About Me
Thomas Paulsey LaBeff, 20 July 1935, near Smackover, Arkansas, USA. (The family name was originally LaBoeuf). The youngest of 10 siblings, his early years were spent on the small family farm, where his father taught him to play guitar. He gained the nickname of Sleepy on his first day at school owing to heavy-lidded eyes that gave the impression that he was half asleep. In 1953, he relocated to Houston, where he worked a land surveyor and briefly to earn extra income as a wrestler - a pastime probably encouraged by his 6 feet 7 inches. After first singing gospel country on local radio and greatly inspired by the singing and guitar playing of Sister Rosetta Thorpe and Martha Lou Carson, he formed his own country/rockabilly band and played regularly on the Houston Jamboree. He first recorded as Sleepy La Beff for Starday in 1956, but later recorded, sometimes as Tommy LaBeff, for various others including Mercury and obscure labels such as Wayside and Dixie, before moving to Nashville in 1964. In 1968, after recording for Columbia, he gained a minor hit with "Every Day". The following year he joined Shelby Singleton's Plantation label, where he gained his second and surprisingly his final chart hit (at writing) with his version of Frankie Miller's 1959 hit "Black Land Farmer". In 1974, when Singleton took over Sun Records, LaBeef moved to the label and recorded rockabilly and country. In 1978, a compilation of tracks from The Bulls Night Out and 1977 Rockabilly were released in the UK as Beefy Rockabilly on the Charly label. He toured extensively in America and was well received on European tours, including appearances in London at the 1979 and 1987 Wembley Festivals. On the former visit he also recorded Rockabilly Heavyweight with backing from British musicians. Some critic's claim that LaBeef's recordings never seemed to match his stage performances, where he captivated audiences with his loud deep voiced vocals and his brilliant guitar playing. In 1981, he moved to Rounder Records where his first album gained good reviews and featured one of his idols, Martha Lou Carson, singing harmonies on two of her gospel numbers "A Wonderful Time Up There" and "Satisfied'. The label also later captured some of his dazzling stage delivery by recording Nothin" But The Truth live on stage in a smoky honky tonk. In 1979, author Peter Guralnick featured LaBeef in his informative work Lost Highway and in 1994, Guralnick and his son Jake produced Strange Things Happening for Rounder. LaBeef has continued to record for Rounder and other labels in subsequent years. His repertoire is believed to run to 6,000 songs and it has been claimed that he never forgets the words to any of them. They cover all forms of country music, blues, rockabilly, gospel, bluegrass and R&B, which led him to once describe his act's content as "goosebump" music. One reviewer describing his act once wrote "the music comes out in guitar driven torrents, often in extended stream-of-consciousness medleys that leave the listeners gaping in astonishment". He has been termed one of the last of the rockabilly greats and the New York Times called him "a national treasure". In spite of such glowing praise, it seems true that his popularity and stardom has never quite matched up to his undisputed talents.
