Henry Thomas

Henry Thomas (1874-1950s?). Henry (Ragtime Texas) Thomas was a major pre-war country blues singer and musician. Thomas, born in Big Sandy, Texas, began his musician career as an itinerant songster (minstrel) and recorded twenty-three songs

Henry Thomas (1874-1950s?). Henry (Ragtime Texas) Thomas was a major pre-war country blues singer and musician. Thomas, born in Big Sandy, Texas, began his musician career as an itinerant songster (minstrel) and recorded twenty-three songs from 1927 to 1929. He accompanied himself with the guitar and the quills, a folk instrument made from cane reeds that sound similar to the quena used by musicians in Peru and Bolivia. Some of his records are hard to categorize. They are sounding more like ancestors to blues than like what is now called blues. They are therefore a rare testimony of the kind of music which preceeded the establishment of the blues music in the 19th century. Maybe his nowaday best known influence is the song going down the country which was also recorded by Canned Heat in a quite psychedelic version.