Irma Thomas Interview (February 14, 2005)

Irma Thomas is interviewed in her home. She discusses her work as a weekly entertainer at the Dew Drop Inn in the early 1960s, and a typical evening at the club. She states, “Anyone . . . who had any kind of status in the Black show business industry, if you hadn’t played the Dew Drop Inn in New Orleans, you hadn’t made it,” and compared it to the Apollo Theater in New York. Thomas remembers relating to Patsy Vidalia who “dressed in drag” and “would outdress most of us ladies,” and explains Vidalia’s role not only as an M.C. and host, but also a “mother rooster to a lot of us younger entertainers.” She discusses Frank Painia as a “regal person” who was “fair” and “didn’t overwork us.” She explains the Dew Drop’s unspoken dress code, which involved being “properly dressed.” She recalls that the news media carried the story that a famous (unidentified) white movie star was arrested for being at the Dew Drop Inn. Thomas discusses segregation in New Orleans and how it affected musicians. She reviews the list of musicians who she played with at the Dew Drop Inn, including James Booker, Esquerita, and Allen Toussaint. She discusses that the Dew Drop musicians played a range of styles, including jazz, R&B, and blues; and other featured entertainers including snake dancers and Mr. Google Eyes, an M.C. She notes that for the hotel, people rented rooms by the week or by the year, and technically lived there for an extended time. She recalls how the Dew Drop Inn fostered community in the neighborhood and among patrons. Thomas describes the neighborhood and businesses surrounding the Dew Drop Inn. Regarding occasional white patrons, she remembers artists would sometimes sneak them in, stating “. . .we liked the fact that they wanted to be there because we knew that they knew where good music was, and it was something they didn’t get down in the French Quarter and they wanted to hear it.” She shares her views on plans to redevelop the Dew Drop Inn circa early 2000s. She’s filmed viewing and discussing photographs from the Dew Drop Inn.

rma Thomas (née Lee; born February 18, 1941)[1][2] is an American singer from New Orleans.[3] She is known as the "Soul Queen of New Orleans".[2]

Thomas is a contemporary of Aretha Franklin and Etta James, but never experienced their level of commercial success.[2] In 2007, she won the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Blues Album for After the Rain, her first Grammy in a career spanning over 50 years.[4]

Life and career
Born Irma Lee, in Ponchatoula, Louisiana, United States,[5] she was the daughter of Percy Lee, a steel chipper, and Vader Lee, who worked as a maid.[6] As a teenager, she sang with a Baptist church choir. She auditioned for Specialty Records at the age of 13. By the time she was 19, she had been married twice and had four children. Keeping her second ex-husband's surname, she worked as a waitress in New Orleans, occasionally singing with bandleader Tommy Ridgley, who helped her land a record deal with the local Ron label. Her first single, "Don't Mess with My Man",[5] was released in late 1959, and reached number 22 on the US Billboard R&B chart.[2]

She then began recording on the Minit label, working with songwriter and producer Allen Toussaint on songs including "It's Raining" and "Ruler of My Heart", which was later reinterpreted by Otis Redding as "Pain in My Heart".[5] Imperial Records acquired Minit in 1963, and a string of successful releases followed. These included "Wish Someone Would Care", her biggest national hit;[5] its B-side "Breakaway", written by Jackie DeShannon and Sharon Sheely (later covered by Tracey Ullman, among others).

"Anyone Who Knows What Love Is (Will Understand)" was co-written by a young Randy Newman and future country star Jeannie Seely. This song has gained renewed appreciation as a result of its inclusion in numerous episodes of the science fiction anthology television series Black Mirror, stretching back to the first season.[7] On its B-side is "Time Is on My Side",[5] a song previously recorded by Kai Winding and later by the Rolling Stones.[2]

Her first four Imperial singles all charted on Billboard's pop chart, but her later releases were less successful.[2] Unlike her contemporaries Aretha Franklin, Gladys Knight and Dionne Warwick, she never managed to cross over into mainstream commercial success. She recorded for Chess Records in 1967–1968 with some success; her version of the Otis Redding song "Good to Me" reached the R&B chart.[5][2] She then relocated to California, releasing records on various small labels, before returning to Louisiana, and in the early 1980s opened the Lion's Den Club.[2]

Down by Law, the 1986 independent film by Jim Jarmusch featured "It's Raining" in the soundtrack.[8] The film's actors Roberto Benigni and Nicoletta Braschi, whose characters fell in love in the movie, danced to the song.