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Rufus thomas soul train9/22/2023 ![]() 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. He began working as a DJ at radio station WDIA in 1951, and hosted an afternoon R&B show called Hoot and Holler. In 1951 he made his first recordings at Sam Phillips's Sun Studio, for the Chess label, but they were not commercially successful. Swing" the recordings were not recognised by researchers as being by Thomas until 1996. He also recorded for the Bullet label in Nashville, Tennessee, when he recorded with Bobby Plater's Orchestra and was credited as "Mr. ![]() the record sold five copies and I bought four of them." The record, "I'll Be a Good Boy" backed with "I'm So Worried", gained a Billboard review, which stated that "Thomas shows first class style on a slow blues". I just wanted to be known, be a recording artist. . . . Thomas said, "I just wanted to make a record. As an established performer in Memphis, aged 33 in 1950, Thomas recorded his first 78 rpm single, for Jesse Erickson's small Star Talent label in Dallas, Texas. He made his professional singing debut at the Elks Club on Beale Street, filling in for another singer at the last minute, and during the 1940s became a regular performer in Memphis nightclubs, such as Currie`s Club Tropicana. He regarded Louis Armstrong, Fats Waller and Gatemouth Moore as musical influences. ![]() In the early 1940s, Thomas began writing and performing his own songs. King, and others discovered by Thomas later in the 1940s included Bobby Bland and Johnny Ace. He also formed a comedy and dancing duo, Rufus and Bones, with Robert "Bones" Couch, and they took over as MCs at the Palace Theater, often presenting amateur hour shows. Thomas worked a day job in the American Finishing Company textile bleaching plant, which he continued to do for over 20 years. Franklin (the father of Aretha Franklin), and the couple settled in Memphis. He married Cornelia Lorene Wilson in 1940, at a service officiated by the Rev. In 1936 he joined the Rabbit Foot Minstrels, an all-black revue that toured the South, as a tap dancer and comedian, sometimes part of a duo, Rufus and Johnny. Thomas began performing in traveling tent shows. After graduating from high school, Thomas attended Tennessee A&I University for one semester, but economic constraints led him to leave to pursue a career as a full-time entertainer. Williams, his high-school history teacher, who was also a pioneer black DJ at radio station WDIA and columnist for black newspapers, as a master of ceremonies at talent shows in the Palace Theater on Beale Street. From the age of 13, he worked with Nat D. By the age of 10, he was a tap dancer, performing on the streets and in amateur productions at Booker T. Thomas made his debut as a performer at the age of six, playing a frog in a school theatrical production. He moved with his family to Memphis, Tennessee, around 1920. Thomas was born in the rural community of Cayce, Mississippi, the son of a sharecropper. He was the father of the singers Carla Thomas (with whom he recorded duets) and Vaneese Thomas and the keyboard player Marvell Thomas. He remained active into the 1990s and as a performer and recording artist was often billed as "The World's Oldest Teenager". ![]() He later worked as a disc jockey on radio station WDIA in Memphis, both before and after his recordings became successful. He began his career as a tap dancer, vaudeville performer, and master of ceremonies in the 1930s. ![]() occupied many important roles in the local scene." According to the Mississippi Blues Commission, "Rufus Thomas embodied the spirit of Memphis music perhaps more than any other artist, and from the early 1940s until his death . . . He is best known for his novelty dance records, including " Walking the Dog" (1963), " Do the Funky Chicken" (1969) and " (Do the) Push and Pull" (1970). He recorded for several labels, including Chess Records and Sun Records in the 1950s, before becoming established in the 1960s and 1970s at Stax Records. (Ma– December 15, 2001) was an American rhythm-and-blues, funk, soul and blues singer, songwriter, dancer, DJ and comic entertainer from Memphis, Tennessee. ![]()
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