Tommy Flanders

{{Infobox musical artist

| name = Tommy Flanders

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| instrument = Vocals, harmonica

| genre = {{Flatlist|

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| occupation = Vocalist, musician, recording artist

| years_active = 1965–1972

| label = Verve Folkways, Verve Forecast, Capitol Records

| associated_acts = The Blues Project, Al Kooper, Tom Wilson, Frank Zappa

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Tommy Flanders is an American musician who was lead vocalist in the Blues Project for several periods in the band's history from 1966 to 1972.

Career

= The Blues Project =

In late 1965, Flanders was asked to join the "Danny Kalb Quartet", led by blues guitarist Danny Kalb (1942-2022). Shortly after Flanders' arrival, their name was changed to The Blues Project. He appears on two Blues Project albums, their debut Live at the Cafe Au Go Go (Verve Folkways, 1966) and a reunion album eponymously titled Blues Project (Capitol Records, 1972), as well as on various compilations and greatest hits collections.{{Cite web|url=https://www.discogs.com/artist/865209-Tommy-Flanders|title=Tommy Flanders Discography |website=Discogs.com}}

= Solo =

After his first departure from the Blues Project in 1966 (Flanders left before the debut album was issued), he signed with Verve Forecast, for whom he issued two commercially unsuccessful singles and one largely ignored album, The Moonstone (1969).{{Cite web|url=https://www.groovytunesday.com/descriptions/music/tommy_flanders_moonstone.html|title=TOMMY FLANDERS- The Moonstone- ex-Blues Project|website=Groovytunesday.com}} In a review at AllMusic, rock journalist Richie Unterberger panned the album, saying, "Despite some top-flight backup musicians in Bruce Langhorne, Dick Rosmini, and Jerry Scheff, it was a fairly forgettable record, and certainly a low-energy one, the mellowness threatening to dissolve into sleepiness. It's one of those albums where nothing's especially wrong, but neither is anything especially right."{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/the-moonstone-mw0000433193|title=The Moonstone - Tommy Flanders | Album|website=AllMusic}}

His 1967 Verve Forecast single, "Friday Night City" c/w "Bad Reputation," was produced by former Bob Dylan producer Tom Wilson. Both sides featured Frank Zappa (then of the Mothers of Invention) on guitar,{{Cite web|url=http://www.zappafrenzy.com/singles/Singles_with_Frank_Zappa_contribution/1967-Tommy_Flanders-Friday_Night_City-Reputation/Tommy_Flanders-Friday_Night_City-Reputation.html|title=Friday Night City/Reputation|website=Zappafrenzy.com}} and Zappa reportedly arranged and conducted both sessions as well. ("Friday Night City" was composed by Flanders; "Bad Reputation" by Tim Hardin). Flanders' final solo release was a single, "The Moonstone" c/w "Between Purple and Blue," issued on Verve Forecast sometime in the 1970s (the exact year is unknown).

Later life

He later went into artist management; his clients included Carolyne Mas.{{Cite web|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050209215231/http://carolynemas.com/bio.html|title=Carolyne Mas - The Official Fan Club Site! - BIO|date=February 9, 2005|website=Web.archive.org|access-date=February 6, 2025}}