did Thanksgiving day, which we do every year. Of course, this year, most of the New Orleanians were not there, but we did it for the one that came to clean up and help those who needed it in the city, so it was worth it.
RR: How has your new album [After the Rain] been received?
IT: I have been getting great reviews, to my surprise.
RR: Why to your surprise?
IT: Because this is the first time I have ventured into this kind of music. I mean, some of the songs are older than I am. I had never heard some of them prior to Scott brought them to my attention. I even asked him "Are you sure I can do them?". He said that with the arrangements he had in his mind I could do them. And I did them. Aside from that, having gone through what we've gone through, I sung from a depth that I didn't know I had in me. The songs came out with a very mature sound, which I am a mature lady. It came from a different place this time. I think this was my way of getting a little therapy that I needed.
RR: So, is a different sound than your previous album "The Songs of Dan Penn"?
IT: Very much so, very different.
RR: Because "Dan Penn" is very smooth.
IT: This is raw Irma. Very acoustic. It kinda brought me back to going to school, when we did thing a cappella, maybe one instrument, which was probably a piano. I just reflected.... [and told myself] "O.K., you can sing, so just do it". It works.
RR: Is there going to be an Irma Thomas autobiography?
IT: I am still working on it. Of course we got sidetracked because of the storm, but there are two ladies who are helping me do it. So now I have to get back out there and tell folks that I still want to know their favorite Irma Thomas stories. Because that is the way I want to write it. I want it written with fans of mine who have been part of my career, all of my career, they are the ones who have created the situation so that I could still have one. I want them to be part of it. This [storm] just adds another chapter to it. I would daresay [that it would be ready in] a couple years. I would bank on getting it out by the time I am 67. I am 65 now.
RR: Your career has gotten a lot of attention in the past year.
IT: I am getting a lot of work, a lot of interviews [about New Orleans], and they have all been to the good. I am looking at it this way: I am kind of like the ambassador, in a sense, that everyone is not doom and gloom in New Orleans and that we are getting through this, one day at a time. That has been part of the delay in getting my book out. The ladies that are helping me write the book, they were also devastated by Katrina. We are all getting back on our feet. Once we get some kind of settled, established [routine], we are going to get back to work on it. All I want is one bedroom, and one bathroom, and I will be ready. (laughs) I am ready. It is understandable. All of us have been through a lot. Even though I have a lot to say, it is going to get done. I am taking my time, with my little tape recorder. If I could stop burning out the batteries, I would be all right.
RR: Tell me about this gig tonight [A tribute to Johnny Mercer with
Dr. John,
Ann Hampton Callaway, Catherine Russell and
John Pizzarelli]
IT: This gig is a surprise to me. I was quite shocked when they told me where I was going to be playing, and who I was going to be playing with. I have been on the same show with Doc. I have only done one show, some time ago, with him and his band. When he invited me to do this I said, "Why not?".
RR: The line-up tonight is unmatched, I don't ever think I have seen a line-up like this.
IT: I am just meeting John [Pizzarelli] and Ann [Hampton Callaway] for the first time. Catherine [Russell] and I have met before, but I have never heard her sing. I knew of [John and Ann], I had seen their names, but did not know them as people. It is quite funny because we have found that we all have a lot in common. We have been joking and having a good time with each other.
RR: What are you singing tonight?
IT: I am doing "Ac-cent-tchu-ate the Positive" which is from his [
Dr. John's] cd, "Another Lonely Heart" and "Don't Mess with My Man".
RR: I am glad you are singing "Don't Mess with My Man". That is what people came to hear.
IT: Really?
RR: You can't see Irma Thomas and not hear "Don't Mess with My Man", right?
IT: I have done it a couple of times, but I guess you have a point there.
RR: I am happy you are here at Tanglewood and pleased that your album has gotten such great reviews.
IT: Thank you.
