Allison learned piano in grammar school, followed by trumpet in high school. He went to college at the University of Mississippi and Louisiana State University. He received a BA in English with a minor in Philosophy. After serving in the U.S. Army, he moved to New York City and launched his music career.
Allison's first exposure to blues on record was through Louis Jordan recordings, including "Outskirts of Town" and "Pinetop Blues." Allison credits Jordan as being a major influence on him, and also credits Nat King Cole, Louis Armstrong and Fats Waller. He started out on trumpet but later switched to piano. In his youth, he had easy access, via the radio, to the music of Pete Johnson , Albert Ammons and Meade Lux Lewis . Allison also credits the songwriter Percy Mayfield , "The Poet Laureate of the Blues," as being a major inspiration on his songwriting.
After a stint in college and the Army, Allison's first professional gig was in Lake Charles, LA, in 1950. He returned to college to finish up at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, where he studied English and Philosophy, a far cry from his initial path as a chemical engineering major.
Allison began his recording career with the Prestige label in 1956, shortly after he moved to New York City. He recorded an album with Al Cohn and Bobby Brookmeyer , and then in 1957 got his own record contract. A big break was the opportunity to play with Cohn and Zoot Sims shortly after his arrival in New York, but he later became more well known after playing with saxophonist Stan Getz. After leaving Prestige Records, where he recorded now classic albums like Back Country Suite (1957), Young Man Mose (1958), and Seventh Son (1958-59), he moved to Columbia for two years before meeting up with Nesuhi Ertegun of Atlantic Records. He recalled that he signed his contract with Atlantic after about ten minutes in Nesuhi's office. Allison spent a big part of his recording career at Atlantic Records, where he became most friendly with Ertegun. After the company saw substantial growth and Allison was no longer working directly with him, he became discouraged and left. Allison has also recorded for Columbia (before he began his long relationship with Atlantic), and the Epic and Prestige labels.
Allison's discography is a lengthy one, and there are gems to be found on all of his albums, many of which can be found in vinyl shops. His output since 1957 has averaged at least one album a year until 1976, when he finished up at Atlantic with the classic Your Mind Is On Vacation. There was a gap of six years before he recorded again, this time for Elektra's Musician subsidiary in 1982, when he recorded Middle Class White Boy. Since 1987, he's been with Bluenote/Capitol. His debut for that label was Ever Since the World Ended. Allison has recorded some of the most creative material of his career with the Bluenote subsidiary of Capitol Records, including My Backyard (1992) and The Earth Wants You (1994), both produced by Ben Sidran. Also in 1994, Rhino Records released a boxed set, Allison Wonderland.
Although his boogie woogie and bebop-laden piano style is innovative and fresh sounding when it comes to blues and jazz, it is as a songwriter that Allison really shines.
His music has influenced many blues and rock artists including The Rolling Stones, John Mayall, JJ Cale and The Who, who played his song Young Man Blues on several tours. Allison is the subject of the Pixies song Allison and Greg Brown song Mose Allison played here. His song Look Here was covered by The Clash on their album Sandinista; and Blue Cheer famously covered Parchman Farm but renamed or misspelled it as Parchment Farm. Van Morrison released an album of his songs entitled Tell Me Something: The Songs of Mose Allison.
He is the father of country songwriter Amy Allison.
Mose Allison was inducted into the Long Island Music Hall of Fame in 2006.
I Thought About You
Mose Allison Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
That out of sight is out of mind
Maybe that's so but I tried to go
And leave you behind, what did I find
I took a trip on the train
And I thought about you,
I passed a shadowy lane
Two or three cars parked under the stars
A winding stream
Moon shining down on some little town
And with each beam, same old dream
At every stop that we made
Oh, I thought about you
But when I pulled down the shade
Then I really felt blue,
I peeked through the crack
And looked at the track
The one going back to you
And what did I do
I thought about you
The lyrics of Mose Allison’s “I Thought About You” paint a vivid picture of a lover who goes on a trip to forget about someone they used to love, but finds themselves thinking about them even more. The song’s opening lines reference the familiar adage, "out of sight, out of mind," and suggest that distance doesn't necessarily lessen one's feelings for someone. The singer sets out on a journey, hoping to put their former lover out of their thoughts, but finds themselves reminiscing about them as they pass familiar sights on the train journey.
The second verse describes a peaceful scene: a shadowy lane and cars parked under the stars. The moon shines down on a little town, and the “same old dream” repeats itself with each passing beam of moonlight. This implies that even though the central character is trying to move on, their memories of the past are stubbornly holding on. The next two lines, “At every stop that we made / Oh, I thought about you,” further confirm this fact.
In the final verse, the singer peeks through the shade, glimpsing the train tracks pointing back in the direction of their former love interest. They think about the person they left behind and what they might be doing without them, ultimately realizing that they can’t escape their thoughts of this person even when they're physically distant from them. Throughout the song, the idea of separation is thwarted by the memories that linger and the thoughts that persist. The singer’s experience demonstrates that sometimes, leaving someone behind doesn’t necessarily mean you're done thinking about them.
Line by Line Meaning
Seems that I read, or somebody said
I heard a saying or read somewhere
That out of sight is out of mind
When you can't see something, you tend to forget about it
Maybe that's so but I tried to go
I gave it a shot and left anyway
And leave you behind, what did I find
I left you, but I still couldn't forget about you
I took a trip on the train
I went on a journey by train
And I thought about you,
But I couldn't stop thinking about you
I passed a shadowy lane
I went past a dark alley
And I thought about you,
But I couldn't stop thinking about you
Two or three cars parked under the stars
There were a few cars parked under the stars
A winding stream
A stream that twists and turns
Moon shining down on some little town
The moon was shining on a small town
And with each beam, same old dream
With every moonbeam, I couldn't help but think of the same old dream
At every stop that we made
Every time the train stopped
Oh, I thought about you
I still couldn't stop thinking about you
But when I pulled down the shade
When I closed the curtain
Then I really felt blue,
I felt really sad
I peeked through the crack
I looked through a small opening
And looked at the track
And saw the track
The one going back to you
The track that led back to you
And what did I do
And what did I do then?
I thought about you
I still couldn't stop thinking about you
Lyrics © CARLIN AMERICA INC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: James Van Heusen, Jimmy Van Heusen, Johnny Mercer
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind