Jasper Thomas

A little bit of information about Jasper Thomas. Morten Reff tells me he recently found a letter date 24th December 1985 to him from Colin Escott who at the time was preparing a Bear Family box of Chuck recordings which sadly never happened. Colin had interviewed drummer Jasper Thomas who said he played on Chuck Berry recordings starting with the Sweet Little Sixteen session (Sessions 11/12).

I have this listed as Fred Below but I think this information stems back in the day to when enthusiastic blues fans would pester Willie Dixon for session details. Willie played on hundreds of sessions and I'm sure wouldn't remember precise details of each and every one so gave generic details which included his good buddies such as Lafeyette Leake and Fred Below. Also, while Below was a great blues drummer, I don't think he was that great a rock and roll drummer, if you've heard the Berry Montreux you'll know what I mean.

Although many blues artists claim to be on this or that recording to boost their ego, I have no reason to doubt Thomas. So I think Jasper Thomas should be listed as drummer on sessions 11/12 and also 13, the Johnny B Goode session.