B.J. Thomas
B.J. Thomas (born Billy Joe Thomas) straddled the line between pop/rock and country, achieving success in both genres in the late '60s and '70s. At the beginning of his career, he leaned more heavily on rock & roll, but by the mid-'70s, he had turned to country music, becoming one of the most successful country-pop stars of the decade.
Thomas began singing while he was a child, performing in church. In his teens, he joined the Houston-based band the Triumphs, who released a number of independent singles that failed to gain any attention. For the group's last single, Thomas and fellow Triumph member Mark Charron wrote "Billy and Sue," which was another flop. After "Billy and Sue," Thomas began a solo career, recording a version of Hank Williams' standard "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" with producer Huey P. Meaux. Released by Scepter Records in early 1966, the single became an immediate hit, catapulting to number eight on the pop charts. Although he had a series of moderate follow-up hits, including a re-release of "Billy and Sue," Thomas failed to reenter the Top Ten until 1968, when "Hooked on a Feeling" became a number five, gold single. The following year, he scored his biggest hit with Burt Bacharach and Hal David's "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head," taken from the hit film Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid. It was followed by a string of soft rock hits in the next two years, including "Everybody's Out of Town," "I Just Can't Help Believing," "No Love at All," and "Rock and Roll Lullaby," which featured guitarist Duane Eddy and the vocal group the Blossoms.
After "Rock and Roll Lullaby," Scepter Records went out of business and Thomas headed to Paramount. He didn't have any hits on the label, which prompted the singer to pursue a new country-pop direction at ABC Records. "(Hey Won't You Play) Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song," his first single for ABC, became his second number one record on the pop charts, and established his country career as a vocalist. For the next decade, he continued to have hits on the country charts, with a couple of songs -- most notably "Don't Worry Baby" -- crossing over into the pop charts. During this period, he switched record companies frequently, but it did nothing to slow the pace of his hits. Thomas hit his country peak in 1983 and 1984, when he had the number one hits "Whatever Happened to Old Fashioned Love" and "New Looks from an Old Lover," as well as the Top Ten hits "The Whole World's in Love When You're Lonely" and "Two Car Garage." Throughout the '80s, B.J. Thomas recorded a number of hit gospel records for Myrrh concurrent with his country hits, but his most prominent song was "As Long as We Got Each Other," a tune that served as the theme song to the sitcom Growing Pains.
At the end of the '80s, the hits began to dry up, but he continued to tour, and put out the occasional country or gospel record in the '90s. In the new millennium, he concentrated primarily on Christmas and Christian recordings, but in 2013 he returned with The Living Room Sessions, his first secular album in years. This was a stripped-down collection of covers of his old hits, sometimes performed as duets with such stars as Lyle Lovett, Vince Gill, and Keb' Mo'; it debuted at 39 on the Billboard country charts. Also in 2013, the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences inducted "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head" into the Grammy Hall of Fame. In 2017, Real Gone Music released New Looks from an Old Lover: The Complete Columbia Singles, the first thorough overview of his '80s recordings. B.J. Thomas died on May 29, 2021 at his home in Arlington, Texas from complications of lung cancer. He was 78 years old.
© Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo
Artistas semelhantes
-
Greatest Hits (Rerecorded Version)
Pop/Rock - Lançado por K-Tel em 21 de jul. de 2022
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head (Billboard Hot 100 - No 1)
Rock - Lançado por Music Manager em 25 de set. de 2020
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Love Shines
Country - Lançado por Columbia - Legacy em 1 de mai. de 1983
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Golden Legends: B.J. Thomas (Rerecorded) (Deluxe Edition)
Pop - Lançado por Dockland Music em 28 de fev. de 2006
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Complete Columbia Singles
Country - Lançado por Columbia - Legacy em 7 de abr. de 2017
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Very Best Of (Re-Recorded)
Pop - Lançado por Goldenlane Records em 1 de dez. de 2009
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Amazing Grace (Remastered)
Gospel - Lançado por Myrrh Records - Word em 1 de jan. de 1981
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Hey Girl
Pop - Lançado por Maestro Entertainment, Corp em 19 de ago. de 2019
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
You Gave Me Love (When Nobody Gave Me a Prayer) [Remastered]
Gospel - Lançado por Myrrh Records - Word em 1 de jan. de 1979
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Back Against The Wall
Rock - Lançado por Rhino - Warner Records em 28 de jan. de 1992
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
All Is Calm, All Is Bright
Country - Lançado por Columbia - Legacy em 1 de jul. de 1985
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
I Know It's Wrong
Blues - Lançado por Good Time Records em 8 de abr. de 2022
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head - His Best Songs
Pop - Lançado por Jerden em 12 de mai. de 2015
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
B.J. Thomas (Rerecorded)
Rock - Lançado por Suite 102 em 1 de jan. de 2009
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Very Best of B.J. Thomas
Pop - Lançado por Platinum Collection em 19 de jul. de 2011
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Golden Legends: B.J. Thomas (Rerecorded)
Rock - Lançado por Madacy Special Products em 28 de fev. de 2006
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Best of B. J. Thomas (Rerecorded)
Pop - Lançado por Music Manager em 1 de jan. de 2011
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Best Of
Pop - Lançado por Curb Records em 5 de ago. de 2008
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
American Legend
Pop - Lançado por American Legends em 22 de out. de 2008
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Greatest & Latest
Country - Lançado por Purple Pyramid Records em 1 de jan. de 2002
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo