Citizendia
Your Ad Here

Rufus Thomas
Rufus Thomas, "The World's Oldest Teenager".
Rufus Thomas, "The World's Oldest Teenager".
Background information
Birth name Rufus Thomas, Jr.
Born March 27, 1917(1917-03-27)
in Cayce, Mississippi, USA
Died December 15, 2001
in Memphis, Tennessee
Genre(s) R&B, Memphis soul, southern soul, blues, funk
Occupation(s) Singer, comedian, television host, disc jockey
Instrument(s) Vocals
Years active 1936–2001
Label(s) Sun, Stax
Associated acts Carla Thomas, Marvell Thomas
Rufus' 1990 album for Alligator Records, That Woman Is Poison!
Rufus' 1990 album for Alligator Records, That Woman Is Poison!

Rufus Thomas, Jr. Events 196 BC - Ptolemy V ascends to the throne of Egypt. 1309 - Pope Clement V excommunicates Year 1917 ( MCMXVII) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year Mississippi ( is a state located in the Deep South of the United States The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Events 533 - Byzantine general Belisarius defeats the Vandals, commanded by King Gelimer, at the Battle of Year 2001 ( MMI) was a Common year starting on Monday according to the Gregorian calendar. Memphis is a City in the southwest corner of Tennessee, and the County seat of Shelby County. Tennessee ( is a state located in the Southern United States. A music genre is a categorical and typological construct that identifies musical sounds as belonging to a particular category and type of music that can be distinguished from other Memphis soul is stylish funky, uptown Soul music that is not as hard edged as Southern soul. Southern soul is a type of Soul music that emerged from the Southern United States. The Blues is a vocal and instrumental form of Music based on the use of the Blue notes It emerged as an accessible form of self-expression Funk is an American musical style that originated in the mid- to late-1960s when African American musicians blended Soul music, Soul A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience primarily by making them laugh A presenter, or host (sometimes hostess, in feminine form is a Person or Organization responsible for running an event A disc jockey (also known as DJ or deejay) is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience A musical instrument is a device constructed or modified for the purpose of making Music. Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, which is often contrasted with Speech. In the Music industry, a record label can be a Brand and a Trademark associated with the Marketing of music recordings and Music Sun Records was a Record label based in Memphis, Tennessee, starting operations on March 27 1952. Stax Records is an American record label founded in 1957 originally based out of Memphis Tennessee. Carla Thomas (born December 21 1942, in Memphis, Tennessee) is often referred to as the Queen of Memphis Soul. Marvell Thomas is an American Keyboardist known for his work in Memphis Soul and son of the man dubbed "Memphis's other King" Rufus (March 26, 1917 – December 15, 2001) was a rhythm and blues, funk and soul singer and comedian from Memphis, Tennessee, who recorded on Sun Records in the 1950s and on Stax Records in the 1960s and 1970s. Events 1026 - Pope John XIX crowns Conrad II as Holy Roman Emperor. Year 1917 ( MCMXVII) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year Events 533 - Byzantine general Belisarius defeats the Vandals, commanded by King Gelimer, at the Battle of Year 2001 ( MMI) was a Common year starting on Monday according to the Gregorian calendar. Funk is an American musical style that originated in the mid- to late-1960s when African American musicians blended Soul music, Soul Soul music is a Music genre that combines Rhythm and blues and Gospel music, originating in the United States. A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience primarily by making them laugh Memphis is a City in the southwest corner of Tennessee, and the County seat of Shelby County. Tennessee ( is a state located in the Southern United States. Sun Records was a Record label based in Memphis, Tennessee, starting operations on March 27 1952. The 1950s Decade refers to the years of 1950 to 1959 inclusive Stax Records is an American record label founded in 1957 originally based out of Memphis Tennessee. The 1960s decade refers to the years from the beginning of 1960 to the end of 1969 This article is about the Decade 1970-1979 For the Year 1970 see 1970. He was the father of soul singer Carla Thomas and keyboard player Marvell Thomas. Carla Thomas (born December 21 1942, in Memphis, Tennessee) is often referred to as the Queen of Memphis Soul. Marvell Thomas is an American Keyboardist known for his work in Memphis Soul and son of the man dubbed "Memphis's other King" Rufus A third child, Vaneese, a former French teacher, has a recording studio in upstate New York and sings for television commercials.

Contents

Early life and education

Born a sharecropper's son in the rural community of Cayce, Mississippi, Thomas moved to Memphis with his family at age 2. Mississippi ( is a state located in the Deep South of the United States His mother was “a church woman. ” Thomas made his artistic debut at the age of 6 playing a frog in a school theatrical production. Much later in life, he would impersonate all kinds of animals: screeching cats, funky chickens and penguins, and mournful dogs. By age 10, he was a tap dancer, performing in amateur productions at Memphis' Booker T. Washington High School. Booker Taliaferro Washington (April 5 1856 &ndash November 14 1915 was an American educator orator author and leader of the African-American community

Thomas attended one semester at Tennessee A&I University, but due to economic conditions left to pursue a career as a professional entertainer, joining up in 1936 with the Rabbit Foot Minstrels, an all-black revue that toured the South. Tennessee State University (TSU is a comprehensive urban coeducational Land-grant university founded in 1912 The Rabbit's Foot Company, also known as the Rabbit('s Foot Minstrels and colloquially as "The Foots" was a long running minstrel and variety troupe that He then worked for twenty-two years at a textile plant and didn't leave that job until about 1963, around the time of his “Dog” hits. He started at WDIA in 1951 (despite biographies placing his start a year earlier). At WDIA, he hosted an afternoon show called Hoot and Holler. WDIA, featuring an African-American format, was known as "the mother station of the Negroes" and became an important source of blues and R&B music for a generation, its audience consisting of white as well as black listeners. Thomas's mentor was Nat D. Williams, a pioneer black deejay at WDIA as well as Thomas's high school history teacher, columnist for black newspapers, and host of an amateur show at Memphis's Palace Theater. For years Thomas himself took hosting duties for the amateur show and, in that capacity, is credited with the discovery of B. B. King.

Professional singing career

He made his professional singing debut at the Elks Club on Beale Street in Memphis, filling in for another singer at the last minute. The Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks ( BPOE; also often known as the Elks Lodge or simply The Elks) is an American Fraternal order and Beale Street is a street in downtown Memphis Tennessee, which runs from the Mississippi River to East Street a distance of approximately. He made his first 78 rpm record in 1943 for the Star Talent label in Texas, "I'll Be a Good Boy", backed with "I'm So Worried. A gramophone "

He also became an on-air personality with WDIA, one of the first radio stations in the US to feature an all-black staff and programming geared toward blacks. WDIA is an AM Radio station in Memphis Tennessee, in the United States of America. He became one of the station's most popular DJs.

His celebrity was such that in 1953 he recorded an "answer record" to Big Mama Thornton's hit, "Hound Dog" called "Bear Cat" and released on Sun Records. Year 1953 ( MCMLIII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Willie Mae ("Big Mama" Thornton ( December 11, 1926 &ndash July 25, 1984) was an American Texas blues, " Hound Dog " is a Twelve-bar blues written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller and originally recorded by Willie Mae "Big Mama" Thornton Sun Records was a Record label based in Memphis, Tennessee, starting operations on March 27 1952. Although the song was the label's first hit, a copyright-infringement suit ensued and nearly bankrupted Sam Phillips' record label. Samuel Cornelius Phillips ( January 5, 1923 – July 30, 2003) better known as Sam Phillips, was an American Later, Rufus was one of the African American artists released by Sam Phillips as he oriented his label more toward white audiences and signed the likes of Elvis Presley in the place of the dismissed musicians.

Nevertheless, Rufus remembered spinning Elvis discs on WDIA. Management at the station forbade the deejays from playing Elvis during the years from 1953 to 1956. "They said blacks wouldn't listen to Elvis. I tried to play him, I tried to tell them. No one can speak for a whole group. " At a major WDIA benefit in 1956 Rufus appeared, dressed as Chief Rocking Horse, and led Elvis onto stage in front of an all-black audience, arguing that introductions should be held until the end of the show, lest wild applause ensue. After Elvis did his pelvic gyration that evening, the inevitable frenzy of the kids in the audience did in fact drown out the emcees, proving Rufus right. "After that night," recalled Rufus, "we were allowed to play Elvis. "

The prime of Rufus's recording career came in the 1960s and early 1970s, when he was on the Stax roster, having one of the first hit sides at that historic label ("Walkin' the Dog", 1963). At Stax, he recorded songs when he had something to record, as tunes came up, never collecting songs to be done in blocks. Songs were usually recorded in one or two takes, live. No one ever had a good idea which sides would make hits at Stax, the artists had no control over what got released, and little of what went on was plotted out or scripted in any way.

Rufus was often backed by Booker T. and the MG's or the Bar-Kays, and his bands included many of the era's finest musicians. "I'll tell you a story," Rufus once explained, "not many people know this one. It was the same club where I later wrote 'Do the Funky Chicken,' in Covington, Tennessee. I had two guitar players, I can’t remember the second one’s name at the time, but the first one was a young guy, playin' just terrible, loud, out of tune, all over the place. After a while, I said, 'Send him home, I can't use a guitar player who plays like that. ' That dude was Jimi Hendrix. "

Late in his career, for years, Rufus performed at the Porretta Soul Festival in Porretta Terme, Italy. Porretta Terme is a town in the Province of Bologna, Emilia-Romagna, Italy. The outdoor amphitheater in which he performed has been re-named "Rufus Thomas Park. " In 1996 Rufus and William Bell headlined at the Olympics in Atlanta. In September 1997, he thrilled a crowd of fans at the Framingham (Massachusetts) Blues Festival with his performance, which included an updated version of "Walking the Dog," and completely upstaged the other performers on the bill (including Leon Russell and Levon Helm).

A baseball devotee, Rufus was a fan of the Atlanta Braves. He claimed never to be able to turn down ice cream--and favored vanilla drenched in maraschino cherry juice. His beverages of choice, rather than roadhouse specialties, were sweetened iced tea and fruit-flavored sodas. Until late in his life, he remained an avid listener of music, respecting artists as diverse as Prince, Preston Shannon, and Denise Lasalle. A collaboration with alternative band Jon Spencer Blues Explosion was not so successful as his own later recordings. Highlights of his career included calming an unruly crowd at the early 'seventies Wattstax Festival, performing with James Brown's band, and the knowledge that, along with James Brown and a handful of others, he was a key to the emergence of funk.

Hit records

Thomas had a number of hits in the late 1960s and early 1970s, notably a string of songs that were tied to a then-current dance craze: "Do the Funky Chicken", from 1970[1] (instructions for which can be found here[2]), "(Do the) Push and Pull", "The Breakdown" and "Do the Penguin". The 1960s decade refers to the years from the beginning of 1960 to the end of 1969 This article is about the Decade 1970-1979 For the Year 1970 see 1970. Dance (from French danser, perhaps from Frankish) is an Art form that generally refers to movement of the body usually rhythmic He performed at Wattstax in 1972, leading a crowd of 40,000 in the "Funky Chicken. Wattstax is a 1973 documentary film by Mel Stuart that focused on the 1972 Wattstax music festival and the African American community of Watts "

Thomas once toured in California with blues singer Blues Boy Willie of Memphis, Texas. California ( is a US state on the West Coast of the United States, along the Pacific Ocean. William Daniel McFalls, better known as Blues Boy Willie (born November 28, 1946) is an African-American blues Singer Memphis is a city in Hall County, Texas, in the United States.

He played an important part in the Stax reunion in 1988, and had a small role in the 1989 Jim Jarmusch film Mystery Train, (Screamin' Jay Hawkins was also in the film, as a motel night clerk, and Joe Strummer also appeared in it). Jim Jarmusch (born January 22 1953 in Akron Ohio; ˈdʒɑrməʃ is an American independent Film director. Mystery Train is a 1989 Anthology film written and directed by Independent film director Jim Jarmusch and set in Memphis Rufus released an album of straight-ahead blues, That Woman is Poison!, with Alligator Records in 1990. Alligator Records is a Chicago -based independent Blues Record label founded by Bruce Iglauer in 1971. Year 1990 ( MCMXC) was a Common year starting on Monday (link displays the 1990 Gregorian calendar) In 1997, Rufus released and album, "Rufus Live!," with Ecko Records. The "Rufus Live!" album includes such classic songs as "Walking The Dog," "Big Fine Hunk of Woman," "Do The Funky Chicken. " The "Rufus Live!" includes Rufus's version of the Merle Hiaggard song, "Today I Started Loving You Again. "

Thomas was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 2001. The Blues Hall of Fame is a listing of people who have significantly contributed to Blues music Year 2001 ( MMI) was a Common year starting on Monday according to the Gregorian calendar. His last appearance was in the D. A. Pennebaker-directed documentary Only the Strong Survive (2003) in which he co-stars with daughter Carla.

Death

He died of heart failure in 2001, at the age of 84, at St. Francis Hospital in Memphis. A street is named in his honor, just off Beale Street in Memphis.

Source: http://www.eckorecords.com/featureartists.html

References

See also

External links

Alligator Records is a Chicago -based independent Blues Record label founded by Bruce Iglauer in 1971.
© 2009 citizendia.org; parts available under the terms of GNU Free Documentation License, from http://en.wikipedia.org
 Dapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic