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Topic: Irma Thomas

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	Irma Thomas
		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.
		Irma’s innate, down-to-earth soulfulness has been the constant theme running throughout her impressive legacy of recorded works.
		Irma's fortunes began to change in 1976 when she returned to New Orleans and the city immediately embraced its soulful daughter.
	www.alverno.edu /presents/0405/pages/act5.html (768 words)

	Blues On Stage - Marcia Ball, Irma Thomas, Tracy Nelson (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-09-19)
		Irma Thomas said, "things just clicked and we had a ball." Here were three very strong soloists with distinct musical styles and individual careers who found that not only did they have a mutual admiration for each other's music but that they sounded good together.
		Irma Thomas started her hit song "It's Raining" with a little laugh because we had a continual drizzle for the entire show that turned into a steady down pour at the end.
		Irma Thomas has that laid back, natural sounding, New Orleans soul sound that takes you on a lazy ride down a winding river in the middle of summer.
	www.mnblues.com /review/singit-live.html (987 words)

	2002 Irma Thomas
		Irma first entered an audition sponsored by Larry McKinley and Joe Banashak who were starting their own Minit label, but since nothing seemed to come out of this, Ridgley arranged her a recording contract with another local label, Ron records.
		Irma's career took a downward turn after her frustrating experiences with Chess, and in January 1970 she moved to California, where she lived for a few years, working as an automobile parts sale person.
		Irma seems to be quite well off, and unlike many other sixties soul singers, she shows no bitterness for the less fortunate things that have happened to her during her career.
	www.strawberryjam.org /2002irma.htm (2631 words)

	Concerted Efforts - Irma Thomas and the Professionals (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-09-19)
		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.
		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.
		Irma's next single was backed with her cover of the Jerry Ragovoy-penned "Time Is On My Side." Shortly thereafter, the Rolling Stones recorded their own version of the tune, which unmistakably bore Irma's influence, and provided the group with their first Top 10 U.S. hit.
	www.concertedefforts.com /artists_irma.asp (1462 words)

	VH1.com : Irma Thomas : Biography
		Born Irma Lee in Ponchatoula, Louisiana on February 18, 1941, as a teen she sang with a Baptist church choir, even auditioning for Specialty Records as a 13-year-old--a year later, she gave birth to her first child, marrying the baby's father and subsequently giving birth to another child before the union dissolved.
		It was not enough to extend Thomas' relationship with Chess, however, and she spent the next several years outside the studio--in the aftermath of the devastating Hurricane Camille, she relocated her family to Oakland, California in 1969, later settling in Los Angeles.
		Thomas shifted gears radically for 1998's Sing It!, which paired her with devout fans Marcia Ball and Tracy Nelson; two years later saw the release of My Heart's in Memphis: The Songs of Dan Penn, with Thomas tackling both Penn classics (“I'm Your Puppet," “Woman Left Lonely") and original compositions.
	www.vh1.com /artists/az/thomas_irma/bio.jhtml (488 words)

	BLUES ACCESS Online: Irma Thomas (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-09-19)
		Irma recorded an album’s worth of material in Muscle Shoals for Chess Records in the mid-’60s, but only a couple of singles were unenthusiastically released by the Chicago firm at the time (now on CD as Something Good, MCA/Chess, 1990).
		Soon Irma abandoned her pursuit of a career in the performing arts and took a day job at a Montgomery Ward store in California while she raised her four children as a single mother.
		Born Irma Lee in Ponchatoula, Louisiana, February 18, 1941, Irma Thomas hasn’t slowed a step, but instead continues to increase her remarkable powers as a singer and performer.
	www.bluesaccess.com /No_41/irma.html (4886 words)

	Irma Thomas Page (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-09-19)
		Irma Lee, 18th February 1941, Ponchatoula, Louisiana, U.S.A. Irma Thomas was born in Ponchatoula, Louisiana, and was known as the 'Soul Queen Of New Orleans'.
		Irma was working at a Crescent City nightery as a waitress in 1959, she sat in one night with Tommy's band and made a big impression with the group.
		Irma acheived a lifelong ambition in 1993 by recording her first gospel release.
	www.soulwalking.co.uk /IrmaThomas.html (323 words)

	River of Song: The Artists
		Thomas radiates a southern warmth, drawing audiences into her world and making them glad they came.
		This warmth and friendliness are an equal part of Thomas's offstage persona, which has helped her hold together one of the tightest bands in contemporary New Orleans r&b.
		At the Lions' Den, she is in her element, running through a tasteful mix of classic hits and new tunes, then coming offstage to greet all the old friends who have come down for the party.
	www.pbs.org /riverofsong/artists/e4-irma.html (235 words)

	Irma Thomas, If You Want it Come and Get it (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-09-19)
		And Irma Thomas is the Big Easy's number one soul diva, the Queen of New Orleans Soul.
		Thomas pays tribute to New Orleans institution Allen Toussaint (who wrote her 1962 hit "Ruler of My Heart") with Toussaint's "Old Records," another slow number.
		Thomas never overdoes it vocally, always hitting the right note at the right time.
	www.greenmanreview.com /irma.html (591 words)

	Variety.com - Reviews - Irma Thomas (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-09-19)
		Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit
		Since the late 1980s, when Irma Thomas purchased the Lion's Den as a venue for her in-town weekend performances, the singer dubbed the Soul Queen of New Orleans has earned a reputation for staying behind.
		To some degree, Thomas' move is spurred by the Grammy nomination for her Rounder Records album "Sing It!," a trio affair featuring Marcia Ball and Tracy Nelson.
	www.variety.com /review/VE1117490622?categoryid=34&cs=1 (541 words)

	Robert Christgau: CG: Artist 3916
		Thomas is deep, the material intelligent, and the mix of soul and disco disarmingly offhand.
		Born in 1941, Thomas had four kids and two husbands behind her by the time of her brief pop run in 1964, but you'd never have known how hard her life had been.
		She was too busy trying to sing the songs right, and that didn't mean interpreting them, much less infusing them with her own experience--it meant nailing a commercial sound.
	www.robertchristgau.com /get_artist.php?id=3916&name=Irma+Thomas (317 words)

	[No title] (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-09-19)
		Irma Thomas has been the queen of New Orleans' female vocalists for so long, it's hard to imagine a time when she wasn't recording and performing.
		Thomas is one of the biggest draws each year at the Jazz and Heritage Festival, enthralling the crowd with "You Can Have My Husband (But Please Don't Mess With My Man)," recorded in 1958 when she was still a teenager.
		The story of her life may be that novelty isn't always the best policy; sometimes the past holds the key to the future.
	www.bluesaccess.com /No_31/reviews/irma.html (310 words)

	IRMA THOMAS - The Soul Queen of New Orleans
		NEWS [Sep 2, 2005]: Contrary to some news reports which claimed that she was among the people who are missing after the New Orleans flood, Irma Thomas is safe and sound.
		Although this rather ordinary r&b shuffle was hardly one of Irma's best efforts, it was still an auspicious start for a recording career, and the flip side of the single, a melancholy blues ballad called "Set Me Free", hinted at her real talents.
		Irma chose the material herself with some songs being her special favorites.
	www.helsinki.fi /~ilva/irma.html (2631 words)

	RollingStone.com: Irma Thomas Music, Biography, Influences, Followers, Related Projects, Contemporaries (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-09-19)
		Irma Thomas may be one of the most ripped-off artists of all time, thanks to the Stones' heartless swiping of her signature song, "Time Is on My Side." The rancor sits to this day in a woman hailed as the Soul Queen of New Orleans.
		In the early '60s, Thomas and local genius Allen Toussaint produced a catalog of timeless ballads and Soul hits that boasted the double whammy of Toussaint's expert songcraft and Thomas' singing.
		Thomas continues to record, trying her hand at Gospel, Soul and more.
	www.rollingstone.com /artist/bio/_/id/2978/irmathomas?pageid=rs.Artistcage&pageregion=artistHeader (173 words)

	Amazon.com: My Heart's in Memphis: The Songs of Dan Penn: Music (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-09-19)
		Irma Thomas and Dan Penn is a marriage made in heaven.
		Irma Thomas is definitely as good as she has ever been.
		Thomas once again uses her smooth, powerful, voice to convey the very essence of soulful music.
	www.amazon.com /exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00004WF59?v=glance (1098 words)

	Variety.com - Reviews - Irma Thomas
		Certainly it forces some degree of formality on Thomas, and as much as she accepts that, it's drowned in the feel-good attitude of a quality bar band.
		As proven on a half-dozen albums this decade, her delivery is a unique blend of conviction and spiritual purity; her voice, regardless of the material or backing, beams from a teenage soul unburdened by a multitude of heartaches and disappointments.
		Blues festivals have been Thomas' main venues outside Louisiana, and there's still some fest hokum in her set -- particularly in the stage patter -- but she brings on the treats found only in the friendliest confines: singing "Happy Birthday," fulfilling requests and signing autographs between sets.
	www.variety.com /review/VE1117490622?categoryid=34&cs=1 (541 words)

	Amazon.com: Sweet Soul Queen of New Orleans: Collection: Music (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-09-19)
		There are artists from whom you only want the recognizable hits (and Irma never had as many as she deserved) and there are artists who sound great singing names from the phone book.
		Irma is one of the latter, but you will find a lot more than phone book info here.
		Irma is largely overlooked today, but one listen will tell you what she was all about.
	www.amazon.com /exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000002ZA3?v=glance (1245 words)

	Irma Thomas CD Review (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-09-19)
		Thomas is a smooth-voiced songstress whose alto and tenor responses have helped to define southern soul blues and R & B. Her Rounder years have yielded extensive material and this compilation seeks to take a broad slice of that repertoire.
		Consistently throughout this set, Irma's southern soul is infused with blues and pop sensibilities.
		You'll find Irma's vocal keys fitting each lock on this set, from the springy soft rock to the illuminating N'Orleans feel of Dr. John and Doc Pomus' "I Never Fool Nobody But Me".
	www.mnblues.com /cdreview/2001/irmathomas-wantit-mc.html (479 words)

	Marcia Ball, Irma Thomas and Tracy Nelson - Sing It! (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-09-19)
		Pregnant and only 14, Irma Thomas' career in music began in the Crescent City when she was working as a cook and auditioned for a renowned bandleader.
		Marcia Ball and Tracy Nelson were both huge fans of Thomas' in the early sixties as stated in the liner notes of Sing It!.
		Thomas' soulful voice is featured on the R&B flavored gospel numbers "Yield Not To Temptation", "People Will Be People" and "Woman On The Move".
	www.concertlivewire.com /cdarchives/ball.htm (502 words)

	IRMA THOMAS
		sessions and as a result, Irma recorded three songs written specifically for her by the trio.
		Irma’s next single was backed with her cover of the Jerry Ragovoy-penned "Time Is On My Side." Shortly thereafter, the Rolling Stones recorded their own version of the tune, which
		Irma’s fortunes began to change in 1976 when she returned to New Orleans and the city immediately
	www.oafb.net /once205.html (1609 words)

	JS Online: On Stage: Irma Thomas
		She is - by an official act of government - the Soul Queen of New Orleans.
		Irma Thomas has been sassy from the get-go.
		Her first single way back in 1960 was "You Can Have My Husband (But Don't Mess With My Man)." That record ranked a respectable No. 22 on Billboard's R&B charts and was the first of a string of hits for Thomas in the '60s.
	www.jsonline.com /onwisconsin/music/feb05/300671.asp (168 words)

	Louisiana Legends: Irma Thomas (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-09-19)
		Although Irma Thomas is recognized by many as the "Soul Queen of New Orleans," her road to success has been anything but smooth.
		At the time of her first audition, she was 14, pregnant and and working as a cook in a restaurant.
		Unfortunately, her recording of the later Rolling Stones hit "Time Is On My Side" never achieved the popularity of its British counterpart, and overall awareness of the New Orleans music scene was seriously undermined by the '60s craze for all things British.
	www.lpb.org /programs/legends/thomas.html (288 words)

	Marcia Ball, Irma Thomas, Tracy Nelson
		Both Ball and Nelson credit Thomas as an inspiration in their teen years.
		"Yield Not to Temptation" gives Thomas the lead on a secular warning to her lover while Ball and Nelson take the chorus to gospel heights suggested by the title.
		Thomas wrote her own theme song, "Woman on the Move," which proves she is an entity to be dealt with.
	www.citypaper.net /articles/012998/dq7.shtml (163 words)

	Shock Records - IRMA THOMAS (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-09-19)
		With a legacy of classic recordings such as "It`s Raining" and her recent "Sing It!" (with Marcia Ball and Tracy Nelson), two-time Grammy nominee Irma Thomas is a New Orleans rhythm and blues icon.
		Irma Thomas, a recipient of the Rhythm and Blues Foundation`s Pioneer Award, has sustained a fanatical following over her four-decade career.
		The album is produced by Scott Billington and Dan Penn. Billington and Thomas collaborated on The New Rules and The Way I Feel, two collections of vintage and contemporary soul material that helped expose Thomas to an international audience.
	www.shock.com.au /artists/bio.asp?artist_ID=56433 (185 words)

	Southwest Blues Magazine (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-09-19)
		Check out the elegant rendering by Thomas of "Love Don't Change" with a bit of help from Marcia Ball and Tracy Nelson, or the goose bump causing sensuality of the tune "I Count the Teardrops." Thomas is a master at her craft.
		Thomas works us through a whole world of emotion by the inflections in her voice.
		To me, this is Irma Thomas at her finest.
	www.southwestblues.com /11.02cdithomas.htm (294 words)

	Barbara Coppersmith & Associates
		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.
		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.
		There’s no doubt that Penn — working with co-producer Scott Billington — created just the right musical environment for Irma Thomas to add her righteously real, ever-soulful vocal magic, thus crafting an album that promises to be a career highlight for both songwriter and artist.
	www.barbaracoppersmith.com /corp/irmathomas.html (1445 words)

	Shock Records - IF YOU WANT IT,COME & GET IT - IRMA THOMAS (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-09-19)
		Irma Thomas's warm, husky alto is one of the great voices of our time.
		This collection presents the best of Irma's recordings for Rounder Records, a definitive portrait of a great American artist who can be as ebullient, tough, wistful or forthright as the song she's singing.
		Rumours are rife of a long-awaited Australian tour from Irma later in the year...
	www.shock.com.au /releases/info.asp?release_ID=87171 (156 words)

	Irma Thomas News (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-09-19)
		News about Irma Thomas continually updated from thousands of sources around the net.
		Their houses may be torn and tattered after Hurricane Katrina, but their spirits are beautifully unbowed.
		For the past 22 years, singer Irma Thomas has spent the second Sunday in May with hundreds of fellow moms at the Audubon Zoo's Mother's Day celebration.
	rss.topix.net /who/irma-thomas (291 words)

	Waterloo Records - Marcia Ball/Irma Thomas/Nelson : Sing It! (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-09-19)
		was nominated for a 1999 Grammy for Best Contemporary Blues Album.^A trio of R&B divas: Thomas, a long-time New Orleans songstress; Ball, a native Louisianan crooner; and Nelson, lead singer for the blues-rock group Mother Earth since the mid 60's-- team up on this solid collection of dance and sultry soul numbers.
		Their interaction as a trio is excellent as well, churning out thick harmonies with slinky syncopation over the solid grooves of their fine backing band.
		Despite the occasional disappointing song...the spare accompaniment and exceptional rapport between New Orleans Soul Queen Thomas and her two longtime admirers make this a major roots-music release." - Rating: B^Down Beat (2/98, p.59) - 4 1/2 stars (out of 5) - "...clean, strong, inspired singing; superlative instrumental support...and one fine song after another..."
	www.buymusichere.net /rel/v2_viewupc.php?storenr=13&upc=01166121522 (171 words)

	The Austin Chronicle: Irma Thomas
		If the only song you know by Irma Thomas is “Ruler of My Heart,” that’s all right.
		Thomas’ appearances are rare and all the more reason to catch her.
		Carolyn Wonderland, fresh from her annual Sturgis run, opens the show with her uncompromising and cool blues rock.
	www.austinchronicle.com /gyrobase/Guides/Bands?oid=286128 (94 words)

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