Irma Thomas: Sing the Doggone Song
“I don’t think my fan base [cares] about how many notes I can hit. They want me to sing the doggone song,” she says. “If the song doesn’t dictate adding all this other stuff to it, then why do it?”
I heard an interview with Irma Thomas (the Soul Queen of New Orleans) on NPR today. This was about where I turned it on:
“I choose songs with the intention of having something that I can understand and be able to interpret from life experiences to sell the song,” she says. “And in order to make it believable, you have to know what the song is about.”
That really resonated with me. That’s exactly how I feel about singing.
“Her love for singing translates when she’s singing,” Allen Touissant said. “She brings everything to the moment.”
This is what I aspire to!
The interview goes on to say, “You can hear Thomas’ conviction and honesty in every song she sings. But her intensity also comes from what she doesn’t do. She doesn’t get fancy, because she doesn’t need to.”
And Irma responds:
“I don’t think my fan base [cares] about how many notes I can hit. They want me to sing the doggone song,” she says. “If the song doesn’t dictate adding all this other stuff to it, then why do it?”
So I’ve got my homework cut out for me — listen up on Irma Thomas, and sing the doggone song.
- Ben
More on Irma Thomas: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irma_Thomas
