David Lonzo Thompson (May 21, 1969 – February 14, 2010) was an American

electric blues Electric blues is blues music distinguished by the use of electric amplification for musical instruments. The guitar was the first instrument to be popularly amplified and used by early pioneers T-Bone Walker in the late 1930s and John Lee Ho ...

guitarist, singer and songwriter, best known by his stage name Lil' Dave Thompson. He is best known for his tracks "She Didn't Say Goodbye" and "I Got the Blues".

Life and career

David Lonzo Thompson was born in

Jackson, Mississippi Jackson is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Mississippi, most populous city of the U.S. state of Mississippi. The city sits on the Pearl River (Mississippi–Louisiana), Pearl River and is locate ...

, United States. His father, Sam Thompson, had played the blues with Asie Payton, Paul "Wine" Jones, and James "Son" Thomas among others. With his encouragement, Thompson learned to play blues guitar by the age of nine, and he formed his first group, the Delta Blues Band, in

Leland, Mississippi Leland is a city in Washington County, Mississippi, United States. It is located within the Mississippi Delta, on the banks of Deer Creek. The population was 4,481 at the 2010 census. It was once a railway town and had long been a center of co ...

in his early teens. He teamed up with Booba Barnes in 1984, and played the Mississippi

juke joint Juke joint (also jukejoint, jook house, jook, or juke) is the African-American vernacular term for an informal establishment featuring music, dancing, gambling, and drinking, primarily operated by African Americans in the southeastern United St ...

circuit. He first recorded on ''I Got the Dog in Me'' (1994), a

Fat Possum Records Fat Possum Records is an American independent record label based in Water Valley and Oxford, Mississippi. At first Fat Possum focused almost entirely on recording previously unknown Mississippi blues artists (typically from Oxford or Holly Sprin ...

release, providing guitar backing for David Malone, one of

Junior Kimbrough David "Junior" Kimbrough (July 28, 1930 – January 17, 1998) was an American blues musician. His best-known works are "Keep Your Hands off Her" and "All Night Long". In 2023, he was inducted in the Blues Hall of Fame. Early life Kimbrough was b ...

's sons. Thompson's own debut record was ''Little Dave and Big Love'' (1995). It was also released by Fat Possum. ''Little Dave and Big Love'' was produced by

Robert Palmer Robert Allen Palmer (19 January 1949 – 26 September 2003) was an English singer and songwriter. He was known for his powerful and soulful voice, sartorial elegance and stylistic explorations, combining soul, funk, jazz, rock, pop, regga ...

, and nominated for two W. C. Handy Awards in 1996 for 'Best New Blues Artist' and 'Contemporary Blues Album'. In 2002, Thompson released ''C'mon Down to the Delta'' on

JSP Records JSP Records is a British record label, founded in 1978 by John Stedman (John Stedman Promotions), releasing recordings by blues musicians such as Professor Longhair, Buddy Guy, Jimmy Witherspoon, Louisiana Red, Deitra Farr, Charlie Sayles, ...

. In 2006, ''Got to Get Over You'' appeared, issued by Electro-Fi Records, while ''Deep in the Night'' followed in 2008. Regarding the latter, ''

Down Beat ''DownBeat'' (styled in all caps) is an American music magazine devoted to "jazz, blues and beyond", the last word indicating its expansion beyond the jazz realm that it covered exclusively in previous years. The publication was established in 1 ...

'' magazine stated it was "Incendiary and feral, with a church choir hustle and a Mississippi hill country stomp". Constant touring gave Thompson a growing loyal audience. In 2012, ''C'mon Down to the Delta'' was re-released.

Death

On February 14, 2010, and following the last gig of their tour at Fiery Ron's Home Team BBQ in

Sullivan's Island, South Carolina Sullivan's Island, historically known as O'Sullivan's Island, is a town and island in Charleston County, South Carolina, United States, at the entrance to Charleston Harbor, with a population of 1,791 at the 2010 census, and 1,891 people in 202 ...

, his entourage were driving back to

Greenville, Mississippi Greenville is the List of municipalities in Mississippi, ninth-most populous city in the U.S. state of Mississippi, and the largest city by population in the Mississippi Delta region. It is the county seat of Washington County, Mississippi, Was ...

, when his band's touring Ford van overturned on

Interstate 20 Interstate 20 (I‑20) is a major east–west Interstate Highway in the Southern United States. I-20 runs beginning at an interchange with I-10 in Reeves County, Texas, and ending at an interchange with I-95 in Florence, South Carolina. B ...

Aiken County, South Carolina Aiken County () is a county in the U.S. state of South Carolina. As of the 2020 census, its population was 168,808. Its county seat and largest community is Aiken. Aiken County is a part of the Augusta- Richmond County, GA-SC Metropolitan ...

. Thompson was thrown from the passenger seat and pronounced dead on arrival. He was aged 40. Thompson was buried in

Indianola, Mississippi Indianola is a city in and the county seat of Sunflower County, Mississippi, United States, in the Mississippi Delta. The population was 10,683 at the 2010 census. History On June 30, 1874 the town was surveyed and on April 14, 1885 an addition ...

Discography

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thompson, Lil Dave 1969 births 2010 deaths American blues singers 20th-century African-American male singers 20th-century American male singers 20th-century American singers American male singers American blues guitarists American male guitarists Electric blues musicians Blues musicians from Mississippi Songwriters from Mississippi Musicians from Jackson, Mississippi Road incident deaths in South Carolina Fat Possum Records artists Guitarists from Mississippi People from Leland, Mississippi 20th-century American guitarists 20th-century American male musicians JSP Records artists African-American songwriters African-American guitarists 21st-century African-American people American male songwriters

Life and career

Death

Discography

See also

References