New 45 Soul Direction - Thomas Cain - Hold Up / Try My Love

The latest release from Soul Direction is now out and about

Thomas Cain – Hold Up / Try My Love – Soul Direction SD-011

Label Release notes

Thomas Glenn Cain was born on November 8th, 1946 in (Athens Limestone County) Alabama.

He initially began playing the trumpet at a very early age and went onto learn keyboards by playing his grandmother’s pump organ. Cain’s father was a church deacon and song leader of congregational hymns, so music was never far from Thomas’s early life.

While attending the still segregated Trinity High School in 1965 he studied music under the tutelage of Wynette Harris who was a prominent Music teacher within the black community and then went onto study at A&M University in AL. where he majored in music. In his spare time, he played in bands locally one of them being Fred Wesley and by 1967 he joined a “Soul Revue” playing back up keyboards for Arthur Conley performing in Montreal and then eventually graduating with a bachelor’s degree in music in 1969.

After meeting Arthur Alexander in 1970 and began what was to be a song writing and publishing relationship lasting more than 20 years. He also helped work on Arthur’s 1972 Muscle Shoals album and where he met Dennis Linde. This meeting produced his only 45 releases on RCA “Draggin’ It Out” and “Crawlin’” in 1975.

These 2 tracks were recorded around 1972 at Muscle Shoals and Thomas registered the songs but alas nothing further was done with them until now. Incidentally both tracks were co-wrote with Michael Bacon who is the brother of Hollywood Movie star Kevin Bacon.

Thomas then decided to form his own publishing companies and in 1984 he was hired by BMI and became a senior director for the publisher relations division by the 1990s.

Thomas Cain – Hold Up