Don't Leave Me Here (Don't Ease Me In) Henry Thomas

aka "Don't Ease Me In" .. "Texas Ragtime" Henry Thomas (1874-19??) was an American pre-World War II country blues singer, songster and musician. He was often billed as "Ragtime Texas."

Thomas was born in Big Sandy, Texas. He began his musical career as an itinerant songster (minstrel), and recorded twenty-three sides for Vocalion Records between 1927 and 1929. Thomas accompanied himself on guitar and on quills, a folk instrument fabricated from cane reeds. The instrument is similar in sound to the zampona, used by musicians in Peru and Bolivia.

His springy guitar-playing, probably inspired by banjo-picking styles, implies that he was used to performing for dances.[2]

His legacy has been sustained by four songs. "Fishin' Blues" was covered by Taj Mahal and The Lovin' Spoonful. "Bull Doze Blues" was recorded by Canned Heat with new lyrics, retitled "Goin' Up The Country". Here Thomas's melody on quills was reproduced note for note by flautist Jim Horn. "Don't Ease Me In" was covered by the Grateful Dead on their album Go to Heaven; and "Honey Won't You Allow Me One More Chance" was covered by Bob Dylan (as "Honey Just Allow Me One More Chance") on The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan. Thomas's vintage recording of "Don't Ease Me In" is included on the compilation album The Music Never Stopped: Roots of the Grateful Dead. In 1993 the band Deacon Blue released a song entitled "Last Night I Dreamed Of Henry Thomas" on their Whatever You Say, Say Nothing LP.

The whereabouts of Thomas after 1929 have not been chronicled, although he was reportedly seen in Texas in the 1950s.[3] The date and circumstances of his death are uncertain. His complete Vocalion recordings were compiled on a 1990 Yazoo Records CD titled Texas Worried Blues.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Henry
• Thomas
• Songster
• 19th
• Century
• 1800
• Music
• Texas
• Railroad
• Dallas
• St
• Louis
• Greenveville
• Huntsville
• Prison
• Jail

[MrGuitarman67]

wow... and to think i thought the grateful dead wrote this amazing song the whole time

[townesfan10]

@MrGuitarman67 - It's very possible Mr. Thomas didn't write it either .. Not in the sense we like to think of .. delivering it straight from the ether or whatever. But however it came to be, this is a great performance!

[unclefredwilson]

It's been my experience that the Dead deal straighter than 99% of professional musicians. They once did a tour which included several stadiums. The sound was no good for 3/4 of the seats. So, from then on, stadium shows were just the end zone at one end. That's passing up a lot of money. How many bands played 4 to 6 hour shows? And when shows have been canceled for ANY reason, we got our money back.

[thatjenk]

@DGalensky yeeeah man its so stupid when people get the chance to try and make a good living doing something they love, i hate that too! shut up and let people think what they want about the music they want to listen to

[GibbyGoba]

Man who rules music and rhythm.

[DGalensky]

It's easy to think it's not about the money but the Grateful Dead to my understanding is the largest money maker to ever make a tour. They are a huge corporation. So it's about the music to the fans maybe, but I never heard of the Dead refunding ticket prices on their infamous "bad nights" either. So don't kid yourself - it's most definitely about the money.

[KingNelis]

@Sheindie Everybody rips everybody off, and that's awesome because it's about the music not the money.

[Sheindie]

@HardcoreHalalHater you're right..... vocalion recorded him - no one ever heard from him again after 1929 - it's a shame.

[HardcoreHalalHater]

@Sheindie I bet you know the answer to that one: Public domain. Copyright??

[jose123001]

I'm a young kid, found this amazing music because of people like you. THANK YOU for opening my eyes