L.V. Thomas (b. August 7, 1891 at 3116 Washington Avenue in Houston, TX, d. May 20, 1979 in Houston, TX) better known as Elvie Thomas, was a country blues singer and guitarist.
Thomas left school after the fifth grade and began playing guitar at the age of 11. She began performing at "country suppers" when she was 17. During the 1920s and 1930s, she performed with Texas Alexander, Leon Benton and Leroy Johnson. She recorded two songs issued by Paramount Records, "Motherless Child Blues" and "Over to My House", with Geeshie Wiley on second guitar, in March 1930. The two recorded a duet, "Pick Poor Robin Clean", for Paramount in 1931, and Thomas also backed Wiley on the three other surviving tracks from these sessions, playing second guitar on Wiley's "Last Kind Words Blues", "Skinny Leg Blues", and "Eagles on a Half". Her recordings for Paramount in 1930 and 1931 were labeled "Elvie Thomas". In an interview with blues researcher Robert "Mack" McCormick, she said of her name, "It's just the letters L. V., . . . that's all the name I got, but he [Paramount representative Arthur Laibly or pressing foreman Alfred Schultz] made it out 'Elvie' someway."
In her later years, Thomas sang in the choir at the Mount Pleasant Baptist Church in Acres Homes, a suburb of Houston.
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By Steve Leggett
Little is known about Elvie Thomas, a country blues singer and guitarist. Said to be from Palmer's Crossing, MS, she recorded two songs ("Motherless Child Blues" and "Over to My House") in Grafton, WI, for Paramount Records in March of 1930, with Geeshie Wiley assisting on second guitar. Thomas also backed up Wiley on two tracks at the same session, adding a second guitar on "Last Kind Word Blues" and "Skinny Leg Blues." A year later she sang and backed up Wiley on two more sides for Paramount, "Pick Poor Robin Clean" and "Eagles on a Half."