| Biographie:
wikipedia:
Rufus Thomas (* 26. März 1917 in Cayce, Mississippi; † 15. Dezember 2001 in Memphis, Tennessee) war ein US-amerikanischer Blues- und Soul-Sänger, Radiomoderator, Entertainer und Talentscout. Er ist der Vater der Soul-Sängerin Carla Thomas und des Stax-Pianisten Marvell Thomas
Rufus Thomas begann seine Karriere in den 1930ern bei den Rabbit Foot Minstrels. In den 1940ern arbeitete er als Disc Jockey einer Radioshow in Memphis. Auf der Beale Street in Memphis betrieb er eine Talentshow, aus der u. a. B. B. King, Bobby Blue Bland und Ike Turner hervor gingen.
1953 hatte Thomas mit Bear Cat seinen ersten Hit. 1959 nahm er mit seiner Tochter Carla Cause I Love You auf. Sein größter Hit war jedoch Walking The Dog, das später auch von den Rolling Stones oder Dave Stewart & Barbara Gaskin aufgenommen wurde und das zum Live-Programm von Grateful Dead gehörte.
1992 wurde Rufus Thomas in die Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, 2001 in die Blues Hall of Fame aufgenommen. Er starb 2001 in Memphis.
------ b. 26th March 1917, Cayce, Mississippi, U.S.A.
d. 15th December 2001, Memphis, Ten
Rufus Thomas first recorded as a member of the Rabbit's Foot Minstrels.
They were an old vaudeville band that toured the circuits in 1935.
Rufus then met Nat D. Williams, whilst still at high school, a history teacher who organized annual variety shows.
By the late 1940's Rufus found himself performing in several Memphis nightclubs and he set up several local talent shows.
Rufus also ran his own Beale Street amateur show, where Rufus discovered B.B. King, Bobby Bland and Little Junior Parker.
Rufus was also a disc jockey at WDIA and remained there until 1974, replacing B.B. King due to B.B.'s growing popularity.
In 1949 be began his recording career with 'I’ll Be A Good Boy' for the Star talent imprint.
By the 1950's, Rufus had contributed greatly to the Sun Records label working alongside Sam Phillips.
Rufus also recorded for the Chess and Meteor imprints before 'Bear Cat' became a Top 3 U.S. R & B hit.
The song was an answer offering to Willie Mae Thornton's 'Hound Dog'.
The song was released on Sun in 1953.
Although Rufus was a respected in his own right, he complained in later years that Sun's black artists were pushed aside after Elvis Presley's version of 'Hound Dog' became a hit.
In 1959, he recorded a duet with his daughter Carla Thomas entitled 'Cause I Love You' for the Satellite label, a label that was later to become Stax Records.
Rufus released several hit songs, notably 'Walking The Dog' in 1963, a song that made the U.S. Top Ten.
He recorded 'Jump Back', 'Can You Do The Monkey Dog' and 'All Night Worker' a year later.
In 1967, Rufus released the song 'Sophisticated Sissy' and in 1968 'Memphis Train'.
This led to an assortment of dance numbers including 'Do The Funky Chicken' in 1970, '(Do The) Push And Pull, Part V' in the same year and 'Do The Funky Penguin' in 1971).
He remained at the Stax imprint until 1975, when the label folded, relocating to the AVI imprint.
Rufus's releases at that label included 'If There Were No Music' and 'I Ain't Getting Older I'm Gettin' Better'.
In 1980, Rufus re-recorded several of his older songs for a self-titled collection on Gusto.
In the 80's he abandoned R & B and recorded some rap with 'Rappin' Rufus', on the Ichiban label, and tackled blues with 'That Woman Is Poison', on the Alligator label.
Bob Fisher's Sequel Records released a new album from Rufus in 1996.
'Blues Thang' celebrated his 79th birthday at the time of release.
Rufus held three concerts at the Olympic Games in Atlanta the following year.
1998 saw Rufus hosting the Beale Street New Year's Eve celebrations and played in Nashville the same year.
In 1998, he underwent open-heart surgery at a Memphis hospital.
Rufus Thomas 'the world's oldest teenager' died from heart failure in December 2001 in Memphis Tennessee.
Quelle:Souklwalking
Discographie: - Albums
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* 1963 Walking The Dog (Stax704)
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* 1969 May I Have Your Ticket Please (Stax STS-2022) Unreleased
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* 1970 Do The Funky Chicken (Stax STS-2028)
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* 1971 Doing The Push And Pull At PJ's (Stax STS-2039)
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* 1972 Did You Heard Me? (Stax STS-3004)
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* 1972 DCrown Prince of Dance (Stax STS-30048)
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Singles
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* 1962 Can’t Ever Let You Go / It’s Aw’right (Stax126)
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* 1963 The Dog / Did You Ever Love A Woman (Stax130)
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* 1963 Walking The Dog / Fine And Mellow (Stax140)
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* 1963 Walking The Dog / You Said (Stax140)
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* 1964 Can Your Monkey Do The Dog / I Wanna Get Married (Stax144)
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* 1964 Somebody Stole My Dog / I Want To Be Loved (Stax149)
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* 1964 Jump Back / All Night Worker (Stax157)
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* 1965 Little Sally Walker / Baby Walk (Stax167)
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* 1965 Willy Nilly / Sho’gonna Mess Him Up (Stax173)
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* 1965 The World Is Round / Chicken Scratch (Stax178)
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* 1966 Sister’s Got A Boyfriend / Talking ‘Bout True Love (Stax200)
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* 1967 Sophisticated Sissy / Greasy Spoon (Stax221)
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* 1967 Down Ta’ My House / Steady Holding On (Stax240)
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* 1967 The Memphis Train / I Think I Made A Boo Boo (Stax250)
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* 1968 Funky Mississippi / Hard To Get Along With (Stax0010)
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* 1968 Funky Way / I Want To Hold You (Stax0022)
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