Irma Thomas › Similar Artists

Betty Harris - 100% match to Irma Thomas

1943, Orlando, Florida, USA. A former maid to Big Maybelle, with whom she would duet onstage, Harris was subsequently signed to Jubilee Records where her version of Solomon Burke’s hit, ‘Cry To Me’, reached the US R&B Top 10 and national Top 30 in 1963. A follow-up, ‘His Kiss’, was a minor success, but this expressive singer matured upon signing Read more

Laura Lee - 91% match to Irma Thomas

Laura Lee Newton, 9 March 1945, Chicago, Illinois, USA. A member of her adopted mother’s, Ernestine Rundless’, gospel group the Meditation Singers, Lee’s first secular recording was made for the Detroit-based Ric-Tic label. She was signed to Chess Records in 1966, who, after failing to find success with a Chicago-recorded single, sent her to Rick Hall’s F Read more

Lee Dorsey - 91% match to Irma Thomas

Irving Lee Dorsey, 24 December 1926, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA, d. 1 December 1986, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. An ex-boxer (nicknamed ‘Kid Chocolate’) turned singer, Dorsey first recorded for Joe Banashak’s Instant label. One song, ‘Lottie Mo’, became a regional hit and led to a contract with Fury. The infectious ‘Ya Ya’ (1961) was a nu Read more

James Carr - 84% match to Irma Thomas

13 June 1942, Coahoma, Mississippi, USA, d. 7 January 2001, Memphis, Tennessee, USA. Carr grew up in Memphis where he sang gospel in the Sunset Travellers and the Harmony Echoes and was discovered by Memphis gospel-group mentor Roosevelt Jamison. This budding manager and songwriter brought Carr to the Goldwax Records label, run by Quinton Claunch. It took four singles to de Read more

Smiley Lewis - 73% match to Irma Thomas

Overton Amos Lemons, 5 July 1913, DeQuincy, Louisiana, USA, d. 7 October 1966, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. While failing to gain the commercial plaudits his work deserved, this New Orleans-based artist was responsible for some of that city’s finest music. He made his recording debut, as Smiling Lewis, in 1947, but his strongest work appeared during the 50s. ‘The B Read more

Bettye LaVette - 71% match to Irma Thomas

Allen Toussaint - 69% match to Irma Thomas

14 January 1938, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. This influential artist first came to prominence in the mid-50s as the touring piano player with Shirley And Lee. The duo’s producer, Dave Bartholomew, began using Toussaint on several recording sessions, including those of Smiley Lewis and, on a handful of occasions, Fats Domino. The artist’s solo debut came in 1958 wi Read more

Doris Duke - 68% match to Irma Thomas

Doris Curry, 1945, Sandersville, Florida, USA. Duke emerged from a variety of gospel groups including the Raspberry Singers (which included Chuck Jackson), the David Sisters, the Evangelistic Gospel Singers and the Caravans. Between 1963 and 1967, Duke worked as a New York session singer, before recording a solo single under the name Doris Willingham. In 1968 she toured Euro Read more

Ann Peebles - 65% match to Irma Thomas

27 April 1947, East St. Louis, Missouri, USA. An impromptu appearance at the Rosewood Club in Memphis led to Peebles’ recording contract. Band leader Gene Miller took the singer to producer Willie Mitchell, whose skills fashioned an impressive debut single, ‘Walk Away’ (1969). Peebles’ style was more fully shaped with ‘Part Time Love’ (1970), an Read more

Benny Spellman - 64% match to Irma Thomas

11 December 1931, Pensacola, Florida, USA. Although a minor hit by chart standards, Benny Spellman’s ‘Lipstick Traces (On A Cigarette)’ is one of the most fondly recalled New Orleans R&B hits of the early 60s and was subsequently revived by the O’Jays. Its b-side, ‘Fortune Teller’, impressed the young Rolling Stones enough for them to cover Read more

Earl King - 64% match to Irma Thomas

Earl Silas Johnson IV, 7 February 1934, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA, d. 17 April 2003, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. The son of a blues pianist, King became an accomplished guitarist and singer with local bands before making his first recordings in 1953 for Savoy Records (‘Have You Gone Crazy’, credited to Earl Johnson) and Specialty Records (‘A Mother’s L Read more

O.V. Wright - 63% match to Irma Thomas

Overton Vertis Wright, 9 October 1939, Memphis, Tennessee, USA, d. 16 November 1980, USA. One of deep soul’s most impressive stylists, O.V. Wright’s first recordings were in the gospel tradition and it was while a member of the Harmony Echoes that he became acquainted with Roosevelt Jamison. This aspiring songwriter penned the singer’s secular debut, ‘Tha Read more

Maxine Brown - 60% match to Irma Thomas

27 April 1932, Kingstree, South Carolina, USA. Having sung in two New York gospel groups, the Manhattans and the Royaltones, Brown made her recording debut on Nomar with ‘All In My Mind’. A US Top 20 hit in 1961, this uptown soul ballad was followed by another hit single, ‘Funny’. A period at ABC-Paramount then passed before Brown signed to Wand Records a Read more

Mitty Collier - 60% match to Irma Thomas

21 June 1941, Birmingham, Alabama, USA. As a member of the travelling gospel group the Hayes Ensemble, Collier toured throughout Alabama and Georgia. Switching to secular music, she was discovered singing in a talent show by Chess Records scout Ralph Bass. Her early releases lacked direction until ‘I’m Your Part Time Love’, an ‘answer’ to Little John Read more

Bettye Swann - 59% match to Irma Thomas

Betty Jean Champion, 24 October 1944, Shreveport, Louisiana, USA. This superior singer first recorded during the early 60s as a member of the Fawns. A Carolyn Franklin song, ‘Don’t Wait Too Long’, provided Swann with a solo hit in 1965, but her career was more fully launched two years later with a US R&B chart-topper, the beautiful ‘Make Me Yours’ Read more