Sad to report that we lost another great one at the turn of the new year: legendary Sun rockabilly Hayden Thompson. With Hayden’s passing, there are only a few left from the original Sun Record label roster.
Hayden was a sweet guy. I got to back him up on at least three different occasions. The last time was at the High Rockabilly Festival in Spain in 2017. After that I know that he had been battling health issues and was unable to perform the last few years. I always enjoyed hanging with Hayden and his wife, Georgia, and hearing his old road stories. And when he started singing, man, there it was! That voice! Such a perfect rockabilly voice.
He made great records: “Love My Baby,” “Fairlane Rock,” “Blues Blues Blues,” “Mama Mama Mama,” a killer rockin’ version of “You Are My Sunshine,” “Whatcha Gonna Do,” and so many more great rockabilly tracks. In the 1960s he made some dynamite country records (he had at that point relocated from Mississippi to Chicago) for Kapp. He was rediscovered in the 1970s and 1980s and made many trips to Europe to play at rockabilly festivals over there, where he was treated like the star he was.
Hayden’s band on the Sun recordings were also some of my pals: guitarist Roland Janes and drummer J.M. Van Eaton. Jerry Lee Lewis played piano on the “Love My Baby” session. Which is to say, Hayden was one of the 100 percent legit rockabilly guys. I’m so sad to read of his passing today. I’m sending my condolences to his wife, Georgia, and the rest of his family.
I looked for my original copy of “Love My Baby” on Phillips, which I got autographed at one of the shows we did together. I hate it when I can’t put my hands on a record, but it’s around here somewhere. Instead, I had to spin “Rockabilly Jamboree,” one of the great reissue ten-inch records Charly released in the 1980s of vintage (mostly unreleased) Sun material. Still as exciting today as it was in 1957. Rest in peace, my friend.
