![]() His performances at the Italian Poretta Soul Music Festival were so endearing that the amphitheater and park were named after him. Pennebaker documentary Only the Strong Survive. He was featured in the Jim Jarmusch film Mystery Train and the D.A. Thomas released a blues album later in his life on the Alligator label and also a live recording. Rufus was featured in the Wattstax concerts and performed with James Brown’s band and the group, Con Funk Shun. Carla scored a big hit in 1961 with “Gee Whiz”, but Rufus recorded a string of dance-related hits with “Walking The Dog” (1964), “Do The Funky Chicken” (1969), “Push and Pull” (1970) and “The Breakdown” (1971). Sun Records soon dumped Thomas in order to concentrate on its new direction- Elvis Presley.ġ959 saw Rufus Thomas and his daughter, Carla Thomas, become the first stars of the new Stax label with their duet “‘Cause I Love You”. “Bear Cat” became the first national hit for Sun, but a copyright-infringement lawsuit from Leiber and Stoller, the writers of “Hound Dog”, nearly bankrupted the small label. In 1953, Rufus Thomas recorded an answer to Big Mama Thornton‘s hit “Hound Dog” on Sam Phillips‘ Sun Records. King, Ike Turner, Bobby “Blue” Bland, Roscoe Gordon and Junior Parker. While in this position, he helped promote the careers of B.B. Rufus joined the staff of WDIA radio in 1951, hosting a program called Hoot and Holler. In 1943, he began his lengthy recording career with a Texas label named Star Talent and went on to record with Meteor, Chess, Sun, and was with the Stax Record label from its earliest days until it closed its doors in 1975. Thomas took employment at a textile plant, American Finishing Company, where he worked for over twenty years without missing a day. In 1940, Rufus married his high school sweetheart, Cornelius Lorene Wilson, and remained so for almost 60 years. A comedy duo was formed with fellow future-WDIA radio personality, James “Bones” Couch, called Rufus and Bones. He expanded his routine from tap dancing and comedy to singing the blues when a female singer left one of the troupes. ![]() Throughout the 1930s, Rufus Thomas performed in the Rabbit Foot Minstrels Show, the Georgia Dixon Traveling Show, and the Royal American Tent Shows. Williams involved Thomas in amateur show performances at the Palace Theater on Beale Street. Williams, who would become WDIA‘s first black disc jockey. Washington High School, he was mentored by his history teacher, Nat D. He became well known for his tap dancing and participated in school productions from an early age. His family moved to Memphis when Rufus was two. He billed himself as “The World’s Oldest Teenager”. His career spanned the musical genres of blues, soul, funk, comedy and novelty, reaching from minstrel shows to Beale Street and from Sun Records to Stax- and beyond. He became one of Memphis music’s most beloved figures and outspoken ambassadors. (Ma– December 15, 2001) was born the youngest of five children to sharecroppers in Cayce, Mississippi, near the Tennessee border. Handy WDIA William Henry Lane Willie Brown Will Shade Church Rockabilly Rosco Gordon Rufus Thomas Sam Chatmon Sam Phillips Scotty Moore Sleepy John Estes Sonny Burgess Stax Records Sun Records Sun Studio TOBA Vaudeville W. Williams Pat Chappelle Paul Burlison Pee Wee's Saloon Phineas Newborn Robert R. Crump Medicine Shows Memphis Blues Memphis Jug Band Memphis jug bands Memphis Minnie Memphis Music Minstrel Shows Mississippi Sheiks Mud Boy and the Neutrons Nat D. King Beale Street Beale Street Sheiks Bill Black Billy Lee Riley Blind Lemon Jefferson Bobby “Blue” Bland Bukka White Cannon's Jug Stompers Carla Thomas Carl Perkins Dan Sane Delta Blues Dewey Phillips Eddie Bond Elvis Presley Fernwood Frank Stokes Furry Lewis Furry Lewis and Sleepy John Estes Goodwyn Institute Gus Cannon Harry Fritsius Hi Records Ike Turner James "Yank" Rachell Jerry Lee Lewis Jimmie Rodgers Johnny Ace Johnny Cash Jug Bands Junior Parker Langston Hughes Laverne Baker Mahara's Minstrels Ma Rainey Ma Rainey II Marion Keisker Mayor E. Schwab Albert King Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup B. Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture.Gus Cannon, Will Shade and the Jug Bands.Frank Stokes and the Beale Street Sheiks.
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