We could say that Billy Thompson’s current album A Better Man is good, but we won’t, instead we will say it is a great collection of power Blues songs, sung soulfully by Thompson, who is backed up on vocals by Johnny Lee Schell and it is masterfully produced by Grammy Award winning producer Tony Braunagel, who also serves as the drummer and percussionist for this recording. Billy Thompson’s guitar’s riffs and chord progressions are mind blowing.

The album opens with a the song “Are You Ready,” a song co-written with Sue Leonard and one that invites you to get up and move those hips and feet. With Kenny Gradney serving as the bassist and Mike Finnigan on keyboards and piano, “Are You Ready,” invokes passion, with lustful vocals, but without employing crude or explicit lyrics.   

As good as Jonny Lang and John Lee Hooker Jr. are, I will take Billy Thompson as my guy for singing and playing the Blues. Among those with whom he has performed, are; Albert King, Earl King, B.B. King, Robert Cray, Sonny Landreth, Joe Cocker, Little Milton (“Who’s Cheating Who?”) and the Neville Brothers.  Billy Thompson unveils his own Johnny with his original composition (lyrics and music) “Johnny Is A Cloud,” which features a guitar solo at the mid-point by Johnny Lee Schell, who also provides vocal support for Thompson. Listening to the groove to this song, one can easily envision a concert where people are up on their feet and dancing. For the album A Better Man, Billy Thompson has written a storyline that has funk, blues and R&B, sometimes complimented with soulful vocals and sometimes with a bit of grit.

The album A Better Man is not showy or over the top it is simply raw talent on display and Billy Thompson has a lot of talent and so do his supporting musicians. At times Billy Thompson’s vocals possess that cozy up to me type of warmth that made Lou Rawls so popular with music fans, and Thompson may be at his best on the title song. Finnigan however, almost upstages Thompson on the song “A Better Man,” with a terrific organ solo and with his accompaniment of Billy Thompson as he wails the words, “A Better Man.” What is evident throughout this album is the excellent mixing, production and mastering of this recording. The instruments are clear and do not intrude upon Thompson’s vocals and the warmth and the colors of his vocals fill the room, without overwhelming the listener. This is an album that you will be tempted to crank up on your sound system and perhaps annoy your neighbors.

As we explore the middle tunes on this album, the pace slows down with “Up In The Morning,” a song written with lyricist Kirsten Trump and on which Billy Thompson seduces the listener with his acoustic slide guitar and harmonica. The timbre of his vocals deepens and takes on a little more grit.  Upright bass player Hutch Hutchinson and Braunagel on drums, build the foundation upon which this song rests. Hutchinson who is also an electric bass guitarist can name drop those with whom he has recorded; Keb Mo, Boz Scaggs, Taj Mahal, David Crosby, Bonnie Raitt, Etta James, Merle Haggard, Garth Brooks, Al Green, Stevie Nicks, The B-52’s, Roy Orbison and B.B. King and that is just for starters.

With song number six “No More Goodbyes,” another Kirsten Trump / Billy Thompson collaboration the seduction continues, as the lazy drawl of Thompson’s guitar and Finnigan’s evocative Wurlitzer electric piano court the object of Thompson’s romantic interest “in the cool of the night.” Trump is a brilliant lyricist as she creates a scene that comes to life as she uses words like, “I’m summoned by the fragrance of the silence that surrounds you / Breathless in this moment we find ourselves together / Your eyes lay softly into me, seeing through my insensitivity / As they see me once again for the first time / Give me one more moment to lie in the quiet of your eyes.” Thompson’s phrasing and his willingness to let words linger, before moving on to the next line, will melt the hearts of many women, as they listen to this song.  

“Who Knew,” well obviously Tony Braunagel knew what he was doing when he hooked up with Billy Thompson as both a drummer and a producer. “Who Knew,” is also the name of this more traditional Blues song that meanders through loss and sorrow, as the singer is left with “a bucket full of tears.”   

Billy Thompson and the boys get all funked out with “Downside Up,” an up-tempo song with Lenny Castro sitting in on congas and Mike Peed playing the keyboards. This sensational album closes out with “As If,” with the gentle, reflective more traditionally bluesy tune, which showcases Hutch Hutchinson both on electric bass and bowed upright bass.

The only concern that we have about this album is that we cannot find it for purchase anywhere on the internet nor can we find preview any of the songs online, so Billy if you are reading this, your fans want to know where they can buy your album and preview it.