Remembering Tommy Thompson

Back when The Flood was just getting started more than 40 years ago, we were amazed to find that one of the best new songs about West Virginia was recorded by a North Carolina band, the wonderful Red Clay Ramblers. Well, when we dug a little deeper, we found out why. "Twisted Laurel," the title track of The Ramblers' third album (released in 1976), was written by none other than Tommy Thompson who was born and raised just a few miles away from us in St. Albans, West Virginia, near Charleston. Well, Tommy passed away 13 years ago, but he's still lovingly remembered here in The Mountain State. In fact, he was posthumously inducted into the West Virginia Music Hall of Fame in 2010. And his great composition, "Twisted Laurel," will always be a Flood favorite.