Jesse "Babyface" Thomas (February 3, 1911 - August 15, 1995[1][2]) was an American Texas blues guitarist and singer.[3] Known at different times as "Baby Face" or "Mule", and occasionally billed as "The Blues Troubadour", Jesse Thomas popped up all over the blues map in his eight decade career.[4]
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Born in Logansport, Louisiana, United States, Thomas is best known for the song "Blue Goose Blues", which he recorded for Victor in 1929. His clipped, dry-toned guitar-playing, which sound rather meagre on "Blue Goose Blues", gained greatly from amplification, and his 1940s-1950s recordings, mostly made in Los Angeles, California, are fascinatingly varied responses to tradition and innovation.[4]
In 1953, for instance, on a Speciality single, he coupled a minor key blues in the current West Coast idiom, "When You Say I Love You", with a re-examination of the old Texas gambling song, "Jack of Diamonds" - an entirely characteristic gesture.[4]
In 1994 he appeared at the Long Beach Blues Festival.
He had a long musical career spanning over 60 years, continuing to perform until his death. The Texas bluesman, Ramblin' Thomas, was his brother,[5] and fellow Louisiana blues guitar player, Lafayette Thomas, was his nephew.
A longtime resident of the Lakeside neighborhood of Shreveport, Louisiana, Thomas died there on August 15, 1995 at the age of 84.[6]