B.J. Thomas performs at City Winery

                At City Winery Friday night B.J. Thomas said he'd only played New York once in a career going back to the mid-1960s. That might explain why his voice showed no wear and tear in a set that covered all his big pop and country hits, plus bossa nova songs from his latest album Once I Loved.

                Thomas had actually been in town two weeks promoting the disc, which he recorded in Brazil. He brought up its producer, drummer Allan Schwartzberg, to play a shaker on the album's cover of "The Girl From Ipanema," a female backup vocalist also coming up to assist Thomas's male backup singer.

                Thomas's new focus on Brazilian music was surprising, perhaps, but hardly a stretch in a career of major hits that began in 1966 with a cover of Hank Williams "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" (recorded, Thomas recounted, so his country fan father would allow him to return home after the session) and ended up on country radio in the late '70s and '80s with hits like the Grammy-winning country and pop chart-topper "(Hey Won't You Play) Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song"--which had the City Winery crowd singing along.

                Thomas also related how "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" was actually a B-side that a local Texas radio DJ chose over the A-side. It paved the way for a booking with r&b heros like James Brown ("he was like a God to us") and Johnny Mathis; he also cited The Temptations" Eddie Kendricks in performing the group's "Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me") and another hero, Jackie Wilson, in offering an a cappella version of his "To Be Loved"--which he first sang in the Houston band The Triumphs when he was a teen.

                But the bulk of the set consisted of his big pop hits, most of them recorded for the legendary New York Scepter Records label. These included the gospel song "Mighty Clouds Of Joy," the appropriately picked "The Eyes Of A New York Woman," "No Love At All," "I Just Can't Help Believing," and his 1970 Burt Bacharach-Hal David chart-topper "Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head."

                "Hooked On A Feeling," Thomas's No. 5 hit from 1969, retained its distinctive electric sitar part--and thankfully lacked the ridiculous "oogachuga" arrangement of the 1974 Blue Swede No. 1 hit cover. "I'd like to tell you I was dancing around when I did this song, but I just stood there then, too!" remarked Thomas, a relatively low energy, stand-up singer as was the pre-MTV norm for pop vocalists.

                The comment prompted New York private investigator Steve Rambam--the consultant and key character in Kinky Friedman's murder mystery novels--to observe that Thomas "is one of those guys who could do [his show] in his sleep!" He meant it as the highest compliment.

                But Thomas did up the excitement level at the end with a gospel-tinged version of Elvis Presley's "Suspicious Minds," which got everyone on their feet and applauding during the extended finish.

Subscribe to this page and follow me on Twitter!