Texas Worried Blues
Henry "Ragtime Texas" Thomas (1876-?) was a railroading hobo from the Lone Star State whose style and repertoire were obsolete long before the first of his two recording sessions in 1927. His last recorded song, "Don't Leave Me Here," a plaintive version of his "Don't Ease Me In," was his bluesy take on the popular early 20th-century standard "Alabama Bound" and is one of many gems in this unique collection of extra-Delta country blues, "rags," and medicine show or vaudeville tunes. With Thomas punctuating most of his songs by tooting on pre-harmonica quills, or panpipes, these colorful numbers offer a glimpse into a vanished world. After recording such delights as "Railroadin' Some," "Jonah in the Wilderness," "Red River Blues," and "Honey, Won't You Allow Me One More Chance?," the mysterious minstrel disappeared--unless that really was Thomas on the corner of Crawford and Capitol during Houston's winter of 1949.--Alan Greenberg