Rufus thomas soul train full#
Rufus thomas soul train professional#

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. The Crown Prince of Dance an early rock & roll DJ, Memphis soul icon and creator of the Funky Chicken.Īrtist Biography (below) by Richie Unterbergerįew of rock & roll's founding figures are as likable as Rufus Thomas. The above biography taken from: Wikipedia - Rufus Thomas A third daughter, Vaneese, a former French teacher, for years had a recording studio in upstate New York where she sang for television commercials. He was the father of soul singer Carla Thomas (best known for the classic song 'B-A-B-Y') and keyboard player Marvell Thomas.

Rufus thomas soul train full#

Francis hospital in Memphis, Tennessee.Rufus Thomas (Ma– December 15, 2001) was a rhythm and blues and s… Read Full Bio ↴ Rufus Thomas (Ma– December 15, 2001) was a rhythm and blues and soul singer from Memphis, Tennessee, United States, who recorded on Sun Records in the 1950s and on Stax Records in the 1960s and 1970s. Later that year, on December 15, he died at St. In 2001, Rufus Thomas was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame. 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. 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. As the song titles themselves make clear, funk was now driving his sound rather than blues or soul. 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. 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. 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. These were not deep or emotional statements, or meant to be. On his own, Rufus wasn't as successful as his daughter, but issued a steady stream of decent dance/novelty singles. In the '60s, Carla would become one of Stax's biggest stars. 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). Thomas, strangely, would make only one other record for Sun, and recorded only sporadically throughout the rest of the 1950s.

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.

King, Bobby Bland, Junior Parker, Ike Turner, and Roscoe Gordon. He also ran talent shows on Memphis' famous Beale Street that helped showcase the emerging skills of such influential figures as B.B.

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.

Rufus thomas soul train professional#

Thomas was already a professional entertainer in the mid-'30s, when he was a comedian with the Rabbit Foot Minstrels. 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. 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. Few of rock & roll's founding figures are as likable as Rufus Thomas.