RUFUS THOMAS



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JANICE'S BLUES ALLEY PRESENTS



RUFUS THOMAS



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RUFUS THOMAS



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Mississippi Writers and Musicians Project Mississippi Writers and Musicians Project
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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.
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LINKSYEARTITLE
1963Five on Eight
1964Walking the Dog
1969Do the Funky Chicken
1969May I Have Your Ticket Please
1971Did You Heard Me
1971Doing the Push and Pull Live at P.J.'s
1977I Ain't Gettin' Older, I'm Gettin' Better
1977If There Were No Music
1988That Woman Is Poison!
1995Rufus Thomas Live!
1996Blues Thang!
2005Just Because I'm Leavin'...


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1963 Five on Eight



1964 Walking the Dog

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


1969 Do the Funky Chicken



1969 May I Have Your Ticket Please



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1971 Did You Heard Me

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


1971 Doing the Push and Pull Live at P.J.'s



1977 I Ain't Gettin' Older, I'm Gettin' Better



1977 If There Were No Music



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1988 That Woman Is Poison!

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


1995 Rufus Thomas Live!

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



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1996 Blues Thang!

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



2005 Just Because I'm Leavin'...

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



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