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Chris Thomas (born 13 January 1947) is an English record producer who has worked extensively with The Beatles, Pink Floyd, Procol Harum, Roxy Music, Badfinger, Elton John, Paul McCartney, Pulp and The Pretenders. He has also produced breakthrough albums for The Sex Pistols and INXS.

Thomas is quoted as saying

Early life[link]

Thomas was born in Perivale, Middlesex, and now lives in London. Thomas was classically trained on the violin and piano as a child. He began playing bass in London pop bands, turning down at one point the opportunity to play with Jimi Hendrix and Mitch Mitchell before Hendrix had struck fame.^[1]

After several years, Thomas decided that he had little interest in making a career as a performing musician. In a 1998 interview, he stated "I realized that being in a band you were dependent on all these other people, and I also knew that if I'd ever been successful in a band, I would've wanted to stay in the studio and just make the records; I wasn't that interested in playing live."^[1]

Recording sessions with The Beatles[link]

Looking to break into production, Thomas wrote to Beatles producer George Martin seeking work and in 1967 was employed as an assistant by AIR, an independent production company which had been founded by Martin and three other EMI producers. Thomas allowed to attend sessions at EMI with the Hollies and, in 1968, The Beatles during their sessions for the White Album.

Midway through the sessions, Martin decided to take a vacation, and he proposed that Thomas assume his duties as producer. "I had just come back from holiday myself, and when I came in there was a little letter on the desk that said, "Dear Chris, Hope you had a nice holiday. I'm off on mine now. Make yourself available to The Beatles. Neil and Mal know you're coming down."

Thomas later recalled

In the interview, Thomas stated that he played keyboards on five songs: "Happiness Is a Warm Gun", mellotron on "The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill", piano on "Long, Long, Long" and "Savoy Truffle", and harpsichord on "Piggies". The March 6, 1993 edition of Billboard states that Musicians Union records show that Thomas was paid for playing on four songs: Harpischord on "Piggies" and "Not Guilty", Mellotron on "The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill", and Piano on "Long, Long, Long".^[2]

Because the album does not include song-by-song musician credits (and both the Beatles and producer George Martin frequently played keyboards on songs)-- and the mixes for the mono and stereo versions differ,^[3] it is not possible to definitely state which of Thomas's performances were included on the final mixes. Some scholars credit Thomas with work on three songs,^[4] others cite only two ^[5] and others include higher or lower numbers.

Early production credits[link]

Thomas was not credited as producer or co-producer on "The Beatles", although his name appears as co-producer on some of the original session sheets. By the end of 1968, he had received his first solo credit: The Climax Chicago Blues Band by the Climax Blues Band.

Procol Harum would be the first band with which Thomas would enjoy a steady working relationship, producing their albums Home, Broken Barricades and Procol Harum Live with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra during 1970-71. Thomas subsequently travelled to Los Angeles to produce Christopher Milk's 1972 album Some People Will Drink Anything (Warner Bros / Reprise), and met John Cale, who invited Thomas to produce his Paris 1919 album at the AIR Studios.

At the sessions with Cale, Thomas met Roxy Music singer-songwriter Bryan Ferry, who asked him to produce the band's second album, For Your Pleasure. The collaboration continued for the next four albums (Stranded, Country Life, Siren and Viva!).

Recording sessions with Pink Floyd[link]

In 1973, as Thomas’ work continued to attract interest, he took on mixing duties with Pink Floyd for their The Dark Side of the Moon album. In his Mix interview, Thomas claimed he would finish work on the Pink Floyd album at midnight and drive to AIR Studios to do more work on Procol Harum's Grand Hotel album until 5 AM.

In a February 1993 interview, guitarist David Gilmour described Thomas’ role on The Dark Side of the Moon as a referee for arguments between himself and bassist Roger Waters.

"I wanted Dark Side to be big and swampy and wet, with reverbs and things like that. And Roger was very keen on it being a very dry album. I think he was influenced a lot by John Lennon's first solo album [Plastic Ono Band], which was very dry. We argued so much that it was suggested we get a third opinion. We were going to leave Chris to mix it on his own, with Alan Parsons engineering. And of course on the first day I found out that Roger sneaked in there. So the second day I sneaked in there. And from then on, we both sat right at Chris's shoulder, interfering. But luckily, Chris was more sympathetic to my point of view than he was to Roger's."^[6]

Thomas disputes Gilmour's assessment, saying "They were all there all the time because we were recording and adding things at the same time we were mixing. And contrary to some things I've read in the last ten years, there was a very nice atmosphere in the studio." ^[1] In 1994, Thomas helped mix Pink Floyd's album The Division Bell (1994) with Gilmour. He also co-produced Gilmour's solo album On an Island (2006).

Recording sessions with Badfinger[link]

Thomas produced a trio of albums for power pop group Badfinger on the tail end of their career, beginning with 1973's Ass, and 1974's Badfinger and Wish You Were Here albums. Ass was originally recorded with Badfinger producing, but the group later admitted they were incapable of producing themselves. Members Pete Ham and Tom Evans solicited Thomas' help in cleaning up existing recordings and laying down new tracks. Although the succeeding album Badfinger retained Thomas from the outset and was considered by critics to be an improvement in production, neither album was successful in the marketplace. For their third project together, Thomas held a meeting with the group and pleaded that they all concentrate on making the best record they could muster. It turned out that Wish You Were Here garnered the most positive critical response from periodicals, including Rolling Stone magazine. Thomas later said:

Thomas is quoted as saying that he was sorely disappointed when he learned that Wish You Were Here was pulled off the market, after only four months in release, due to legal troubles between Badfinger and Warner Brothers Records.^[7]

Recording sessions with the Sex Pistols[link]

In 1976, he was asked by Malcolm McLaren to produce the debut single by the Sex Pistols. He recalled:

Thomas’ colleagues in the recording industry were horrified by his involvement with the Sex Pistols, particularly when he found himself producing the band at the same time as he was working with Paul McCartney. His work with the band also led to one of his most curious album credits. Co-producer Bill Price explained:

During 2007, Thomas produced a brand new studio recording of Pretty Vacant for use in the new video game Skate. John Lydon, Steve Jones and Paul Cook all play on this new version, which was recorded in Los Angeles in July 2007, with only Glen Matlock absent.

Work with other artists[link]

Thomas also plays Moog synthesiser on the song "Son Of My Father" by Chicory Tip with its drum phasing very similar to that of Itchycoo Park by The Small faces. This was the first ever UK #1 song to feature a synthesiser and Brian Jarvis's Stylophone which was also used on David Bowie's "Space Oddity".

In 1985, Thomas played a critical part in achieving a worldwide breakthrough for Australian band INXS. INXS keyboardist and main songwriter Andrew Farriss explained:

Thomas recalls he was worried that the standard of songs the band had laid down was not as strong as he wished.

Thomas helped guide Chrissie Hynde into a recording career, producing The Pretenders’ first (self-titled) album; his work on 1984's Learning to Crawl earned him the sobriquet on the liner notes as the "fifth Pretender".

He regards Pulp's Different Class as one of the best records he has made, and admits: "I love working with writers. That's the person I always respond to most in a band.’’ and says his role as a producer has changed little since the 1970s.

Production credits[link]

Albums produced or mixed by Thomas include:

• 1968: The Climax Chicago Blues Band by Climax Blues Band, The Beatles by The Beatles
• 1969: Climax Blues Band Plays On by Climax Blues Band
• 1970: A Lot of Bottle by Climax Blues Band, Home by Procol Harum
• 1971: Tightly Knit by Climax Blues Band, Mick Abrahams by Mick Abrahams
• 1972: Some People Will Drink Anything by Christopher Milk, At Last by Mick Abrahams Band, The Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd (mixing), Keyboard player on - Son Of My Father Chicory Tip
• 1973: For Your Pleasure by Roxy Music, Stranded by Roxy Music, Grand Hotel by Procol Harum, Paris 1919 by John Cale, Ass by Badfinger
• 1974: Badfinger by Badfinger, Wish You Were Here by Badfinger, Exotic Birds and Fruit by Procol Harum, Kurofune (aka Black Ship) by Sadistic Mika Band, Country Life by Roxy Music
• 1975: Siren by Roxy Music
• 1976: Viva! by Roxy Music, Let's Stick Together by Bryan Ferry
• 1976 "Full House (Frankie Miller album)" by Frankie Miller
• 1977: Hurt by Chris Spedding
• 1977: Never Mind the Bollocks by the Sex Pistols
• 1978: Power in the Darkness by Tom Robinson Band
• 1979: Back to the Egg by Wings
• 1980: Pretenders by The Pretenders; Empty Glass by Pete Townshend
• 1981: Pretenders II by The Pretenders, The Fox by Elton John
• 1982: All the Best Cowboys Have Chinese Eyes by Pete Townshend, Jump Up! by Elton John
• 1983: Too Low for Zero by Elton John
• 1984: Hysteria by The Human League
• 1984: Learning to Crawl by The Pretenders; Breaking Hearts by Elton John
• 1985: Listen Like Thieves by INXS; White City by Pete Townshend
• 1987: Kick by INXS
• 1988: Reg Strikes Back by Elton John; Live Nude Guitars by Brian Setzer
• 1989: Sleeping With the Past by Elton John
• 1990: X by INXS
• 1992: The One by Elton John
• 1994: Last of the Independents by The Pretenders, The Lion King soundtrack, Jewel by Marcella Detroit, The Division Bell by Pink Floyd (mixing)
• 1995: Different Class by Pulp
• 1996: Filthy Lucre Live by Sex Pistols
• 1997: The Big Picture by Elton John
• 1998: This Is Hardcore by Pulp
• 1999: Run Devil Run by Paul McCartney
• 2001: Or8? by Hoggboy
• 2004: How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb by U2
• 2006: On an Island by David Gilmour; Razorlight by Razorlight
• 2010: Serotonin by Mystery Jets

References[link]

External links[link]

• Chris Thomas interview

Chris Thomas may refer to:

• Chris Thomas (American football), former wide receiver in the NFL
• Chris Thomas (basketball), former men's basketball player for the University of Notre Dame
• Chris Thomas (record producer), music producer
• Chris Thomas (cricketer)
• Chris Thomas (author), author, journalist and actor based in Perth, Western Australia
• Chris Thomas King, American blues musician who debuted as Chris Thomas
• Christopher Thomas, American politician and lawyer

See also[link]

• Christian Thomas (disambiguation)
• All pages with titles containing "Chris Thomas"
• All pages with titles containing "Christopher Thomas"

This disambiguation page lists articles about people with the same name. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (April 2010)

Chris Thomas King
Chris Thomas King at the Koh Samui Music Festival, 2005
Background information
Born	(1962-10-14) October 14, 1962 (age 49) Baton Rouge, Louisiana, United States
Origin	New Orleans, United States
Genres	Blues, R&B, Hip hop
Occupations	Musician, singer, actor
Instruments	Guitar
Years active	1984–present
Labels	Black Top Records, 21st Century Blues Records, Scotti Bros. Records
Website	ChrisThomasKing.com

Chris Thomas King (born October 14, 1962) is an American New Orleans, Louisiana-based blues musician and actor.

History[link]

King was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, United States. He is the son of blues musician Tabby Thomas. He has won awards including "Album of the Year" for both Grammy Award and Country Music Awards. King has sold more than 10 million records in the United States. He is featured playing the part of Tommy Johnson in O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000, Ethan Coen & Joel Coen) He is also featured in Down From the Mountain and More Music From Ray soundtracks.

Musical career[link]

King is known as the pioneer of rap/blues. He conceived the first sample based blues concept album in the early 1990s by writing and producing the first all-rap/blues album for RCA Records titled 21st Century Blues… From Da Hood.

As an entrepreneur King took control of his master recordings in the early 1990s, forming 21st Century Blues Records. He also established a publishing company, Young Blues Rebel, LLC. 21st Century Records signed the New Orleans Ninth Ward rap/blues duo the 21C-B-Boyz and the London, England based NuBlues, to 21st Century Blues Records in 2003.

As an actor, King has co-starred several films including two musical films, Ray and O Brother Where Art Thou?. He also starred in the Wim Wenders art house film The Soul of a Man, as Blind Willie Johnson and Kill Switch as Detective Storm with Steven Seagal.

Filmography[link]

• O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000), as Tommy Johnson
• The Soul of a Man (2003), as Blind Willie Johnson
• Ray (2004), as Lowell Fulson
• Kill Switch (2008) as detective Storm Anderson
• Imagination Movers (2010)
• Treme (2011) HBO series.