{{Short description|American R&B bandleader and pianist (1916–1989)}} {{for|Prince's bass player|Sonny T.}} {{Use mdy dates|date=March 2021}} '''Sonny Thompson''' (probably August 23, 1916 – August 11, 1989),<ref name="bare">{{cite book| first1= Bob| last1= Eagle| first2= Eric S.| last2= LeBlanc| year= 2013| title= Blues – A Regional Experience| publisher= Praeger Publishers| location= Santa Barbara| pages=192 | isbn= 978-0313344237}}</ref> born '''Alfonso Thompson'''<ref name="whitburnr&b">{{cite book |title= Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-1995|last=Whitburn |first=Joel |authorlink=Joel Whitburn |year=1996 |publisher=Record Research |page=443}}</ref><ref>[http://campber.people.clemson.edu/sultan.html Robert Pruter and Robert L. Campbell, ''The Sultan label'']. Campber.people.clemson.edu, Retrieved October 13, 2016</ref> or '''Hezzie Tompson'''<!-- The spelling "Tompson", with no "h", is correct. -->,<ref name="bare"/> was an American R&B bandleader and pianist, popular in the 1940s and 1950s.
==Biography== There is some uncertainty over Thompson's origins, as well as his birth name. Researchers Bob Eagle and Eric LeBlanc indicate that he was born in 1916 in Wilkinson County, Mississippi,<ref name="bare"/> but other sources state that he was born in 1923, either in Mississippi<ref name="Dead">{{cite web|url=http://thedeadrockstarsclub.com/newentrees.html|title=The Dead Rock Stars Club – New Entries|first=Doc|last=Rock|website=Thedeadrockstarsclub.com|accessdate=January 25, 2018}}</ref> or in Chicago.<ref name="whitburnr&b"/><ref name=allmusic>{{cite web|url=http://www.allmusic.com/artist/thompson-p36573|title=Sonny Thompson – Biography & History|website=AllMusic|accessdate=January 25, 2018}}</ref>
He began recording in 1946, and in 1948 achieved two number-one R&B chart hits on the Miracle label – "Long Gone (Parts I and II)" and "Late Freight", both featuring saxophonist Eddie Chamblee.<ref name="whitburnr&b"/> "Long Gone", sold in excess of one million copies.<ref name="The Book of Golden Discs">{{cite book | first= Joseph | last= Murrells | year= 1978 | title= The Book of Golden Discs | edition= 2nd | publisher= Barrie and Jenkins Ltd | location= London | page= [https://archive.org/details/bookofgoldendisc00murr/page/46 46] | isbn= 0-214-20512-6 | url-access= registration | url= https://archive.org/details/bookofgoldendisc00murr/page/46 }}</ref> The follow-ups "Blue Dreams" and "Still Gone" also reached the R&B chart.<ref name="whitburnr&b"/> By 1952 he had moved on to King Records, where he worked in A&R and as a session musician and arranger.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=r-BKd2CQFQIC&dq=Sonny+Thompson&pg=PA30 Randy McNutt, ''King Records of Cincinnati''], Arcadia Publishing, 2009, p. 30</ref> At King, he had further R&B Top 10 successes with the singer Lula Reed, the biggest hit being "I'll Drown in My Tears". Thompson married Reed sometime in the early 1950s. He continued to work as a session musician, and to perform with Reed into the early 1960s.
He also had success as a songwriter, often co-writing with blues guitarist, Freddie King. Songs Thompson wrote (or co-wrote) included "I'm Tore Down", "Let Them Talk", "Hide Away", "The Stumble", "Three Hearts in a Tangle", "Late Freight", and "Long Gone".
Thompson died in 1989 in Chicago.<ref name="Dead"/> In 2024 the Killer Blues Headstone Project placed the headstone for him at Homewood Memorial Cemetery in Homewood, Illinois.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Headstones Placed|url=https://killerblues.net/headstones/|access-date=2025-12-02|website=Killerblues.net|language=en-US}}</ref>
==Discography== {{Cleanup|section|reason=Formatting, non-use of wikitable(s), laundry list appearance, unreferenced|date=December 2019}} ===Original 10" shellac (78 rpm) and 7" vinyl (45 rpm) releases=== MIRACLE releases: * 108 Sonny's Blues* // Screamin' Boogie ---by Dick Davis and Orchestra featuring Sonny Thompson (*vocal by Sonny) * 109 Memphis Train // Benson Jump ---by Dick Davis and Orchestra featuring Sonny Thompson * 123 If I Didn't Have You** // Palmer's Boogie ---by Sonny Thompson Orchestra (**vocal by Gladys Palmer; "Palmer's Boogie" is a piano duet between Sonny and Gladys) * 124 Tears Follow My Dreams*** // Moon Is On My Side ---by Sonny Thompson with the Sharps and Flats [Arvin Garrett-guitar/Leroy Morrison-bass/Thurman "Red" Cooper-drums] (***vocal by Browley Guy) * 126 Long Gone (Pt. 1) // Long Gone (Pt. 2)+ ---by Sonny Thompson with the Sharps and Flats (+featuring Eddie Chamblee-tenor sax) * 127 In The Rain** // Just Boogie (AKA "Deadline Boogie") ---by Sonny Thompson with the Sharps and Flats (**vocal by Gladys Palmer) * 128 Late Freight (AKA "Creepin'")+ // Sonny's Return (AKA "House Full Of Blues" or simply "Blues") ---by Sonny Thompson Quintet (+featuring Eddie Chamblee-tenor sax) * 131 Blue Dreams+ // Blues On Rhumba ---by Sonny Thompson and Orchestra (+featuring Eddie Chamblee-tenor sax) * 139 Still Gone (Pt. 3) // Still Gone (Pt. 4) ---by Sonny "Long Gone" Thompson and Orchestra * 146 Dreaming Again // Backyard Affair ---by Sonny Thompson and Orchestra * 148 Sonny Claus Blues* // Not On A Xmas Tree ---by Sonny Thompson and Orchestra (*vocal by Sonny)
OLD SWING MASTER (or simply 'MASTER') release: * 1011 The Fish (Pt. 1) // The Fish (Pt. 2) ---by Sonny Thompson and His Orchestra
KING releases: * 4345 Sugar Cane // I'm Coming Back Home To Stay^ (^vocal by band ensemble) * 4364 After Sundown // Frog Legs * 4384 Nightfall // Palmetto * 4399 Blues For The Night Owls // Harlem Rug Cutter * 4431 Smoke Stack Blues // Uncle Sam Blues* (*vocal by Jesse Edwards) * 4438 Long Gone (Pt. 1) // Long Gone (Pt. 2) ---reissue of Miracle 126 * 4446 Gone Again Blues // Jumping With The Rhumba* (*vocal by Jesse Edwards) * 4470 Blue Piano** // Sunshine Blues (**vocal by Royal Trent) * 4488 Mellow Blues (Pt. 1) // Mellow Blues (Pt. 2) (featuring Robert Hadley-tenor sax on both sides) * 4527 I'll Drown In My Tears*** // Clang, Clang, Clang (***vocal by Lula Reed) * 4541 Let's Call It A Day*** // Blues Mambo (***vocal by Lula Reed) * 4554 Real, Real Fine (Pt. 1) // Real, Real Fine (Pt. 2) * 4595 Chloe // Last Night*** (***vocal by Lula Reed) * 4613 Clean Sweep // Insulated Sugar+ (+vocal by Rufus Junior) * 4639 Low Flame // Waiting To Be Loved By You*** (***vocal by Lula Reed) * 4657 Let's Move // My Heart Needs Someone+ (+vocal by Rufus Junior) * 4678 Pastry // I Hope You Love Me Too+ (+vocal by Rufus Junior) * 4698 Things Ain't What They Used To Be // So-o-o Good * 4712 Down In The Dumps // I Ain't No Watch Dog++ (++vocal by Paul Tate) * 4718 Single Shot // I'm Beggin' And Pleadin'++ (++vocal by Paul Tate) * 4729 Cotton Ball (Pt. 1) // Cotton Ball (Pt. 2) (featuring David Bubba Brooks-tenor sax on both sides) * 4746 Cat On The Keys (Pt. 1) // Cat On The Keys (Pt. 2) * 4791 Behind The Sun (Pt. 1) // Behind The Sun (Pt. 2) * 4809 First Base // Lonely Moon * 4899 I'll Drown In My Tears // Let's Call It A Day ---reissues of King 4527A and 4541A * 4992 Low Down // Lost In This Great Big City++ (++vocal by Paul Tate) * 5055 Gum Shoe+++ // Stop, Come See Me++ (++vocal by Paul Tate; +++featuring King Curtis-tenor sax) * 5396 The Duck Walk // Swinging Shepherd Blues
CHART releases: * 611 It's Love, It's Love // Mexico Bound (vocal by The Champions "vocal group" on both sides) * 612 Slow Rock (Pt. 1) // Slow Rock (Pt. 2) (featuring David Bubba Brooks-tenor sax on both sides) * 618 Bus Ride // Foot Stompin' (featuring David Bubba Brooks-tenor sax on both sides) * 620 The Same Old Story // Pay Me Some Attention (vocal by The Champions "vocal group" on both sides) * 630 Bus Ride // Foot Stompin' (featuring David Bubba Brooks-tenor sax on both sides) ---reissue of Chart 618 * 631 Come On // Big Bad Beulah (vocal by The Champions "vocal group" on both sides) * 633 Juke Joint (Pt. 1) // Juke Joint (Pt. 2) * 637 Drive In // Drive Out * 642 Candy (Pt. 1) // Candy (Pt. 2) * 645 Hi-Ho // Day Break Blues * 648 Caribbean Cruise // Night Watch
===Original 7" vinyl EP releases=== * ''Sonny Thompson, Vol. 1'' (King KEP-209, 1952) -song titles: Mellow Blues (Pt. 2); Sugar Cane // Long Gone (Pt. 2); Real, Real Fine (Pt. 2) * ''Sonny Thompson, Vol. 2'' (King KEP-264, 1953) -song titles: I'll Drown In My Tears (vocal by Lula Reed); Let's Call It A Day (vocal by Lula Reed) // Low Flame; Chloe * ''Sonny Thompson, Vol. 3'' (King KEP-273, 1954) -song titles: Blues For The Night Owls; Blues Mambo // Clean Sweep; Down In The Dumps * ''Sonny Thompson, Vol. 4'' (King KEP-274, 1954) -song titles: Let's Move; Single Shot // Sunshine Blues; Frog Legs * ''Sonny Thompson, Vol. 5'' (King KEP-275, 1954) -song titles: Things Ain't What They Used To Be; So-o-o Good // Clang, Clang, Clang; Pastry
===Original 12" vinyl LP releases=== * ''Moody Blues (Play Only After Midnight)'' (King LP-568, 1958) -song titles: Long Gone (Pt. 1); Long Gone (Pt. 2); After Sundown; Low Down; Blues For The Night Owls; Cotton Ball (Pt. ?); Sunshine Blues; Behind The Sun (Pt. ?) // Mellow Blues (Pt. ?); So-o-o Good; Pastry; Low Flame; Nightfall; Lonely Moon; Gone Again Blues; Down In The Dumps * ''Mellow Blues For The Late Hours (16 Instrumentals)'' (King LP-655, 1959) -song titles: Mellow Blues (Pt. 1); Palmetto; Clang, Clang, Clang; Sugar Cane; Cat On The Keys (Pt. 1); Cat On The Keys (Pt. 2); Cotton Ball (Pt. 1); Single Shot // Smoke Stack Blues; Real, Real Fine (Pt. ?); Let's Move; Behind The Sun (Pt. ?); Blues Mambo; First Base; Gum Shoe; Frog Legs
===As sideman=== '''With Howlin' Wolf''' *''Message to the Young'' (Chess, 1971)
==References== {{Reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Thompson, Sonny}} Category:1916 births Category:1989 deaths Category:People from Centreville, Mississippi Category:Songwriters from Mississippi Category:American bandleaders Category:Rhythm and blues pianists Category:Musicians from Mississippi Category:20th-century American pianists Category:20th-century American male pianists Category:American male songwriters Category:20th-century American songwriters