M ost people know Paul Thorn as an entertainer and a singer with a four piece band that’s in a class by itself.
A thousand of his friends gathered in the Shoals Theater in Florence, Ala., Saturday night to hear him perform his Americana style of music in concert.
The weather outside was frightful but the sounds inside were delightful. For two hours he performed song after song and had people dancing in the aisles, clapping their hands and waving their hands over their heads in unison. Some were even singing along with him, some were even carrying the tune, while others, unfortunately, were not. But, it was all in fun and very enjoyable.
One member of his entourage had once toured with Kris Kristofferson and had sung backup with the renowned singer, singing “Memphis Women and Fried Chicken,” thrilling the audience with his lyrics.
The Shoals Theater was an excellent venue for the concert as the acoustics were outstanding and it had a ball that hung from the sealing that reflected light that sent little dots of light circling along the walls of the theater like that of those balls which reflected off the balls that hung from dance halls in the 1920’s. Not that I saw those at the time, you understand, but I’ve seen them in movies.
Paul brought the best out of his fans with “Snake Farm,” a song I believe would be a good ad if he would change the chorus to “State Farm” and perform it in a commercial. He works the crowd very well so that by the end of the gig, the audience appears ready to rush the stage!
We didn’t rush the stage, so he jumped off the stage and rushed us, running halfway up the aisle close to where I was sitting and continued to sing the song, “Everything’s Going to be Alright!” People were singing along and dancing all around him and everybody was having a great time! We actually did not want the night to end! And he didn’t either, it seemed.
He did three encore numbers!
In another life Paul was a boxer and actually went a round or two (or was it six or seven) with Roberto Duran, the boxer who challenged Muhommad Ali for the world championship. That fight ended when Duran yelled “No Mas, No Mas!) (No more, no more) Paul woke up in the same ambulance with Duran while the techs were trying to stop the bleeding. The bout ended with Duran being declared the winner by a technical knockout but Paul was thought to be ahead in points!
Paul was — and still is — a big Muhammad Ali fan and wanted to see how he measured up to one of Muhammad’s opponents. His fight with Duran answered that question to his satisfaction I’m sure.
Paul writes most, if not all, of his songs and most, if not all, are personal in nature. For example, “800 Pound Jesus”, is about the yard statue in his Dad’s yard that his Dad willed him. Now his wife won’t let him put it in their yard. “A Long Way from Tupelo” is a reflection on his life and career and “Burn Down the Trailer Park” is about his search for a friend, while my personal favorite, “Temporarily Forever Mine” is a love ballad and I am saddened that he didn’t sing that one Saturday night at The Shoal Theater.
But I understand that it’s only a two-hour show and he can’t possibly sing ‘em all!
Paul Thorn is a singer of songs and an athlete who has stepped into the ring and fought with a contender and lived to talk about it.
As he sings it, “Everybody Looks Good at the Starting Line!”
