Irma Thomas

The Soul Queen of New Orleans, an honor formally granted by city officials, Irma Thomas stands as one of the Crescent City’s most respected and lasting exponents of R&B, achieving less national commercial reach than peers such as Aretha Franklin and Etta James yet commanding comparable esteem among devoted soul listeners. Born Irma Lee on February 18, 1941, in Ponchatoula, Louisiana, she performed with a Baptist church choir during her teenage years and, at thirteen, auditioned for Specialty Records. The following year she delivered her first child, married the father, bore a second child, and saw the marriage end. At seventeen she married Andrew Thomas, gave birth to two more children, and divorced again, all before turning twenty. Retaining the surname Thomas, she took a waitressing job at the Pimlico Club in New Orleans and occasionally joined bandleader Tommy Ridgley onstage. After the club owner fired her for neglecting tables in favor of singing, Ridgley arranged auditions with Minit and Ronn; the latter issued her debut single, “You Can Have My Husband (But Don’t Mess with My Man),” in spring 1960, which climbed to number 22 on the Billboard R&B chart. Accusing Ronn of withholding royalties, Thomas left after one additional release, “A Good Man,” briefly recorded “Look Up” for Bandy in 1961, then moved to Minit.

Her opening Minit single, “Girl Needs Boy,” began a sustained partnership with songwriter-producer Allen Toussaint that lasted through her entire stay at the label. Although none of the six Minit singles became major hits, several stood out, notably 1962’s “It’s Raining,” later featured by filmmaker Jim Jarmusch in the cult film Down by Law, and 1963’s “Ruler of My Heart,” which Otis Redding adapted into “Pain in My Heart.” When Imperial acquired Minit in 1963, Thomas’s contract transferred with the catalog. Her first Imperial single, the intimate “Wish Someone Would Care,” benefited from the label’s stronger promotion and reached the Billboard pop Top 20, while its B-side, “Break-a-Way,” written by Jackie DeShannon and Sharon Sheeley, became a local radio favorite in New Orleans and later attracted covers by artists ranging from Beryl Marsden to Tracey Ullman. The follow-up, “Anyone Who Knows What Love Is (Will Understand),” showcased one of her most expressive vocal performances yet failed to chart; its B-side, “Time Is on My Side,” written by Jerry Ragovoy, drew admiration from the Rolling Stones, who scored a major hit with a nearly identical arrangement. Thomas ended 1964 with two modest chart entries, “Times Have Changed” and “He’s My Guy,” both penned by Van McCoy. For later sides such as “I’m Gonna Cry Till My Tears Run Dry” and “The Hurt’s All Gone,” she traveled to New York to work again with Ragovoy, but commercial momentum faded; after the 1966 chart failure of the James Brown–produced “It’s a Man’s-Woman’s World,” Imperial dropped her contract.

She next joined Chess Records and recorded “Cheater Man” at Rick Hall’s Fame studio in Muscle Shoals in 1967. Neither that track nor the follow-up, “A Woman Will Do Wrong,” made significant impact, though her third Chess release, a version of Redding’s “Good to Me,” registered a minor R&B chart entry in 1968. The modest success proved insufficient to continue the Chess association, and Thomas remained away from the studio for several years. Following Hurricane Camille, she moved her family to Oakland, California, in 1969 and later settled in Los Angeles, supporting her children with a job at Montgomery Ward. She returned to recording with the 1971 Cotillion single “Full Time Woman,” issued “Save a Little Bit” on Canyon later that year, and followed with “I’d Do It All for You” in 1972. In 1973 she released “These Four Walls” on Roker, then three singles on Fungus: “You’re the Dog (I Do the Barking Myself),” “In Between Tears,” and “Coming from Behind.” Thomas moved back to New Orleans in 1976 and the next year issued “Hittin’ on Nothin’” and a re-recorded “Breakaway” on Maison de Soul. In 1980 she appeared on RCS with the album Safe with Me, an attempt to recast her sound in a disco-era style; it proved her final release for six years.

During that interval she increased her live performances. With husband and manager Emile Jackson she opened the Lion’s Den club in New Orleans, where she regularly performed, and she also toured Europe, where her catalog continued to receive airplay. In 1985 Rounder producer Scott Billington invited her to make a new album; The New Rules appeared the following year to favorable notices and respectable sales. The Way I Feel arrived in 1988, and Live! Simply the Best in 1991 earned Thomas her first Grammy nomination. She issued True Believer the next year and her debut gospel project, Walk Around Heaven, in 1993. Her next secular album, The Story of My Life, waited until 1997; in interviews she attributed the gap to difficulty locating material suited to her age and outlook. She altered direction for 1998’s Sing It!, a collaboration with longtime admirers Marcia Ball and Tracy Nelson. Two years later came My Heart’s in Memphis: The Songs of Dan Penn, which included both established Penn numbers such as “I’m Your Puppet” and “Woman Left Lonely” and newly written pieces. After the Rain, released in 2006, received a Grammy nomination for Best Contemporary Blues Album. Simply Grand appeared on Rounder in 2008, presenting Thomas in an acoustic format backed by an array of pianists that included Dr. John, Ellis Marsalis, and Randy Newman.