Irma Thomas San Francisco 1995 - Albums That Should Exist

IRMA THOMAS - SF - ALBUMS THAT SHOULD EXIST - here

Paul he says:

Irma Thomas has had a long career singing soul music, and she's still going as I write this in late 2023. However, she's not considered a big name like, say Aretha Franklin or Etta James, so there are very few good bootleg concerts by her. But I recently came across this one. I was impressed with both the sound quality and the performance, so I'm posting it.

She put out a live album in 1991, called "Live! Simply the Best." I wasn't going to post this for fear that it was too similar to that album. But I checked the set lists, and most of the songs are different, with only her classic hits like "Time Is on My Side," "It's Raining," and "Wish Someone Would Care" being the same. So if you have that, I think you'll still want this.

The lead vocals were rather low in the mix, so I used the UVR5 audio editing program to boost them relative to the instruments for all the songs.

This album is an hour and five minutes long.

01 Intro - Don't Mess with My Man
02 Cry On
03 I Did My Part
04 Ruler of My Heart
05 Hittin' On Nothin'
06 It's Raining
07 I Done Got Over It
08 Iko Iko - Hey Pocky Way - I Done Got Over It [Reprise] 
09 Time Is on My Side 
10 talk 
11 Breakaway 
12 Wish Someone Would Care
13 Baby, I Love You
14 I Just Had to Hear Your Voice
15 Get Here
16 talk
17 We're Gonna Make It 
18 Simply the Best

We love Irma don’t we? I think we do. She’s a Hip Shaking Mama!

Discovering her through the New Orleans roots of Dr John way back I followed her work ever since the ‘Gumbo' was hot (geddit?)

Oh you wanted to hear her sing?! Here this from 1990 . . . . . . listen to hear make this MOR classic all hers  as she sings to her husband!

Classic stars of the Day | IRMA THOMAS

 Not sure why these have popped up on my scanning horizon but she has been a favourite since discovering her early on after Dr John’s album Gumbo made me really look at Nawleans R n B! From Professor Longhair to Archibald, historian producers like Allen Toussaint, Huey ‘Piano’ Smith, the bands like The Meters, the Neville Brothers et al then I discovered the beauty of the women singers of the region. She is in my opinion, the Queen of New Orleans and her attempt at cross over from RnB to more commercial Soul Music meant she was overlooked at times and never achieved the fame she deserved and her It’s Raining is a stone classic, she was the first to sing Time is On My Side before the Stones cover and 'I’ve Been Loving You Too Long' before Otis covered it. (about whom more later) The rivalry between Stax and Nawleans meant that the R n B stars of Louisiana were often over looked by the much more commercial savvy producers behind the music of Stax for example . . . . . . I’ll shut up now and folks will disagree I am sure but just dig in here and enjoy! I know you will

Irma Thomas - Time is On My Side (Jools' Annual Hootenanny 2005)

Irma Thomas - I've been loving you too long

Ry Cooder :: The Concert for New Orleans - with Buckwheat Zydeco, Lenny Kravitz, Irma Thomas (2006)

00:00 Ry Cooder - "My Girl Josephine" (Fats Domino & Dave Bartholomew, 1960) 03:10 Buckwheat Zydeco - "Rock Me Baby" (B.B. King, 1964) 08:10 Lenny Kravitz - "When The Levee Breaks" (Joe McCoy & Memphis Minnie, 1929) remastered "Led Zeppelin" 1971, album "Led Zeppelin IV") 11:35 Irma Thomas - "Back-water Blues" (Bessie Smith [& James P. Johnson piano], 1927)

Ry should do an album with Irma! We were talking the other day about Ry playing My Girl Josephine the old Dave Bartholomew number and what key it was in when he played the benefit for Hurricane Katrina affected Nawleans . . . . . and so I found this! This was the Blues section of the concert and it is still available knocking around on DVD if can find it. BUY IT!

Lenny too far down in the mix but heck this is FUN!

I would definitely buy an album with these guys on!

Forgotten Sixties Classics - IRMA THOMAS : Yours Until Tomorrow 1967 (released 1984)

• Track Name

  Yours Until Tomorrow

• Artist

  Irma Thomas

Irma Thomas - Yours Until Tomorrow (1967)

"Written by Goffin-King and recorded at Muscle Shoals in 1967, Chess records foolishly didn’t release this until 1984.  Incredible southern soul - Irma just kills it."

from the brilliant and always fascinating Guess I’m Dumb

This is what Irma and lots of New Orleans greats were up against and the politics of why you would sit on this and not release it for nearly twenty years is beyond me! 

Here’s a song to bid you Good Night then . . . . . cuddle up!

Irma Thomas - Jazz & Heritage Festival New Orleans LA 1998 - FLOPPY BOOT STOMP

 So some really nice posts over at HQ the last day or so . . . . first the Queen of Nawleans Soul herself Irma Thomas live! Over at Floppy Boot Stomp from Jeremiah who found some sterling stuff . . . . . . I discovered Irma through Dr John of course and have most officially released stuff so her live performances are always worth checking out apart from being a stone cold fox her entire life she was blessed with the most beautiful voice

Irma Thomas

Fair Grounds Race Course

Jazz & Heritage Festival

New Orleans LA

1998-05-02 

Digital Soundboard @320

01. Chicken Shack

02. To Be Real---Irma Thomas Intro

03. Love Makes a Woman

04. The Story of My Life

05. Love Don't Get Better Than This

06. Hold Me While I Cry

07. You Can Have My Husband

08. Hip Shakin' Mama

09. I Did My Part

10. Ruler of My Heart

11. Breakaway

12. It's Raining

13. I Done Got Over It---Iko Iko---Hey Pocky Way)

14. Band Introductions---Simply the Best

15. Sing It

Irma Thomas - Vocals

Warner Williams - Keyboards, Vocals

Kim Phillips - Keyboards

Arthur Bell - Guitar

Robert Harvey - Bass

Wilbert Widow - drums

Emile Hall - Saxophone, Vocals

Charles Earland III - Saxophone, Vocals

Frank Parker - Trumpet, Vocals

with

Marcia Ball - Vocals (Track 15)