Hayden Thompson

Hayden Thompson figured among the wave of rockabilly performers who entered Sam Phillips’ celebrated Sun Records after the imprint’s breakthrough star Elvis Presley had already reshaped its fortunes. His solitary Sun release, “Love My Baby,” continues to hold cult status with devotees of raw early rock & roll. Born March 5, 1938, in Booneville, Mississippi, Thompson received his first guitar at age five and soon mastered the instrument on his own, as noted in a Rockabilly Hall of Fame profile. A frequent entrant in neighborhood talent shows, he reached local radio at nine, initially performing gospel before shifting toward country material. Exposure to Memphis rhythm & blues outlets WDAI and KWEM further molded his style, leading him, while still in high school, to assemble the Southern Melody Boys, whose sets featured vigorous renditions of then-current country & western numbers. Late in 1954 the group joined the fledgling Von label and recorded its first single, “I Feel the Blues Coming On,” with the B-side “Act Like You Love Me” already edging closer to rockabilly. Thompson kept steering the Southern Melody Boys toward rock & roll, even declining an audition for the Louisiana Hayride country broadcast in order to break from traditional influences. Internal disagreements dissolved the band, after which he joined the Dixie Jazzlanders; the unit was soon booked to accompany screenings of the 1956 rock & roll film Rock Around the Clock across Southern theaters. When no recording contract materialized, the Dixie Jazzlanders disbanded. Thompson next spent a year traveling with the Slim Rhodes Band, still without securing a deal.

Eventually based in Memphis, he became a familiar face at Sun Studios much as Presley had been. Phillips finally scheduled a session late in 1956, enlisting guitarist Roland Janes, bassist Marvin Pepper, drummer Jimmy Van Eaton, and an as-yet-unfamiliar pianist, Jerry Lee Lewis, to back a driving treatment of Junior Parker’s “Love You Baby.” Additional dates took place throughout 1957, yet Phillips waited until the year’s close to issue the track as a single on his new Phillips International subsidiary. Thompson soon participated in a Sun package tour fronted by Sonny Burgess and Billy Lee Riley. Although he kept recording and performing for the label, no further single appeared, prompting his 1958 move to Chicago, where he secured a steady engagement at the Tally Ho Club in Highwood. Supported by guitarist Travis Westmoreland and drummer Bob Travis, he cut the 1959 B.E.A.T. single “Tom Thumb,” which vanished without impact. Two years later Profile Records issued “Whatcha Gonna Do,” but even regular spots on WGN’s Barn Dance failed to lift his prospects. A 1962 collaboration with noted Memphis producer Jack Clement yielded “Queen Bee” for Arlen; lacking promotion, the record fared no better, and Thompson returned to Chicago for a house-band slot at the Rivoli Ballroom. After issuing the 1966 Kapp LP Here’s Hayden Thompson, he entered semi-retirement, working as a cab driver while accepting occasional package-show and suburban-club bookings. The tiny Brave label released the one-off “If It’s Alright” in 1968, again to little notice.

Scattered singles for Nashville North appeared in the early 1970s, including a version of Presley’s “I’m Left, You’re Right, She’s Gone.” In 1975 Thompson put out “I’ll Kiss You Again” on his own H.T. imprint. When that effort likewise drew no airplay or sales, he formally stepped away from performing. Renewed collector interest in vintage rockabilly across Europe and Japan, however, brought fresh exposure for his Sun sides on various anthologies, rapidly expanding his audience. Guitarist Roland Janes persuaded him to resume live work, resulting in a first European tour in 1984. Bear Family soon compiled a career retrospective, yet Thompson continued driving a limousine full-time upon returning to Chicago. He still played sporadic local dates, often backed by the rockabilly-revival group the Rebel Rousers. With another Chicago ensemble, Bud Hudson & the Hornets, he revived his recording career via the Sunjay single “What’m I Gonna Do.” Further European tours followed, and in 2003 he traveled to Finland to record “Diamonds and Cadillacs” with the Hal Peters Trio. Blue Light issued the self-titled 2007 solo album—his first new full-length in over four decades. The association continued: in 2015 the label paired Booneville Mississippi Flash and The Time Is Now in a two-fer reissue and also delivered the fresh LPs Standing Tall (2010) and Learning the Game (2017).