I was sorry to learn last night of B.J. Thomas's passing. His voice always struck me as self-assured and well-matched with the secular and sacred lyrics he sang. In my view, these are five of his best tracks:
- Amazing Grace (This is how to sound confident yet unassuming when tackling one of the most frequently covered hymns.)
- God Bless The Children (In the wrong voice, this could sound treacly or insincere. Thomas pulls off the right mix of sincerity and perspective in his vocals here, though. I used to look forward to this track during KYKY's 1985-1991 36--in later years, 24--hours of Christmas music rotation.)
- Hooked On A Feeling (Lyrically direct ways of spelling out one's love for a wife or girlfriend are tricky. When the lyrics are too overwrought, the singer's either conveying cloying sentiments he doesn't really mean or resorting to too many cliches. I'd be thrilled to never hear another song about someone "climbing the highest mountain" or "swimming the deepest ocean" for his beloved. "Hooked On A Feeling," however, strikes the right tone of "Hey, what we have here is great.")
- Mighty Clouds Of Joy (This should have been a bigger hit in 1971. A listener doesn't need to be religious to appreciate the optimism with which Thomas sings this. The comforting "Put On A Happy Face" vibe in the lyrics reminds us that bad times usually don't last forever. Gerry Rafferty's "Days Gone Down" sounds musically compatible to me before or after this.)
- Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head (For many listeners, including me, Thomas's biggest hit is the one they've heard most. This was a deserved chart-topper in 1969. It's human nature to complain about literal and metaphorical rain in our lives. The protagonist here admits, however, that getting angry about rain won't make it go away and resolves not to let it get to him. That attitude of, "Oh, well; that's just life," has always appealed to me, even when I haven't practiced it. Thomas's "Why worry?" vocal inflections fit the tune perfectly, as does Chuck Findley's happy-go-lucky trumpet outro. This will always be one of my favorite oldies.)
