During the 1990s, Thompson moved back to the United States, signed to the label Drag City and briefly joined the German free improvisation group COWWS Quintet. In 1994, he taught at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena until 2008. His paintings and visual artwork were later exhibited at Galerie Buchholz. He released two novels Art & Mystery (2018) and After Math: Art, Mystery - Part II (2023).
Early life
Mayo Joseph Thompson Jr. was born on February 26, 1944 at St. Joseph Medical Center in Houston, Texas, to father Mayo Joseph Thomson Sr. and mother Hazel Margaret Muhl.[2] Shortly after he was born, his parents divorced. Thompson grew up alone with his mother in Houston, who became a teacher at San Jacinto High School. His father, Mayo Thompson Sr. had previously been in the armed services, and later became a lawyer and member of the Federal Trade Commission.[3][2]
Thompson's 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 the University of St. Thomas, where he tried variously, off and on, pre-Law, Creative Writing, English and American Literature, Philosophy, and Art History, before dropping out.[4][5]
Career
1950s–1960s
In 1955, Mayo Thompson began taking piano lessons at the age of 11, where he first became interested in composing music. In 1958, he started a short-lived band with a friend he met in boarding school.[6] He went on to study at the University of St. Thomas, where he found an "affinity for jazz".[7] In 1963, he met Frederick Barthelme (brother of novelist Donald Barthelme). On November 15, 1964, Thompson performed a cover of "Baby, Please Don't Go" at the University of St. Thomas. At the time, Thompson was a part of a folk musicparody band known as the Seventy-Three Balalaikas, which consisted of Sam Irwin of the Sixpence, Bob Raines and Paul Norris.[8]
In 1965, Thompson embarked on a school trip to Europe.[5] On returning, he was inspired by Beatlemania to start a rock band.[7] He later stated he was "more interested in creating new material than interpreting old material".[7] In mid-1966, amid the burgeoning Houston psychedelic scene, Thompson formed the band Red Crayola with Rick Barthelme and Steve Cunningham, they signed to International Artists after being discovered by producer Lelan Rogers performing for radio station KNUZ's Battle of the Bands event at the Gulfgate Mall. They became labelmates with the 13th Floor Elevators, with Roky Erickson performing on their debut album.[5][9]
In late 1967, Rick Barthelme left the Red Crayola, leading to Thompson briefly working as a sound man for Joseph Byrd and his band the United States of America in Los Angeles.[10] In March 1968, Thompson began working with local musician Johndavid Bartlett at Gold Star Studios, the same place where "She's About a Mover" was recorded.[11] 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 the International Artists record label. 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.[12]
1970s
In 1970, Thompson released his only solo album to date, Corky's Debt To His Father, which employed "the best session musicians in Houston" and was recorded at Walt Andrus' Andrus Studio and released on his label Texas Revolution.[13][14] However, because the label's executives did not like Thompson's voice, the album was made available only by mail order.[13] Subsequently, Thompson and Barthelme formed the Houston band Saddlesore with Cassell Webb. The trio released one single on Texas Revolution, with "Old Tom Clark" on the A-side and "Pig Ankle Strut" on the B-side.[13][14] The label later folded and the band split up.
In 1971, he moved from Houston to New York.[15]Christine Kozlov, whom Thompson had met in 1969, introduced him to the British art collective Art & Language, whom he described as "the baddest bastards on the block".[16][17][18][19][20] At this time, he also met Mel Ramsden.[21][15] In 1972, he formed a jam band known as the Rockin' Blue Diamonds. The group consisted of Rock Romano and Tucker Bradley on vocals, Fred McLain on lead guitar, Bob Henschen on piano, Bernard Sampson on saxophone and flute, Don Jones on bass, Art Kidd on drums, and Thompson on rhythm guitar and as the primary songwriter. They performed a few shows, and Fahey offered Thompson $250 to record a demo. However, Fahey and his wife did not like the recording, and the group later disbanded.[13] Thompson later sampled Bob Henschen's 1971 piano recordings at the end of Fingerpainting.[22]
In 1973, Thompson began working with Greek composer Manos Hatzidakis on an album that was later cancelled.[15] He later worked as a studio assistant for Robert Rauschenberg, whom he met by chance in Paris.[23][24] They collaborated on an unfinished film titled Mostly About Rauschenberg (1975), produced by Reiner Moritz.[23] Thompson also worked with Rauschenberg in Greece and Israel, alongside Christine Kozlov.
In 1974, Thompson and Art & Language began recording the album Corrected Slogans (1976) in England. The album featured drummer Jesse Chamberlain, who later joined Arthur Russell's band the Necessaries and who was the son of sculptor John Chamberlain and Lorraine Belcher Chamberlain, Frank Zappa's former girlfriend.[25][26][27][28] In 1976, the New York branch of Art & Language recorded video performances entitled "Struggle in New York" and "Nine Gross and Conspicuous Errors", which featured Thompson and Jesse Chamberlain. The former featured filmmaker Kathryn Bigelow, who at the time was a member of the New York underground scene.[19][29][30]
After the release of Corrected Slogans, Thompson fell out with Art & Language and remained in England. He was interviewed by Pete Frame, who was working as the press agent for Stiff Records, and he met with Virgin Records’ Simon Draper, who expressed interest in issuing a one-off single. He also met Andrew Lauder who'd later form Radar Records and reissue the Red Crayola's original material, with Thompson releasing new Red Crayola singles under Radar. Thompson also became involved with Geoff Travis's distribution business at Rough Trade Records.[31] When the label decided to begin releasing records in 1978, Thompson was asked by Travis to assist in producing "He's Frank" by the Monochrome Set, because Travis did not feel confident in the studio.[32] Thompson would produce and co-produce releases for several other acts such as Stiff Little Fingers, the Raincoats,[33]the Fall,[34]Scritti Politti, Blue Orchids, LiLiPUT and Cabaret Voltaire.[35]
In 1983, Thompson moved to Germany and joined its contemporary art scene, 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. He also recorded "commercial jingles" for companies such as C&A and Adidas.[39] In 1987, he began collaborating with the German painter Albert Oehlen,[40] first on a soundtrack for the film The Last of England by Derek Jarman. Additionally, through working for Rough Trade, Thompson persuaded Jarman to film a promotional video for the Smiths, which became the music video for The Queen Is Dead. Thompson was credited as an associate producer.[41][42]
Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, Thompson continued to produce releases for artists and collaborate on several projects. He joined the German free improvisation group COWWS Quintet, which was led by artists Rüdiger Carl and Irène Schweizer.[43] In 1994, he accepted a teaching position at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, which ended in 2008.[40] The following year, he released the album Shotgun Wedding with Sven-Åke Johansson Quintett.
In the 2010s, his paintings and visual artwork were exhibited at Galerie Buchholz.[44][45] In 2013, Thompson formed the Corky Band and performed the entirety of Corky's Debt to His Father for the first time at the Cropped Out music festival in Louisville, Kentucky. He later performed the album at New York's (Le) Poisson Rouge in 2019 and the following year at California's Hammer Museum.[46][47]
In 2018, he released the novel Art & Mystery and later its sequel After Math: Art, Mystery - Part II in 2023, which was accompanied by an audiobook that he self-read.[48][49]
Personal life
On February 19, 1969, Thompson married "Daniella" born 1946.[50] The marriage would be mentioned in Rick Barthelme's second novel "War and War" released in 1971.[51][52] The pair divorced on June 20th, 1972.[50] He later married conceptual artist Christine Kozlov. Thompson and Kozlov divorced in the mid-to-late 1980s.[53]
Since 2009, Thompson has lived with his wife Maria Vogelauer and their dog in California.[5]
His work with Rough Trade in the 1980s has been described as "a crucial addition to Rough Trade's floating collective of associates".[16] His production credits were associated with "classic punk albums",[59] with writer Rob Young noting his later work as making him a "fully fledged professional producer".[35] Music critic Simon Reynolds argued Thompson co-produced with Geoff Travis "many of the best postpunk bands of the era".[60]
In 2009, Paul Haig covered "Horses" from Corky's Debt to His Father.[61] While in 2011, Lower Dens covered "Dear Betty Baby", later covered by Galaxie 500's Dean Wareham in 2025 on his solo album That’s the Price of Loving Me.[62]
↑ John Walker. (1987). "Art-Language & Red Crayola"Archived 2013-09-21 at the Wayback Machine . In Cross-Overs: Art into Pop, Pop into Art. London/New York: Comedia/Methuen, 1987. artdesigncafe. Retrieved 07 January 2011.
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