Mississippi Writers and Musicians Project | Cascade Blues Association | Blues Radio |
Born
Mar 26, 1917 in Cayce, MS
Died
Dec 15, 2001 in Memphis, TN
Few of rock & roll's founding figures are as likable as Rufus Thomas. From the 1940s onward, he has personified Memphis music; his small but witty cameo role in Jim Jarmusch's Mystery Train, a film which satirizes and enshrines the city's role in popular culture, was entirely appropriate. As a recording artist, he wasn't a major innovator, but he could always be depended upon for some good, silly, and/or outrageous fun with his soul dance tunes. He was one of the few rock or soul stars to reach his commercial and artistic peak in middle age, and was a crucial mentor to many important Memphis blues, rock, and soul musicians.
Thomas was already a professional entertainer in the mid-'30s, when he was a comedian with the Rabbit Foot Minstrels. He recorded music as early as 1941, but really made his mark on the Memphis music scene as a deejay on WDIA, one of the few black-owned stations of the era. He also ran talent shows on Memphis' famous Beale Street that helped showcase the emerging skills of such influential figures as B.B. King, Bobby Bland, Junior Parker, Ike Turner, and Roscoe Gordon.
Thomas had his first success as a recording artist in 1953 with "Bear Cat," a funny answer record to Big Mama Thornton's "Hound Dog." It made number three on the R&B charts, giving Sun Records its first national hit, though some of the sweetness went out of the triumph after Sun owner Sam Phillips lost a lawsuit for plagiarizing the original Jerry Leiber/Mike Stoller tune. Thomas, strangely, would make only one other record for Sun, and recorded only sporadically throughout the rest of the 1950s.
Thomas and his daughter Carla would become the first stars for the Stax label, for whom they recorded a duet in 1959, "'Cause I Love You" (when the company was still known as Satellite). In the '60s, Carla would become one of Stax's biggest stars. On his own, Rufus wasn't as successful as his daughter, but issued a steady stream of decent dance/novelty singles.
These were not deep or emotional statements, or meant to be. Vaguely prefiguring elements of funk, the accent was on the stripped-down groove and Rufus' good-time vocals, which didn't take himself or anything seriously. The biggest by far was "Walking the Dog," which made the Top Ten in 1963, and was covered by the Rolling Stones on their first album.
Thomas hit his commercial peak in the early '70s, when "Do the Funky Chicken," "(Do The) Push and Pull," and "The Breakdown" all made the R&B Top Five. As the song titles themselves make clear, funk was now driving his sound rather than blues or soul. Thomas drew upon his vaudeville background to put them over on-stage with fancy footwork that displayed remarkable agility for a man well into his 50s. The collapse of the Stax label in the mid-'70s meant the end of his career, basically, as it did for many other artists with the company. In 2001, Rufus Thomas was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame. Later that year, on December 15, he died at St. Francis hospital in Memphis, TN.
-- Richie Unterberger of All Music Guide.
01. The Dog 02. Mashed Potatoes 03. Ooh Poo Pah Doo 04. You Said 05. Boom Boom 06. It's Aw'rite |
07. Walking the Dog 08. Ya Ya 09. Land of 1000 Dances 10. Can Your Monkey Do the Dog 11. Cause I Love You 12. I Want to Be Loved |
01. (Do the) Push And Pull (Parts 1 & 2) 02. The World Is Round 03. (I Love You) For Sentimental Reasons 04. The Breakdown (Part 1) 05. The Breakdown (Part 2) 06. Love Trap 07. Do the Funky Penguin (Part 1) 08. Do the Funky Penguin (Part 2) 09. Ditch Digging 10. 6-3-8 |
11. Git On Up And Do It 12. I Know (You Don't Want Me No More) 13. Funkiest Man Alive 14. Tutti Frutti 15. Funky Robot 16. I Wanna Sang 17. Baby It's Real 18. Steal A Little 19. I'm Still In Love With You 20. The Funky Bird |
01. That Woman Is Poison! 02. I Just Got to Know 03. Big Fine Hunk of Woman 04. Blues in the Basement |
05. Somebody's Got to Go 06. Breaking My Back 07. The Walk 08. All Night Worker |
01. Monologue 02. Ooh Poo Pah Doo 03. Old MacDonald Had a Farm 04. Walking the Dog 05. The Preacher and the Bear 06. Night Time Is the Right Time |
07. (Do the) Push and Pull 08. Do the Funky Chicken 09. The Breakdown 10. Do the Funky Chicken 11. Do the Funky Penguin |
01. Think Twice Before You Speak 02. What Do You Want Me to Do 03. I Came Home This Morning 04. Mom's Apple Pie 05. Oh Baby, You Don't Have to Go 06. Don't Put No Headstone on My Grave 07. Last Clean Shirt |
08. You're a Fool 09. The World Is Round 10. Miss Bunny 11. I Can Do Bad by Myself 12. Strolling Beale No. 2 13. Walking in the Rain |
01. Old Dog, New Tricks 02. Did You Ever Love a Woman 03. I'll Be a Good Boy 04. Juanita 05. Can't Even Let You Go 06. Trouble in Mind |
07. Miss Jane 08. Walkin' in the Rain 09. If There Were No Music 10. Today I Started Loving You Again 11. God Bless America |