Off beat fest guest
Paul Thorn's songs are unconventional. How so? Try Joanie, the Jehovah Witness Stripper.
By LOGAN NEILL
Published November 10, 2006
As a professional boxer, Paul Thorn learned the value of being able to throw a good left hook. That talent served Thorn well enough to make him the ninth-ranked middleweight fighter in 1987, and ultimately earned him a shot at boxing phenomenon Roberto Duran.
Thorn didn't fare well against the man they called "Hands of Stone." In fact, Duran made fairly quick work of the match by sending Thorn to the canvas in the second round. By the sixth round it was all over. And for the most part, so was Thorn's boxing career.
These days, Thorn's best jabs come from his music. The slightly twisted humor of the 42-year-old son of a Pentecostal preacher has led to the creation of such tunes as Burn Down the Trailer Park; Joanie, the Jehovah Witness Stripper; and Fabio & Liberace, and has earned him a legion of dedicated followers.
"My view of the world tends to be out of the mainstream," Thorn said in his unmistakable Mississippi accent. "I tend to sympathize with people that probably don't deserve a lot of sympathy."
Thorn, who will headline Saturday at the Riverhawk Music Festival at the Sertoma Youth Ranch in southeast Hernando County, admits his music is full of conflict. Growing up in Tupelo, Miss., in a household that forbade rock 'n' roll, dancing and just about anything else teenagers enjoy doing, Thorn didn't discover his muse until his late teens.
His Uncle Merle, whose lifestyle was the polar opposite of his father's, introduced him up to a bigger world.
"He was a pimp in California, and very successful at it," Thorn said. "He introduced me to all kinds of music I had never really listened to before, stuff that really had a big effect on me."
A former boxer, Merle began coaching his nephew at age 12. By the time he graduated from high school, Thorn had made up his mind to turn pro as a boxer. By beating Knox Brown in a 12-round fight in Memphis, he earned the 1987 mid-South middleweight title crown. It boosted Thorn's confidence and convinced him he was ready accept an invitation the next year to face Duran in a televised bout.
Though just 23 at the time of the fight, Thorn knew he had to muster his best against the 36-year-old veteran, who was on his way to claiming the world title. Thorn recalls that he was less impressed with Duran's ability to throw hard punches than his ability to avoid them.
"He was like a magician," Thorn said. "You'd take a swing, and he wasn't there."
The fight left Thorn with a split lip and the inspiration to pen a song he co-wrote with Billy Maddox that became the title track of his 1997 A&M Records debut, Hammer and Nail.
Although lauded for his fresh songwriting, Thorn was dropped by the label shortly after it was bought out by a conglomerate. He wasn't all that sad about it, he said.
"The trouble with that deal is that you become a factory employee, someone who turns out what they want you to do and not what you want to do," Thorn said. "I prefer going my own way."
Thorn takes pride in his self-made career, which includes a healthy side gig as an artist. His imaginative drawings and paintings, like his music, capture his wry outlook on life.
"It's my little way of escaping," he said. "Sometimes the world just gets a little too strange."
Logan Neill can be reached at lneill@sptimes.com or (352) 848-1435.