R&B/Funk | New York, NY
Fred Thomas grew up in Georgia. He moved to New York City in 1965 and co-founded his own band with guitarist Hearlon “Cheese” Martin. He was the bassist as well as the lead vocalist of the group.
In 1971 James Brown saw the band at Smalls Paradise club in Harlem. Brown was in search of new musicians for his own band. He did an impromptu performance with the band and decided to hire the whole group. Thomas said his band used to cover Brown’s songs and that joining Brown was a smooth transition for them. He recorded on Brown’s releases during 1970s. The first album titled Hot Pants was in 1971. He also recorded on releases by the J.B.s. Many of these recordings were later sampled by Hip Hop artists, such as Pass the peas”, “Gimme Some more”, and “Escape-ism”.
Fred Thomas occupies a very special niche in the history R&B. As James Brown’s principal bassist since 1971, he participated in one the most prolific periods in the Godfather of Soul’s incredible career as a member of Brown’s band, the J.B.’s. He can be heard on such hits as “Hot Pants,” “Papa Don’t Take No Mess,” “Make it Funky,” “Get on the Good Foot,” “Doin’ it to Death,” and instrumentals like “Pass the Peas”, “Gimme Some More” and others. He’s on seminal albums like “Revolution of the Mind: Recorded Live at the Apollo, Vol. III,” and can be seen in many film and TV performances, including “Live in Zaire” and all the Soul Train appearances.