Tonight will represent an apotheosis of sorts for one of the most original voices to emerge from Memphis, via that crucible of unique voices, Stax Records. Carla Thomas helped create one of the very first hits for the precursor to that label, Satellite Records, with “Cause I Love You,” which she sang with her father Rufus Thomas in 1960. Now, over 60 years later, she’ll be honored with an Inspiration Award at the 20th Annual Americana Honors & Awards show in Nashville, during a ceremony at the Ryman Auditorium. It’s the hallmark event of the association’s annual Americanafest, taking place Sept. 22-25.
It’s fitting that she’s being recognized as an Americana artist. After Valerie June released her recent track “Call Me A Fool,” she told NPR that her collaborator on the vocal duet, Thomas, “remains a queen and total superstar, Aretha-equivalent.” And for June, that had a very personal dimension. As she told the Memphis Flyer this past spring, “I needed her, because the record is a bunch of songs to inspire dreamers. I think the world needs more dreamers now, and as we look around at all the things that need to change, it’s like a dream journey. You always have to have what I call a fairy godmother, that wise voice. And Carla was the fairy godmother of this record. She might be the Queen of Memphis Soul, but for me, she’s my fairy godmother. She’s the wise voice.”
Of course, “Cause I Love You” was just the beginning of Carla Thomas’s run of recordings for Stax and Atlantic Records through the 1960s, which made her the “Queen of Memphis Soul.” With an effervescent and romantic voice that laid bare her teen and 20-something emotions, Thomas bridged soul, country, and gospel as one of the key artists of a great musical and social movement.
She practically grew up at the Palace Theater on Beale Street where Rufus was an emcee. Inspired by singers Jackie Wilson and Brenda Lee, Thomas was singing early, joining WDIA’s Teen Town Singers at age 10. After recording “Cause I Love You” with her father, she hit early as a solo artist with the pop and R&B charter “Gee Whiz (Look At His Eyes).” She’d be popular on the label for more than a decade, appearing on American Bandstand and cutting a full album of duets with Otis Redding months before his death in 1967. She was also a top performer at the influential Wattstax concert of 1972.
In later years, Thomas turned more of her energy to Artists In The Schools, a youth-focused non-profit. The Rhythm & Blues Foundation honored her in 1993 with its exclusive Pioneer Award. The Inspiration Award has been granted only once before, to Thomas’s Stax/Atlantic colleague Mavis Staples.