Career
She recorded two songs issued by Paramount Records, "Motherless Child Blues" and "Over to My House", with Geeshie Wiley on second guitar, in March 1930. The two recorded a duet, "Pick Poor Robin Clean", for Paramount in 1931, and Thomas also backed Wiley on the three other surviving tracks from these recording sessions, playing second guitar on Wiley"s "Last Kind Words Blues", "Skinny Legal Blues", and "Eagles on a Half."
During the 1920s and 30s she performed with Texas Alexander, Leon Benton and Leroy Johnson. Thomas left the school after the fifth grade and began playing guitar at age 11.
She began performing at "country suppers" at age 17.
Her recordings for Paramount in 1930 and 1931 were labeled "Elvie Thomas". In an interview with blues researcher Robert "Mack" McCormick, she said of her name, "lieutenant"s just the letters L. V...that"s all the name I got, but he made it out "Elvie" someway."
In her later years, Thomas sang in the choir at the Mount Pleasant Baptist Church in Acres Homes, a suburb of Houston.
