Longhorns and Londonbridges was the second and final album that Thomas recorded for
Paramount Records, following the end of his six-year relationship with
Scepter Records in 1972. The record was released in the same year that
Paramount Pictures sold its rights in the Paramount Records label to
ABC Records, which in turn was sold to
MCA Records in 1979. At this point, ABC Records was dissolved as an independent record label, with only the best-selling ABC recordings being reissued on MCA Records. The distribution and sales of many records released during this period of significant label transitions (1974-1979) were negatively affected. Thomas' album releases during this period were all on the Paramount, ABC and MCA labels, and so were similarly affected. While Thomas was to continue with degrees of success in the release of singles, no singles were released from
Longhorns & Londonbridges and its chart success was marginal. It was not reissued by MCA Records and has not been reissued on CD.
Longhorns & Londonbridges contains some of the last recordings of Professor
Alex Bradford, a well-known gospel performer. It is also notable for the extensive songwriting and performance contributions of
Randall Bramblett, as well as for containing one of the five versions of
Allen Toussaint's "
Play Something Sweet (Brickyard Blues)" released by various artists in 1974. The album also contains one of the earliest
cover versions of a
Dennis Locorriere song, as well as one of the earliest of the comparatively rare songwriting collaborations between
Gerry Goffin and
Mark James. It features the participation of many well-known musicians, such as
Randy Brecker,
Michael Brecker,
Don Grolnick,
Lou Marini,
Hugh McCracken and
Elliott Randall. ==Track listing==