We have received an 'anonymous' message this morning that: "Thomas
'Tony' Troutman passed away peacefully Sunday, October 8, 2023 at his
Atlanta home". We are unable to confirm this as the sender left no
contact details.
He may perhaps be best known to many for his modern soul rarity "What's The Use" which was reissued digitally this year as well as being reissued on 7"
vinyl for Record Store Day. The record was bootlegged owing to its
popularity. Original copies now sell for up to £1,000 with even the
bootleg now approaching £100. Date-wise it is confusing as the RSD press
has a date of 1975 on label, 45Cat lists it as 1976 and Discogs 1977 so take
your pick but the Spotify digital reissue dates it 12 Dec 1975. The UK
bootleg is easy to spot as it has writing around the label edge.
However, for us, his best recording was his 1975 single, the superb deep soul ballad "I Truly Love You" on Gram-o-phon which we have featured previously. He released a single on Swagger in 1968
prior to that and one after "What's The Use" on Note in 1976.
In the 80s he released his solitary album "Your Man Is Home Tonight" in 1982 on his own T.Main label from which 6 sides were released over three
singles.
His only charting records were "I Truly Love You" (#82 R&B May '75) and the title track from his album which peaked
at #57 R&B in Jun '82.
An extended edit of "I Truly Love You" is available on a compilation "At The Juke Joint Volume 2" released in 2012 which extends the 45 issue from 3:12 to 5:52 (included below).
Copyright © 2009-2023 SoulStrutter All Rights Reserved
1 comment:
This good singer from Atlanta has not had a great career. However, his only album from 1982 is not bad at all.
Yves
Post a Comment