The Real Thing is an album led by drummer Louis Hayes which was recorded in 1977 and released on the Muse label.

[1][2][3][4] The Allmusic review stated "On three little-known tunes and a trio of group originals, the modern hard bop unit plays concise but meaningful solos; a different combination of musicians gets the solo spotlight on each song.

A well-conceived and continually interesting session".

[5]