“Honey, Won’t You Allow Me One More Chance?” - Henry Thomas (ca. 1928)
Henry Thomas was a unique figure in the world of Early American Roots music. One of the ways in which Thomas was unique was in his versatility as a performer. Because Thomas had to perform for many different audiences he was forced to develop a large repertoire of songs to choose from depending on the audience he was to perform for on a given night. Thomas performed blues tunes, square dance tunes, ragtime tunes and minstrel or vaudeville tunes as well as tunes that defied any certain classification. These he performed with a supreme musicianship that outclassed most of his contemporaries.
Another way in which Thomas was unique was his age at the time of his recording. Henry Thomas is believed to have been born in 1874 in Big Sandy, Texas. If that date is true then Thomas would have been over 50 years of age when he recorded the 23 songs that constitute his entire recorded output between the years of 1927 and 1929. Thomas was certainly the oldest performer to record music that was considered “blues” at that time.
Because Thomas was so advanced in age at the time of his recording some of the songs that he performed songs dated from around the turn of the century. These songs are considered to be prime examples of some of the earliest forms of African-Amercian music.
After his late 1920’s recording sessions Henry Thomas never recorded again. It is unknown what became of him, though some reports claim to have seen him perform as late as the mid-1950s on Texas street comers. It is believed that he died sometime during this period.
“Honey, Won’t You Allow Me One More Chance” was recorded for the “Vocalion” label (as were all 23 of Thomas’ tunes) in Chicago sometime between 1927 and 1929. Records for his recording sessions have not been kept. The song is a “minstrel tune” rather than a “blues”. Bob Dylan later covered the song on his “Freewheelin’ album.
