His formal education includes Garden of Arts Kindergarten until Holy Rosary Elementary School through fifth grade, then Moye Military School until high school at Cascia Hall College Preparatory School, from which he received a diploma in 1962. He went on to study at St. Thomas University, trying variously, off and on, in some cases simultaneously, pre-Law, Creative Writing, English and American Literature, Philosophy, and Art History, before dropping out and starting The Red Crayola with Frederick Barthelme in 1966.[2]
In college, Thompson began to find an affinity for jazz.[3] In a Red Krayola documentary about their Japanese tour, he states he was more interested in creating new material than interpreting old material.[4]
1950s
In 1955, Mayo Thompson started taking piano lessons at the age of 11.
In 1958, Mayo Thompson started a short-lived band with a friend he met in boarding school.[5]
In 1966, amid the burgeoning Houston psychedelic scene, Thompson formed the band the Red Crayola with fellow art students Frederick Barthelme (brother of novelist Donald Barthelme) and Steve Cunningham, they gathered a travelling entourage of hangers-on who improvised with them on stage and in the studio, they were known as the Familiar Ugly. Their intended second album, Coconut Hotel was rejected by their record company for being too abstract and experimental.
In March 1968, he started working with local musician Johndavid Bartlett at Gold Star Studios, the same place where She's About a Mover was recorded. Bartlett had joined in on rehearsals during the Red Crayola's early days and would sometimes get the opportunity to play his own original songs. Because of this, Thompson took an affinity for his songwriting and got him signed to International Artists records. He started producing the album which contained instrumental cameos from Johnny Winter, Jimmy Reed and Stacy Sutherland of the 13th Floor Elevators. The album was to be called "Mother's Milk"; however, by the time it was supposed to be released, the label folded and the tapes were lost.[7]
1970s
In the early 1970s, he lived in New York City, where he worked as a studio assistant for Robert Rauschenberg.[8]
In 1970, Thompson released his only solo album to date, titled Corky's Debt To His Father, on the Texas Revolution label. The album consists instead of ten lyrically dense but warm-hearted pop songs, in various styles – Dylan-inspired blues-rock, Tex-Mex pop-rock with psychedelic touches, and early country rock not dissimilar to the contemporary work of Gram Parsons and the Flying Burrito Brothers. Thompson was backed by studio musicians on the album and none of his usual Krayola cohorts appear. It was recorded in Houston. It was re-released by the Glass label in 1985 and Drag City in 2008.
After becoming disillusioned with the American art scene, he moved to London having joined the conceptual art group Art & Language,[9] with whom he went on to write six albums under the Red Crayola/Krayola name: Corrected Slogans (1976), Kangaroo? (1981), Black Snakes (1983), Sighs Trapped by Liars (2007), Five American Portraits (2010). The sixth album, Baby and Child Care, was recorded shortly after Black Snakes in 1984 with most of the same personnel, but not released until 2016.
While in London, he became involved with Geoff Travis's distribution business at Rough Trade Records. When the label decided to begin releasing records in 1978, Thompson was asked to assist in producing them because Travis did not feel that he had enough experience in the studio. Thompson is credited as producer on early records by The Fall, Stiff Little Fingers, The Raincoats, Cabaret Voltaire, Kleenex and many other seminal groups.
All members of Pere Ubu, aside from drummer Scott Krauss, contributed to the Soldier Talk album. Working at Rough Trade led Thompson to form a new Red Crayola with members of the bands he was working with. The resulting line-up (1979–1983) included a number of important post-punk musicians: Gina Birch of The Raincoats, Lora Logic of X-Ray Spex and Essential Logic, Epic Soundtracks of Swell Maps, and Allen Ravenstine of Pere Ubu. The band continued its association with Art & Language, who often contributed lyrics to songs such as "A Portrait of V.I. Lenin in the Style of Jackson Pollock" which references their well-known painting. The song "Born in Flames" was written for the soundtrack of Lizzie Borden's 1983 radical feminist film of the same name.
1980s
In the early 1980s, he was a member of Pere Ubu, performing on their albums The Art of Walking and Song of the Bailing Man. He also appears on seven of thirteen tracks on the Pere Ubu live album, One Man Drives While the Other Man Screams, and plays accordion on the David Thomas and the Pedestrians album The Sound of the Sand. In 1980 he co-produced Grotesque (After The Gramme) by The Fall. In 1982 he started to compose the musical score of Victorine, the opera written by Art & Language for the Documenta 7. In 1983 he recorded a series of monologues and vocal tracks for a collaborative effort with German musicians Dieter Moebius and Conny Plank. The recordings were shelved for 15 years but were finally released as Ludwig's Law in 1998. While living in Germany in 1987, he began collaborating with the German painter Albert Oehlen,[10] first on a soundtrack for the film The Last of England by Derek Jarman. The two would later reform the Red Crayola again with an entirely new line-up. Additionally, through working for Rough Trade Records,Thompson persuaded Jarman to work on a promotional video for The Smiths, Jarman went on to direct the music video for The Queen Is Dead, Thompson was credited as an associate producer.[11][12]
In the early 1990s, Thompson met the avant-garde guitarist David Grubbs who offered him a chance to release new music with Red Crayola on Drag City in Chicago. Thompson accepted and the Red Crayola roster ballooned again, this time encompassing many of the important post-rock musicians of the time, including members of Gastr del Sol and Tortoise.[9] The group has continued in a more or less similar configuration since 1994.
Many groups have covered Red Krayola songs, particularly from Parable of Arable Land. For instance, Sort Sol[18] and Alien Sex Fiend[19] both released versions of "Hurricane Fighter Plane" in 1987.
Related Research Articles
The Raincoats are a British experimental post-punk band. Ana da Silva and Gina Birch formed the group in 1977 while they were students at Hornsey College of Art in London.
Pere Ubu is an American rock group formed in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1975. The band had a variety of long-term and recurring band members, with singer David Thomas being the only member staying throughout the band's lifetime. They released their debut album The Modern Dance in 1978 and followed with several more LPs before disbanding in 1982. Thomas reformed the group in 1987, continuing to record and tour.
Red Krayola is an American avant rock band from Houston, Texas formed in 1966 by the trio of singer/guitarist Mayo Thompson, drummer Frederick Barthelme, and bassist Steve Cunningham.
The Art of Walking is the fourth full-length album by Pere Ubu. Mayo Thompson of the Red Krayola joined as guitarist for this album and slanted the proceedings further towards deconstruction and abstraction, and away from the primal rock that former guitarist Tom Herman had facilitated. The group would record one more album with Thompson, Song of the Bailing Man, before disbanding.
Fredrick Barthelme is an American novelist and short story writer of minimalist fiction. He is the director of the Center For Writers at The University of Southern Mississippi and editor of the literary journal Mississippi Review. He is currently the editor of New World Writing
The Parable of Arable Land is the first studio album by the Red Crayola. The album was considered psychedelic music when it was introduced, but later assessments describe it as a forerunner to avant/noise rock. With this album as introduction, Ritchie Unterberger assessed the band as a precursor to industrial rock. The album features free improvised pieces involving industrial power tools and a revving motorcycle dubbed "Free Form Freak-Out" played by a group of over 50 people known as "the Familiar Ugly" as well as notable instrumental cameos by label mate and 13th Floor Elevators frontman Roky Erickson.
Corky's Debt to His Father is the only solo LP by Red Krayola leader Mayo Thompson. Recorded in 1970, it was released on the small independent label Texas Revolution but barely distributed at the time; some copies were made available in the 1970s via mail order.
Soldier-Talk is the third studio album by the American experimental rock band Red Crayola. It was released in 1979 by the record label Radar.
God Bless the Red Krayola and All Who Sail With It is the second commercially released studio album by the American avant-rock band Red Krayola. It was released in May 1968 by the independent record label known as International Artists.
Corrected Slogans is a studio album collaboration between the experimental rock band Red Krayola and the conceptual art group Art & Language. It was released in 1976 by the publisher Music-Language. The album was adopted by Drag City and was re-issued on CD in 1997.
Kangaroo? is the second collaboration between the experimental rock band the Red Crayola and the conceptual art group Art & Language, released in 1981 by Rough Trade Records. The album was adopted by Drag City and re-issued on CD in 1995.
Black Snakes is a collaboration between the experimental rock band Red Krayola and the conceptual art group Art & Language. It was released in 1983 by RecRec Music. The album was adopted by Drag City and re-issued on CD in 1997.
Three Songs on a Trip to the United States is the fourth album by the experimental rock band Red Krayola, released in 1983 by Pure Freude. The album was adopted by Drag City and re-issued on CD in 1997. The album cover photos were provided by previous member Frederick Barthelme.
The Red Krayola is an album by the experimental rock band Red Krayola, released in 1994 by Drag City.
Coconut Hotel is an album originally recorded in 1967 by the American avant rock band Red Krayola. The intent was for it to be the band's second album after the release of The Parable of Arable Land, but it was rejected and shelved indefinitely by International Artists. Coconut Hotel would not hit stores till 1995 when it was finally issued by Drag City.
Fingerpainting is an album by the experimental rock band Red Krayola, released in 1999 by Drag City. The album contains songs that were originally worked on by the 1960s line-up of the band.
Introduction is an album by the experimental rock band Red Krayola, released in 2006 via Drag City.
Red Gold is an EP by the experimental rock band Red Krayola, released in 2006 by Drag City.
Five American Portraits is an album by the experimental rock band Red Krayola and the conceptual art group Art & Language, released in 2010 by Drag City.
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