Ron Thompson
Resonator
© 2007 Ron Thompson (837101295031)
CD IN STOCK. ORDER NOW. Will ship immediately.
“I’ve always felt Ron is the most talented blues guitarist I’ve ever seen. He can do it all." --Tom Mazzolini, founder and producer of the San Francisco Blues Festival.
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Not many living blues musicians can say they have performed with and recorded for legends like Big Mama Thornton, Sonny Rhodes, Luther Tucker, Jimmy McCracklin, Pee Wee Crayton, Carla Thomas, Booker T. Jones, Percy Mayfield, Etta James, B.B. King, and Jimmy Reed. Ron Thompson can, and that’s just the beginning!
Ron Thompson is a legendary rhythm and blues guitarist and master keyboardist whose career began in the rough and tumble world of East San Francisco Bay nightclubs and bars in the early ‘70s. During many years of touring coast to coast with John Lee Hooker, Hooker was quoted as saying, "Ron Thompson, he's my main man!"
After serving as John Lee Hooker’s bandleader for seven years, Thompson went on to form his own group, Ron Thompson and His Resisters, and toured extensively in the U.S., Canada, Europe, and Central America. In the early 80’s, Ron met Mick Fleetwood (Fleetwood Mac) and the two became musical partners and close friends. Mick convinced Ron to move to Los Angeles where they formed the band, Mick Fleetwood’s Blue Whale.
Ron Thompson was recently honored by the City of San Francisco for his decades of musical contributions. A few days after Barry Bonds got "his day" in The City for breaking the all-time American baseball home run record, San Francisco celebrated its own musical home run king, Ron Thompson. By official proclamation of Mayor Gavin Newsom, September 5, 2007, was declared "Ron Thompson Day in San Francisco."
Tom Mazzolini, founder and producer of the San Francisco Blues Festival, the longest running blues festival in the United States, said, “I’ve always felt Ron is the most talented blues guitarist I’ve ever seen. He can do it all. He’s extraordinarily gifted. What many folks aren’t aware of is that Ron was a huge asset in the re-emergence of John Lee Hooker. He was the foundation for that boogie sound.”
Thompson performed extensively in 2007, including a summer tour with Chris Isaak; two shows with Bruce Willis; a week on the Legendary Rhythm and Blues Cruise in October with such musical VIPs as Taj Mahal and Elvin Bishop; as well as headlining a number of festivals throughout the United States.
Thompson headlined the 40th Anniversary of the Summer of Love Concert in Golden Gate Park last September, sharing the bill with legends such as Jefferson Starship, Canned Heat, Jesse Colin Young, and many others. A two hour documentary of the concert, which began with Thompson's sizzling performance, was aired in the San Francisco Bay Area recently, and will soon be nationally syndicated.
In 2008, Thompson will be touring the Northwest, Colorado, the Midwest, and has a European tour in the works.
Andy Grigg, music critic for Real Blues magazine, wrote: “If you haven’t experienced Ron T. ‘live’ I can’t even begin to convey the absolute go-for-broke Blues rave-ups and sweat-soaked pandemonium Thompson and his Resistors dispense on a nightly basis. When it comes to slide guitar workouts, I would say he's the Best in the World, and yet the man sings his ass off too.”
Thompson was nominated for a Grammy for his album “Resistor Twister.” Thompson has received countless awards and accolades, including Real Blues magazine’s Best Live West Coast Blues Act, Best West Coast Blues Slide Guitarist, and Best West Coast Blues Guitarist/Modern for 2004.
Thompson’s extensive discography includes five of his own albums, much studio work, and several European anthologies. Not only has he shared the stage with numerous blues luminaries, Thompson has performed with or recorded for such musical greats as Fleetwood Mac, Chris Isaak, Carlos Santana, Bonnie Raitt, Elvin Bishop, Bill Medley, Huey Lewis, Dr. John, songwriter Bobby Womak, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, Robert Cray Band, Z.Z. Top, and legions of others artists.
Shortly after recording with Chris Isaak on San Francisco Days and touring to promote the album, Thompson was called on stage. Isaak introduced him, telling the audience, "You might think these crowd barriers are here to keep you away from the stage. They're not. They're here to keep Ron Thompson away from you!”
Steve Cropper, one of the founding members of both Booker T. and the MG's and The Mar-Keys, (and who has also written songs with Wilson Pickett, Otis Redding, Eddie Floyd, and dozens of others) once said of Ron, “What this guy knows, you can’t get out of a book.”
Thompson’s latest all-solo CD, Resonator, was released in January 2007. Ron recorded on guitar, mandolin, piano, and vocals—and then mixed it all together for an unbelievable, quadruple threat, all-Ron Thompson recording. Most of the material is comprised of original Ron Thompson compositions.
reviews
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Still Resonating!
author: Donald HamiltonResonator will have you resonating to all your friends how good it really is! Ron's in a class all his own.
Very Good
author: RJsaw ron at mountain winery witn chris isaak. he rocked the place. i ordered the cd when i got home and was not disappointed. good old time slide guitar blues.
- author: Ron
The CD is great, when I clicked to buy it I thought I was getting it from Ron's web. site and that is why I asked for the autograph. If I had know it was coming from a retail store I would have watied until I saw him again at one of his shows to get the CD. I feel like I have been is some cheap magic trick. "Which shell is the CD under?" I will be more carefull buying online in the future. Ron
Love everything about this!
author: Tony FitzgeraldI am a long-time Ron Thompson fan, so my opinion may be skewed. However, I found out about this one a few weeks ago and bought it--and cannot stop listening! On first glance, it's not the RT & the Resistors "heavy sound" that many of us may be used to. But the more I listen, the more I am astounded by how truly deep each track is. Wow--how does this guy DO it? Resonator is subtle beyond belief, but to the true music aficionado, this collection is a classic. Unbelievable. I cannot begin to write as well as this man plays. Just give it a listen--or several hundred listens. Each time you will discover more. To the Island Guy--nice review, but I think some of this album went completely over your head. To compare Thompson's vocals to Tommy Castro's is not logical! What is amazing to folks who have watched Thompson for many years is that NOW he is much more than a guitarist--he's a piano guy, he's a songwriter, AND he "sings his ass off." (to quote Andy Grigg, "Real Blues" music critic.) I heard that several years ago Ron shared a bill with Bobby Bland, one of THE top vocalists of our time. Bland pulled Ron aside after the show--and instead of gushing about his guitar magic, Bobby "Blue" Bland was completely taken by Ron's vocals! Ron could do a CD just singing and we'd still be blown away! If I have one bone to pick--it is simply that Ron has not offered us ENOUGH music to purchase and enjoy! Resonator is far and away better than anything I have heard released in years. Buy it today!
RT solo is highly recommended
author: owen - island-life.netThis is an excellent addition to the "old school" blues resurgence happening all over. Ron Thompson is a dynamic, energetic and extremely fluid multi-instrumentalist more known for his work with Chicago-style electric blues, but here he demonstrates his deep knowledge and feel for the roots of the country blues form by sticking to a piano and his National Steel Resonator guitar. The effect is spare and stark, allowing the essence of his tasty blues guitar to really come out. His cover of Robert Johnson's "Traveling Riverside Blues" adheres to the spirit of the original without the usual sonic mud that clutters so many contemporary interpretations, and his originals are all so evocative of Son House-style acoustic blues they are scary. If you like guys like Alvin Youngblood Hart, you will like this rocking CD. The CD closes with a really nice slice of his prodigiously broad guitar talent in "Prayer for the 21st Century." As we tend to experience quite a lot of music, especially blues, at Island-Life.net, we seldom award anyone a "5" stars, but Ron comes pretty darn close. If we have a nit to pick, that would be on vocals, which never have been an RT strong suite, whether in performance or in studio. True to form, Ron's vocals do not cut through the way Hart, Keb' Mo', or Tommy Castro can, but all of these songs have no more than 15 words a piece in them, tops, and we imagine Ron basically just tosses in the vocals as an afterthought, much like a man singing to himself while sitting in a hard chair, half-empty bottle of Old Crow beside, under a bare electric light-bulb shining down on a dingy room with peeling wallpaper and a broken heater in the corner while those resonator cones do all the main work in that steel National guitar.
Now THIS is music!!!!!!! WOW!!!!!!
author: BoboI recieved this as a gift and I can't stop listening to it!. Crystal clear, clean recording. A powerful musician, with magic fingers. How'd he do that?!?!. I'm buying more for gifts. You won't be disappointed.
Big thumbs up
author: Rob TI didn't know what to expect when I ordered this one & I was IMPRESSED - great CD. I live in the Bay area & will definitely be on the lookout for live gigs for Ron Thompson.
Classic RT, not a clinker on the CD
author: JordanExtremely strong album. 5+ stars to As Much Fun As I Can, Broken Hearted Love Affair, Sugar Ain't Sweet No More and Prayer for the 21st Century - one of my favorite instrumentals of all time. Ron's dobro work is absolutely phenomenal. He even picks up a mandolin on Oh Bye Bye.
One of the masters of the game
author: "TECKA". Terry IredaleSo much great Rock/Blues from around the globe(And don't us Blues Jocks just love it? You Betcha). But if you want to just chill and listen to some Great Tin Top Blues with one of the masters of the game ya, gotta get into this new album. Great album..Love it. --"Tecka," Terry Iredale, Tecka's Tracks.HOTFM 106.7FM, Mildura, Victoria, Australia