by Richard Skelly » Sun Feb 04, 2018 2:28 am
Good song that evokes Neil “The Loner” Young. And, as Jon notes, Painted Ladies was Ian Thomas’s sole charting single on Billboard. Softening the blow was that many of Ian’s subsequent Canadian hits were successfully covered: Hold On (Santana), The Runner (Manfred Mann’s Earthband) and Right Before Your Eyes (America) to name a few.
Coincidentally, America got its start, two years before Ian, with an even more obvious homage to Neil Young, A Horse With No Name. To my ears, Ian Thomas’s followup to Painted Ladies was much much more Young-inspired. Laden with acoustic guitars and sunny California harmonies, Come The Son only sparked interest on Canadian airwaves.
Both songs, from Ian’s self-named debut album, were produced by John Lombardo. Couldn’t find anything linking him with a John Lombardo of 10,000 Maniacs. Instead,this John appears to be associated with latter day versions of The Dovells and also worked with Little Eva. Thomas and Lombardo obviously clicked because every two or three albums they’d reconnect for new sessions, including The Runner.
Ian produced or co-produced most of his recordings. One in particular, Riders On Dark Horses from 1984, saw two British producers work alongside Ian. They were Max Norman (Ozzy Osbourne, Ian Hunter) and Mick Ronson. Best known as David Bowie’s right hand man in his glam era, guitarist Ronson also worked with Hunter, Lou Reed, John Mellencamp and another eclectic Canadian act...The Payolas. Mick Ronson passed from cancer in 1993.
In all, Ian Thomas recorded nine solo studio albums, three as a member of The Boomers and three more with Lunch At Allen’s. The latter, named after a Toronto pub, is a collaboration with Murray McLauchlan, Cindy Church and Marc Jordan.