Rufus Thomas
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, Tennessee.
© Richie Unterberger /TiVo
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Bear Cat / Walkin' in the Rain
Blues - Editado por Sun Records el 1/01/1953
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Best of the Essential Years: Rufus Thomas
Soul - Editado por Xelon Entertainment el 11/05/2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Tiger Man / Save That Money
Blues - Editado por Sun Records el 1/07/1953
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Rufus Thomas - Tiger Man (1950 - 1957)
Blues - Editado por Document Records el 20/01/2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Rufus Thomas' Walking The Dog
R&B - Editado por Charly Records el 25/06/2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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They Call Me Tiger Man!
R&B - Editado por Poppydisc el 4/11/2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Essential Rufus Thomas
Soul - Editado por Top Tracks el 30/10/2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
All Night Worker: Rare Soul Sides
Varios - Editado por Warner Music Group - X5 Music Group el 22/01/2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Crazy About You Baby
Blues - Editado por Top Tracks el 30/10/2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bear Cat (The Answer to Hound Dog) (Early Singles 1950 - 1957)
Pop - Editado por Soul Story el 1/01/2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Walking the Dog
World music - Editado por TP4 Music el 6/01/2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Walking the Dog
Jazz - Editado por Redwood Records el 10/03/2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
I'll Be a Good Boy
Blues - Editado por Supreme Media el 1/02/2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Rufus Thomas, Early Recordings
Blues - Editado por Firefly Entertainment el 1/10/2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Boom Boom
Jazz - Editado por Black & Partner Licenses LLC el 8/03/2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Live: 1989 Memphis Music & Heritage Festival (Live)
Blues - Editado por Center for Southern Folklore el 9/12/2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo