George W. Thomas
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For other people named George Thomas, see George Thomas (disambiguation).
George W. Thomas (born 1885, Houston, Texas - died, according to differing sources, in March, 1930, Chicago, Illinois or 1936 Washington, DC) was a United States blues and jazz pianist and songwriter.
Thomas was the pianist head of an important Texas blues clan which included his daughter Hociel Thomas, his siblings Beuluh ‘Sippie’ Wallace and Hersal Thomas, plus Bernice Edwards, not a blood relative, but raised with the family. Thomas was an important composer (of New Orleans Hop Scop Blues and Muscle Shoals Blues among other tunes), and a publisher, for a time in partnership with Clarence Williams.
Williams attributed the origin of the boogie woogie piano style to Thomas. Thomas was certainly among its earliest important exponents.
On disc records, he made The Rocks in 1923 (as Clay Custer), a solo which contains the earliest recording of a walking bass, accompanied Sippie's friend Tiny Franklin, and made one record under his own name, and a few with his jazz group, the Muscle Shoals Devils.
