1. Tommy Ridgley's voice was variously described as similar to Roy Brown and Bull Moose Jackson and thus able to adapt to a variety of styles: blues, jump blues, rhythm and blues and soul.
12 Facts About Tommy Ridgley
1. 2.
Tommy Ridgley's recording career consisted of over forty singles and three albums.
3.
Tommy Ridgley was born in the Shrewsbury district of New Orleans, the eldest of seventeen brothers and sisters, of which eight survived He had an impoverished upbringing and was a breadwinner for his family before his teens.
4.
Bill, that provided World War II veterans with funds for college education Tommy Ridgley studied at the Grunewald School of Music.
5.
Tommy Ridgley started his professional career in the late 40's as a band singer with a New Orleans Dixieland group and after a brief stint with Earl Anderson's band playing at The Starlight Hotel in Gert Town, he was recruited by trumpeter and band leader Dave Bartholomew.
6.
Tommy Ridgley's singing style in his early career has been compared to that of Roy Brown whilst his reputation as a major New Orleans artist was enhanced by Dave Bartholomew's band that featured outstanding musicians: drummer Earl Palmer and saxophonists Lee Allen, Herb Hardesty, Red Tyler and Ernest Allen.
7.
In 1953 Tommy Ridgley left Bartholomew's band and signed a contract with Atlantic records.
8.
Tommy Ridgley employed a young Irma Thomas as one of his girl singers, later recommending her to Ric Records where she recorded for the subsidiary Ron label.
9.
In 1960, Tommy Ridgley signed with Joe Ruffino's New Orleans Ric Records, and released seven singles, at six monthly intervals.
10.
Tommy Ridgley cut a number of tracks at a studio in Clinton, Mississippi for Bob Robin's International City imprint including My Love is Getting Stronger, a song that became highly popular on the UK Northern Soul scene in the 1970s and 80s.
11.
In 1992 and nearly 50 years into his music career Tommy Ridgley released his first album of new recordings.
12.
In January 1999, Tommy Ridgley received OffBeat magazine's annual Lifetime Achievement Award Tommy Ridgley who suffered from kidney failure in his last few years, died from lung cancer, caused by asbestos inhalation, whilst working as a construction worker, in August 1999.