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Biography
Cleanup|date=August 2008Infobox musical artist|name = Rufus Thomas|image = Rufusthomas.jpg|caption = Rufus Thomas, "The World's Oldest Teenager".|image_size = 260|background = solo_singer|birth_name = Rufus Thomas, Jr.|alias =|Born = birthdate|1917|3|27 Cayce, Mississippi , United States |Died = dda|2001|12|15|1917|3|27 Memphis, Tennessee , United States |instrument = Vocals |genre = Rhythm and blues|R& B , Memphis soul , southern soul , Blues music|blues , funk |occupation = Singer , comedian , television host , disc jockey |years_active = 1936–2001|label = Sun Records|Sun , Stax Records|Stax |associated_acts = Carla Thomas , Marvell Thomas |website =Rufus Thomas, Jr. (March 27, 1917 – December 15, 2001) was an American rhythm and blues , funk and soul music|soul singer and comedian from Memphis, Tennessee|Memphis , Tennessee , who recorded on Sun Records in the 1950s and on Stax Records in the 1960s and 1970s. He was the father of soul singer Carla Thomas and keyboard player Marvell Thomas . A third child, Vaneese, a former French teacher, has a recording studio in upstate New York and sings for television commercials.
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. 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.
Thomas attended one semester at Tennessee State University|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. 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
Inappropriate tone|date=August 2008He made his professional singing debut at the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks|Elks Club on Beale Street in Memphis, filling in for another singer at the last minute. 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."
He also became a long-standing 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. His celebrity was such that in 1953 he recorded an "answer record" to Big Mama Thornton 's hit, Hound Dog (song)|"Hound Dog" called "Bear Cat" released on Sun Records . Although the song was the label's first hit, a copyright-infringement suit ensued and nearly bankrupted Sam Phillips ' record label. 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.cite book|title=The late, great Johnny Ace and the transition from R & B to rock 'n' roll'|first=James M.|last=Salem|publisher=University of Illinois Press|year=2001| ISBN=0252069692cite web|url= http://whatconsumesme.com/2009/posts-ive-written/sam-phillips-and-the-remix/|title=sam phillips and the remix
The prime of Rufus' recording career came in the 1960s and early 1970s, when he was on the roster of Memphis label, Stax, having one of the first hit sides at the historic soul and blues label, " Walking the Dog (song)|Walking the Dog ", (#5 R& B, #10 Pop) in 1963. Rufus is thus the first, and still the only, father to debut in the Hot 100's top 10 after his daughter debuted there. Rufus' daughter Carla also reached #10, with "Gee Whiz (Look At His Eyes)" on 27 March 1961.
At Stax, Rufus recorded songs when he had something to record. He was often backed by Booker T. and the MG's or the Bar-Kays.
The early 1970s brought him three major hits, including " (Do The) Push and Pull " in 1970, his only number one R& B hit (#25 Pop). Earlier that year, "Do the Funky Chicken" had reached #5 R& B and #28 Pop. A third dance-oriented release in 1971, "The Breakdown" climbed to #2 R& B and #31 Pop. He had several more less successful hits until Stax closed its doors in the mid-70s.
Late in his career, for years, Rufus performed at the Porretta Soul Festival in Porretta Terme , 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. Highlights of his career included calming an unruly crowd at the Wattstax Festival in 1972 and performing with James Brown's band.
He played an important part in the Stax reunion of 1988, and had a small role in the 1989 Jim Jarmusch film Mystery Train. Rufus released an album of straight-ahead blues, That Woman is Poison!, with Alligator Records in 1990. In 1997, Rufus released an album, "Rufus Live!," with Ecko Records.
Thomas was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 2001. He was interviewed by the public radio program American Routes (aired in February 2002). His last appearance was in the D.A. Pennebaker-directed documentary Only the Strong Survive (2003) in which he co-stars with his 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. http://www.eckorecords.com/featureartists.html Eckorecords.com He is buried next to his wife at the New Park Cemetery in Memphis.
Discography
Albums
1963 Walking The Dog (Stax704)
1969 May I Have Your Ticket Please (Stax STS-2022) Unreleased
1970 Do The Funky Chicken (Stax STS-2028)
1971 ''Doing The Push and Pull at PJ's (Stax STS-2039)
1972 Did You Heard Me? (Stax STS-3004)
1972 Crown Prince of Dance (Stax STS-30048)
Singles
1962 Can’t Ever Let You Go / It’s Aw’right (Stax126)
1963 The Dog / Did You Ever Love A Woman (Stax130)
Greenberg, Steve. ''Do the Funky Somethin': The Best of Rufus Thomas (liner notes), Rhino Records, 1996.
Unterberger, Richie. Allmusic|class=artist|id=p5640/biography|pure_url=yesRufus Thomas Biography at Allmusic|Allmusic.com . Retrieved December 26, 2005.
External links
http://shopping.yahoo.com/p:Rufus%20Thomas:1927004869:page=biography Rufus Thomas Biography at Yahoo.com
http://www.alligator.com/artists/bio.cfm? ArtistID=061 Rufus Thomas Biography at Alligator Records
http://www.highbridgeaudio.com/americanroutes.html His American Routes interview.
http://www.porrettasoul.it Porretta Soul Festival
Stax Records Persondata | NAME = Thomas, Rufus | ALTERNATIVE NAMES = | SHORT DESCRIPTION = | DATE OF BIRTH = 1917-03-27 | PLACE OF BIRTH = | DATE OF DEATH = 2001-12-15 | PLACE OF DEATH = DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Rufus Category:1917 births Category:2001 deaths Category:People from Marshall County, Mississippi Category:Tennessee State University alumni Category:American blues singers Category:American blues musicians Category:Blues musicians from Mississippi Category:American male singers Category:African American singers Category:American rhythm and blues singers Category:American rhythm and blues musicians Category:American funk singers Category:American funk musicians Category:American soul singers Category:American soul musicians Category:Blues Hall of Fame inductees Category:Sun Records artists Category:Atlantic Records artists Category:Chess Records artists Category:Deaths from heart failure
de:Rufus Thomas fr:Rufus Thomas it:Rufus Thomas nl:Rufus Thomas fi:Rufus Thomas sv:Rufus Thomas
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