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2007-03-29
7:30PM
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GRAMMY WINNER 2007- BEST CONTEMPORARY BLUES ALBUM for "After the Rain"
"Thomas' entire career has been about using her dazzling voice to take great songs to her heart and make them special."
- Billboard
"...the vitality of these songs, coupled with Thomas' delivery, cannot be denied"
- USA Today
"...another sturdy set from a legend of soul who definitely still has the power."
- Boston Phoenix |
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| Soul Queen of New Orleans: Irma Thomas |
She's one of the most enduring soul survivors in contemporary music, a New Orleans icon whose artistry is firmly rooted in her skill as a potent musical storyteller and lyrical interpreter IRMA THOMAS is, quite simply, one of a kind: a soulful, down-home natural woman who has sustained a career for a remarkable four decades. A two-time Grammy nominee and recipient of a Pioneer Award from The Rhythm & Blues Foundation, Irma's triumphant teaming with Marcia Ball and Tracy Nelson for the 1998 best-selling album Sing It! further expanded her audience, exposing a new group of music fans to one of the music industry's most vibrant performers.
As captivating as she is onstage, Irma Thomas is just as potent as a recording artist. Judging from My Heart's In Memphis: The Songs Of Dan Penn - a tailor-made match with renowned songwriter Dan Penn - she's truly in her prime. "If someone would have told me that music would be my life's career way back when I first started 'she says, "I'd have said, 'you gotta be kidding!' I consider myself a blessed person to still be recording and performing and enjoying it more than ever!"
That joy is evident in the way Irma approached making My Heart's In Memphis, a natural collaboration for Louisiana’s undisputed Soul Queen and Penn, the author of such time honored classics as "Do Right Woman, Do Right Man," "Dark End Of The Street" and "I'm Your Puppet." Originally a hit for James & Bobby Purify in 1966, "I'm Your Puppet" is one of three vintage Dan Penn standards given a new lease on life by Irma on the album. The idea for having Irma record an entire album in Memphis (a first for her) was the brainchild of Rounder Records' Scott Billington, who has worked with the legendary vocalist since she began her association with the label in 1985. After he saw her perform at the Porretta Soul Festival in Italy with a band of Memphis players, Billington knew that Irma's rich, burnished alto would be perfectly at home in the city of soul.
During the recording of Irma's 1997 album The Story Of My Life, Billington had invited Penn and songwriting partners Carson Whitsett and Johnny Barnett to the sessions and as a result, Irma recorded three songs written specifically for her by the trio. It was not her first time cutting any of Penn's material: she had recorded a few of Penn's compositions during a brief late '60s stint with Chess Records, as well as the songs "Zero Will Power" and "Women Left Lonely" for a small independent label in the early '70s.
My Heart's In Memphis was cut with an all-star cast of Memphis musicians including guitarist Michael Toles, organist Marvell Thomas, and keyboardists Spooner Oldham and Bobby Emmons. Irma's eighth album for Rounder, it runs the emotional gamut from the sassy "If You Want It, Come And Get It" to the poignant "Not Enough Time To Change." Penn and Oldham wrote the standout "Irma's Song" after the singer shared some thoughts with the pair during the sessions for the album: "When you look across the street from my house in New Orleans, you can see this magnolia tree. I had this idea about wanting a man that was like a tree, you know, strong, with branches that would enfold me..."
In keeping with other truth-telling songs in her vast repertoire, "Keep It Simple" expresses Irma's own philosophy on male-female relationships: "Men tend to go all out trying to impress us ladies by buying all these expensive things, making a grand production of everything. Us matured ladies, we just would prefer it simple!" she declares, with typical Thomas wit. Dealing with the age-old theme of men-stealin' women, the lilting "The Joke Is On You" is reminiscent in musical flavor of recordings made by such Memphis stalwarts as Al Green and Ann Peebles; while "Blue In My Heart" is a classic Penn ballad to which Irma brings her very special brand of soulful intensity. Indeed, it's that innate, down-to-earth soulfulness which has been the constant theme running throughout Irma's impressive legacy of recorded works.
www.irmathomas.com |
