Michael Thompson (guitarist)
| Michael Thompson | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Michael Hart Thompson |
| Born |
February 11, 1954 Brooklyn, New York, U.S. |
| Genres | Rock, pop, blues |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, songwriter |
| Instruments | Guitar |
| Years active | 1975–present |
| Labels | Geffen, Frontiers |
| Website | www |
Michael Thompson (born Michael Hart Thompson, February 11, 1954 in Brooklyn, New York), is an American guitarist and songwriter.
Thompson is known for his work as a session guitarist during 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s in pop, rock, R&B, country and Latin music. He founded the rock group TRW in 2007.
Michael Thompson grew up in Port Washington, New York and attended Berklee College of Music for two years, studying with Pat Metheny before leaving to tour and record with a local R&B/funk group called The Ellis Hall Group. After four years with the group, Thompson moved to Los Angeles in the hopes of starting a career as a studio musician, almost immediately getting a touring gig with Joe Cocker. Money was tight and to support himself and his wife Gloria, Thompson supplemented gigs playing on songwriters' publishing demos and sporadic session work with a job as a cab driver until landing a year-long world tour with Cher.
Following the tour, Thompson played guitar for the TV series Fame, a gig he would hold for four years, and started his own band, Slang. In 1983 he was invited by Andy Fraser, formerly of Free, to be the guitarist on his album Fine Fine Line, for Island Records (1984).
In 1988, Thompson finally landed a record deal for an album of his own, with Geffen Records. The eponymous Michael Thompson Band (also known by its initial logo, MTB), featuring lead vocals by Moon Calhoun, released the album How Long in 1989 and had a Billboard chart hit that year with the single "Can't Miss". The single hit #33 on the Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. Other musicians on the album included Toto singer Bobby Kimball and ex-Kansas singer John Elefante on background vocals and John Keane, Terry Bozzio (Frank Zappa and Missing Persons) and Pat Torpey (Mr. Big) on drums.
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