Sonny Thompson

For Prince's bass player, see Sonny T..

Alfonso "Sonny" Thompson (August 22, 1916[1][2] or 1923[3][4] – August 11, 1989)[1] was an American R&B bandleader and pianist, popular in the 1940s and 1950s.

Born in Centreville, Mississippi,[1] 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.[1]

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 1950s). 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.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Thedeadrockstarsclub.com - January 2010
  2. ↑ Robert Pruter and Robert L. Campbell, The Sultan label
  3. ↑ Biography by Ron Wynn at Allmusic.com
  4. ↑ Whitburn, Joel (1996). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-1995. Record Research. p. 443.
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