FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 6, 2009
THE ORIGINAL SCEPTER RECORDINGS OF B.J. THOMAS, PRODUCED BY THE LIKES OF HUEY P. MEAUX, CHIPS MOMAN, BUDDY BUIE, STEVE TYRELL AND BURT BACHARACH & HAL DAVID, TO BE REISSUED ON COLLECTORS' CHOICE ON NOVEMBER 10
Eight LPs to be reissued on four individual CDs with rare bonus tracks. Including such hits as "Hooked on a Feeling, "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head," and "Rock 'n' Roll Lullaby"
LOS ANGELES, Calif. -- B.J. Thomas is best known for his huge pop hits like "Hooked on a Feeling" and "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head." But few realize that his support network during his years on Scepter Records (1966-'73) included legendary writers and producers -- people like Huey P. Meaux in Houston, Chips Moman and the American Studios session team in Memphis, Buddy Buie and the future Atlanta Rhythm Section in Alabama and Burt Bacharach and Hal David in Los Angeles/New York. The result of this journey -- eight albums on Florence Greenberg's legendary Scepter label -- will be reissued on November 10, 2009 as four individual re-mastered CDs with liner notes by music journalist Michael Ragogna.
The eight albums come formatted as four twofers: I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry/Tomorrow Never Comes, On My Way/Young and in Love, Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head/Everybody's Out of Town and Most of All/Billy Joe Thomas. Each twofer also crams on rare single b-sides and unissued masters to create four 26 song CDs.
The story starts with the Houston-based Thomas and his band, the Triumphs, heading to Huey P. Meaux's studio in Pasadena, Texas. Their first single A-side, "Hey Judy," initially released on Meaux's regional label, did nothing on the charts, but its flipside, a cover of Hank Williams' "I'm So Lonely I Could Cry," scored 10 in Thomas' hometown. Thomas' longtime friend and producer Steve Tyrell took the song to nationally distributed Scepter Records, where it was included in the album I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry, released in 1966, and would chart 8 on the pop charts. Along with "Lonesome" the LP contained other charting singles: "Mama" and "Bring Back the Time." Meaux also produced the 1966 follow-up Tomorrow Never Comes, using Houston session players in place of the Triumphs. A stint on Dick Clark's tours with James Brown, Gene Pitney and Chad & Jeremy won Thomas an audience outside of Texas and poised him for future success.
One of the best career moves Thomas ever made was his fateful trip from Texas to Tennessee -- specifically to Chips Moman's storied American Studios in Memphis, around the corner from Sun Studios. Moman convinced Thomas that if he moved to Memphis, Moman would keep him in mind for hit songs. Thomas soon sported a 901 area code, and recorded with the Memphis A-team: Reggie Young and Tommy Cogbill on guitars; Bobby Woods, piano; Mike Leech, bass; and Buddy Emmons, drums. Among the contributing songwriters was Wayne Carson ("The Letter"), who co-wrote "You Were Always On My Mind" for Thomas with Mark James. From the sessions for the 1968 album On My Way came more Mark James compositions: "Eyes of a New York Woman" and Thomas' career-defining "Hooked On a Feeling." Its CD twofer partner, the 1969 album Young and in Love, contained three more James compositions: "It's Only Love," "Living Again" and "Pass the Apple Eve." The album also includes the Nick Ashford and Valerie Simpson song "Never Had It So Good."
Soon after the Memphis sessions, Scepter Records' Paul Cantor called Thomas and announced, "You're goin' to L.A. We got your ticket." Thomas would find himself in the company of Burt Bacharach and Hal David, who co-wrote and were about to produce what would become the artist's biggest single ever, "Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head," featured in the film Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid. Thomas came to L.A. with laryngitis but recorded anyway. Eight weeks later, it was re-cut with new vocals and the signature horn solo ending. The single was an amalgam of three different studio takes. The title track of Thomas' fifth album, the song charted 1 and went on to win an Academy Award. Much of the rest of the album was cut in Memphis and included a notable version of "Suspicious Minds," intended for Elvis Presley, which Thomas was initially angry he couldn't record first. The Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head album is bundled on CD with Everybody's Out of Town, which features Brill Building denizens Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil's "I Just Can't Help Believing," another classic B.J. Thomas hit.
Having recorded in Houston, Memphis and Los Angeles, Thomas recorded the Most of All album at Studio One in Doraville, Alabama, home to recordings by the Classics IV and, later, Lynyrd Skynyrd. His new musical team was headed by Buddy Buie whose house band -- guitarist J.R. Cobb and drummer Robert Nix -- went on to become the Atlanta Rhythm Section. Buie wrote "Most of All," and they recorded the Wayne Carson-penned "No Love At All," a 16 hit for Thomas.
On CD, Most of All cohabitates with the 1972 album Billy Joe Thomas -- the artist's final Scepter release and recorded in New York. The album's concept is that contributing songwriters would appear on the album; they included Stevie Wonder, Carole King, Jimmy Webb, Barry Mann & Cynthia Weil and Paul Williams. Featured was the song of which Thomas is most proud: Mann and Weil's "Rock 'n' Roll Lullaby." To get a guitarist who "sounded like Duane Eddy," Thomas and his producers summoned the real Duane Eddy. Famed backing group the Blossoms also appeared on the track, which charted 15. Among the bonus tracks are Thomas' 1971 hit "Mighty Clouds of Joy" and a previously unissued Mann & Weil composition, "There's No Holding You."
1972 marked the end of Thomas' Scepter era, but the B.J. Thomas saga continued with more hits ("Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song," "Don't Worry Baby," "Whatever Happened To Old Fashioned Love") on the pop, country, adult contemporary and gospel charts. Most recently, B.J. has recorded an album of Brazilian music. Thomas reflects, "I've had a different kind of career . . . And I'm not one of those guys who likes to be on stage all the time. So a lot of things that would have helped me have a bigger career were not in my capacity to do."
BJ Thomas has been iducted into the Hit Parade Hall of Fame!!!!
http://www.hitparadehalloffame.org/1nuinductees.html
Little Giant Encyclopedia: Classic Songs
(Little Giant Encyclopedia) (Paperback)
by Mathew Barton Forward By BJ Thomas
This title will be released on July 1, 2008
Available at Barns & Nobles
Jake's Corner Music Video
OFFICIAL BJ THOMAS MERCH HERE!!!
BJ loves this new animated video developed by Charlemange Fezza at Pew Man Fu Studios. Come take a look.
Sounds Like
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I believe and support the mission of Pathway to Spirit to meet the basic needs of Native Americans. A link to Pathway is provided for anyone that wants to join in our efforts.
Thank You,
B J Thomas
With over 70 million records sold, BJ’s vocal versatility is as apparent in today on his latest album You Call That A Mountain, as it was when he recorded his first hit in 1967, “I’m so Lonesome I Could Cry”.
Since the mid-1960s, BJ Thomas has become one of the most recognized and respected voices of the American musical landscape. He has impacted many areas of popular music with 15 Top 40 pop hits, 10 Top 40 country hits, 5 Grammys, 2 Dove awards and 15 Gold and Platinum Records.
“As a singer,” he says, “I have the chance to lift the spirits of the audience and make them feel good, at least for the evening.”
It’s an attitude people have noticed. Fans frequently approach BJ to thank him for the impact of his songs ranging from the mega hit “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head” to country smashes like “New Looks From An Old Lover.”
BJ’s music is testimony to the fact he is a survivor. He has overcome personal adversity and addiction as well as weathered professional storms to emerge musically stronger than ever. His new album You Call That A Mountain contains two songs recorded by BJ for the first time: “You Call That A Mountain” and “What’s Forever For”. Each song pays tribute to BJ’s strong, expressive vocal style.
Billy Joe Thomas, nick-named BJ by his baseball coach at age 10, was born in Hugo, Oklahoma, and grew up in Houston, Texas. He moved with his family to Rosenberg, Texas at age 15 and was a “charming, energetic cut-up”, according to his friends. BJ was a member of his high school and church choirs. As a teenager, he developed a passion for R&B. As his passion grew, he began sneaking into nightclubs to hear blues legend Bobby “Blue” Bland. At the age of 15, BJ joined a local Houston rock band, the Triumphs. Early influences range from Ernest Tubb to Jackie Wilson and Little Richard.
BJ made his biggest local splash as lead singer for the Triumphs, a six-piece rock and roll band that started out playing at dances and a Saturday morning radio show. The Triumphs became one of the biggest acts in Texas, opening at the Houston Coliseum for headliners like Roy Orbison, the Dave Clark Five and the Four Tops.
The Triumphs’ first album was recorded in Beaumont. They released several well-received local singles. In 1965 the band went into the studio to record an album of vintage rock and roll. They needed one song to finish the project. BJ recalled his father had told him, “Don’t come back unless you record something country”. With that in mind, BJ suggested Hank Williams’ “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry”. It was recorded at 5 a.m. after an all night session.
Reflecting on his childhood, BJ recalls a major turning point in his life. “I remember seeing Hank Williams with my father,” he says. “He was unbelievable that night. He came out on stage and he was feeling good. I remember him getting on his knees and playing the guitar. I’ll never forget the look on my daddy’s face at that show. I guess that’s the night I decided I was going to communicate with my daddy through the music he loved. It was the only way I could communicate with him.”
The Triumphs took the new album to Houston DJs who picked up on “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry” and made it a regional hit. The record’s producer leased the master tape of the single to New York’s Scepter Records, who had access to such acts as the Shirelles and the Isley Brothers. The album went to number four on the national pop charts and sold more than a million copies - several other bands had already attempted to cover the song, but were unsuccessful.
By 1968, he had recorded four gold records. The first three hits were “The Eyes Of a New York Woman,” “Hooked on a Feeling” and “It’s Only Love”. Followed by “Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head”. Labelmate Dionne Warwick, who’d been working with the Burt Bacharach/Hal David songwriting team, recommended BJ for “Raindrops Keep Falling on my Head” which was written for the motion picture Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid.
“I was in the right place at the right time,” BJ says, “and I probably got their best song ever.” “Raindrops” was Bacharach/David’s first million-selling song. The same year BJ sang the song on the Academy Awards telecast, “Raindrops” was named Song of the Year. 1999 marked the 30-year anniversary of “Raindrops”.
In 1976, he released the first of several gospel albums, “Home Where I Belong,” which went platinum, making him the biggest contemporary Christian artist of the period. Over the next several years, he received two Dove awards. However, gospel fans reacted negatively when BJ sang his older pop hits at Christian-focused concerts.
Moving back country music, BJ hit the Top 40 ten times with hits like “What Ever Happened To Old Fashioned Love,” “New Looks From an Old Lover” (which wife Gloria wrote with Red Lane), and “The Whole World’s in Love When You’re Lonely.”
His country success led him to become the 60th member of the Grand Ole Opry on his 30th birthday.
Throughout his career, BJ has actively worked for various causes. In particular, his song, “Broken Toys,” written by Gloria and Nashville writers J.D. Martin and Gary Harrison, has been adopted by child abuse agencies throughout the country.
In 1989 BJ recorded “As Long As We Got Each Other,” the theme song for the ABC sitcom Growing Pains.
As the tours and records keep coming, BJ Thomas maintains his reputation as a singer. “BJ is one of the greatest all-time singers of today,” according to Nashville songwriter Mark James, who wrote “Hooked On a Feeling” and Elvis’ “Suspicious Minds”.
While BJ and Gloria have written several of his hit songs, he continues to credit the many talented songwriters with whom he has worked. “Their songs still stand up,” he says. “That’s a sign of a great writer. I’m like the mailman. I deliver what the guys write and hope it has a lasting effect when I get it there.”
As a man who has seen both the good and the bad life and career have to offer, BJ places more importance than ever on his marriage of over 30 years and his family life. “The real answer for me,” he says, “lies in trying to be a good husband to my wife and a good father to my kids (he has three daughters - Paige, Nora and Erin) and live up to my responsibilities. That’s the bottom line right there. I really believe that just being a regular guy and trying to do the best you can is the essence of having peace of mind in this life.” This attitude helps him keep his extraordinary career in perspective.
BJ’s 1997 release of “Christmas Is Coming Home,” on the Warner Resound label, has been hailed as one of the strongest collections of nontraditional Christmas music.
“I’ll be honest with you,” he adds conspiratorially, “when I do music; I do so with everything I can give it. And I’m sure I always will.”
1965 or 2007? BJ’s dynamic voice has remained uncompromised through the years. The new album, You Call That a Mountain once again showcases the wonderfully unique vocal style of BJ Thomas.
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