SINCE HER FIRST RECORDING, Don’t Mess with My Man in 1959, every time Irma Thomas belts out one of her Rhythm & Blues hits, you know it’s coming from the beat of her heart. But when Irma sings River Is Waiting, you can feel her voice being lifted in prayer from deep inside her soul. In fact, at any of her performances, when asked to sing a special request, whether Gospel or R & B, Irma is steadfast in her refusal to mix songs from the genres. With respect for both, the music of Gospel has remained sacred throughout her life. Singing Gospel was when she first found her voice. A Louisiana native, born in Ponchatoula on February 18, 1941, it was in her hometown church that Irma first sang before an audience. She says, “As a small child, I was in the choir. We spent all
our touring together. We stayed friends until her death in 2006.” Irma’s career touched many musical legends whose legacies live on in her voice and performances. It was inevitable that her voice would be heard, but her winding path to success took years of starts and stops. Her first break came in the late 1950s while working as a waitress. “My cousins were dancers at the Pimlico Club in New Orleans, and though I worked there as a waitress, I sometimes danced with them.” The club was headlined by the Tommy Ridgley Band. Ridgley was already locally acclaimed for his first 78 rpm recording, Shrewsbury Blues, and Irma sought her opportunity. “I asked Tommy if I could sing with the band, and he said, ‘Well, can you sing?’ I said,
Irma Thomas by Sandra Scalise Juneau
Soul Queen of New Orleans
day at church on Sunday. It was a ‘Giving Day’ for us—from Services, to Sunday School, to Gospel Choir in the evening.” On one fateful Sunday, “They just pushed me out front of the choir!” Her first solo performance was at the New Star School in Greensburg, a small town in St. Helena Parish. “I was 5 or 6 years old. Our first and second grades were together in one classroom, so I’m not sure which grade I was in at the time, but my teacher, Miss Clovise Hurst, picked me to be in a school play. I sang The Tennessee Waltz.” Drawn to music through the gift of her voice, Irma grew up with the great sounds of the late ’40s and early ’50s. She says, “At home, we listened to Gospel stations and blues on the radio. We heard the music of Mahalia Jackson, Move on Up a Little Higher, and The Blind Boys, Power of the Lord. My dad had records of BB King, Every Day I Have the Blues; John Lee Hooker, Boogie Chillen; and also Ruth Brown, Mama, He Treats Your Daughter Mean. Ruth Brown and I became great friends through 22 Inside Northside
‘Of course I can sing.’” The song was There Goes My Baby. Realizing he had found a treasure, Ridgley arranged a recording for Irma at Cosimo Recording Studios in New Orleans. By 1960, the next step in her success was set when Don’t Mess with My Man, distributed by Ric & Ron Records, reached number 22 on the national R & B chart. Perhaps it was the magnetism of her voice that attracted a lifelong collaboration between Irma and pianist-composer Allen Toussaint, who said that Irma’s voice was always in his head when he was composing for her. His musical genius was the way he customized his compositions to each artist, and according to Irma, “He listened to their voice and wrote according to their vocal abilities. The songs always fit. When Allen wrote a song for you, it was for you. It was your glove to put on.” During early ’60s music sessions, a group of musicians that included Aaron Neville and Ernie K-Doe would meet in the living room of Allen >>
