Thomas was born into a family of freed slaves in Big Sandy, Texas, in 1874.[5] He began traveling the Texas railroad lines as a hobo after leaving home in his teens. He eventually earned his way as an itinerantsongster, entertaining local populaces as well as railway employees.[1]
He recorded 24 sides for Vocalion Records between 1927 and 1929, 23 of which were released.[3][5] They include reels, gospel songs, minstrel songs, ragtime numbers, and blues.[4] Besides guitar, Thomas accompanied himself on quills, a folk instrument fabricated from cane reeds whose sound is similar to the zampona played by musicians in Peru and Bolivia. His style of playing guitar was probably derived from banjo-picking styles.[6]
His life and career after his last recordings in 1929 have not been chronicled. Although the blues researcher Mack McCormick stated that he saw a man in Houston in 1949 who met Thomas's description,[7] most biographers indicate that Thomas died in 1930, when he would have been 55 or 56 years old.[1][8]
Thomas's legacy has been sustained by his songs, which were revived by musicians beginning in the folk music revival of the early 1960s. Among the first of these was "Honey, Won't You Allow Me One More Chance", which was reinterpreted by Bob Dylan on the album The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan in 1963 under the title "Honey, Just Allow Me One More Chance". Dylan may have been introduced to Thomas through Harry Smith's 1952 compilation Anthology of American Folk Music, which includes two of Thomas' songs, "Old Country Stomp" and "Fishing Blues". Dylan may have heard Thomas's song on the 1962 album Henry Thomas Sings the Texas Blues.[9][10]: 43 Dylan reworked the melody and almost totally rewrote the lyrics, but he credited Thomas as co-writer on his album Freewheelin'.[8]
"Bull-Doze Blues", another of Thomas's Vocalion recordings, was reworked by the pianist Johnny Miller in 1927, who rewrote the words and gave it to Wingy Manone, who recorded two versions titled "Up the Country" in December 1927 for Columbia and September 1930 for Champion Records.[15][16] Except in jazz circles, it remained an obscure blues number until blues-rock group Canned Heat recorded "Going Up the Country". Though rearranged, the Canned Heat song is musically the same, down to a faithful rendition of Thomas's quill solos by Jim Horn. The lyrics also borrow from Blind Willie McTell's "Statesboro Blues" (1928). Fellow band member Alan "Blind Owl" Wilson rewrote the lyrics entirely and received credit on the song's original release in 1968 on Canned Heat's third album, Living the Blues. The next year, the group played at the Woodstock Festival. The live performance of "Going Up the Country" was featured in the motion picture Woodstock and appeared as the second cut on the soundtrack album.
In 2018, Charley Crockett dedicated his album, Lonesome as a Shadow, to Thomas.[17]
In 2023, "Bull Doze Blues" was featured in Martin Scorsese's film Killers of the Flower Moon in an early scene where the Osage community is having their pictures taken.
Thomas recorded 24 sides for Vocalion Records,[3] 23 of which were released.[18] The following list is ordered by date of release; dates of recording are given after the song titles.
1927 – "John Henry" / "Cottonfield Blues", June 30, 1927, in Chicago, Vocalion 1094
1927 – "The Fox and the Hounds" / "Red River Blues", October 5, 1927, in Chicago, Vocalion 1137
1927 – "The Little Red Caboose" / "Bob McKinney", October 5, 1927, in Chicago, Vocalion 1138
1927 – "Shanty Blues" / "Woodhouse Blues", October 7, 1927, in Chicago, Vocalion 1139
1927 – "Jonah in the Wilderness" / "When the Train Comes Along", October 7, 1927 in Chicago, Vocalion 1140
^ abJohnson, Greg (February 1999). "Henry "Ragtime Texas" Thomas". BluesNotes. Cascade Blues Association. Archived from the original on February 8, 2012. Retrieved January 29, 2012.
