Sonny Thompson

Rate It! Avg: 5.0 (1 ratings)
  • Born: Centreville, MS
  • Died: Chicago, IL
  • Years Active: 1940s, 1950s, 1970s

Albums

Biography Wikipedia

Wikipedia:

Sonny Thompson (August 22, 1916 or 1923 – August 11, 1989) was an American R&B bandleader and pianist, popular in the 1940s and 1950s.

Born Alfonso Thompson in Centreville, Mississippi, he began recording in 1946, and in 1948 achieved two #1 R&B chart hits on the Miracle label – "Long Gone (Parts I and II)" and "Late Freight", both featuring saxophonist Eddie Chamblee. The follow-ups "Blue Dreams" and "Still Gone" were smaller hits.

By 1952 he had moved on to King Records. There, 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 1950's). 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.

Thompson died in 1989 in Chicago.