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Profile
Rufus Thomas
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1999 KBA Award Winner
Achievement for Blues on the Internet
Presented by the Blues Foundation
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You can't stop Rufus Thomas during his live performances, you can only hope to contain him. The irrepressible 83-year-old who is "The World's Oldest Teenager" can lay claim to the first hits for Sam Phillips Sun records ("Bear Cat") and Stax Records ("Cause I Love You" with daughter Carla). But it is in his live shows that a special magic is created. The master showman captures a crowd's attention and leads every last member of the audience through a unique soulful experience. Along with W.C. Handy, and Elvis Presley, Rufus Thomas has been one of the most influential people in Memphis music history. His life has spanned, and added important contributions to the sounds of jug bands, Country Blues, amplified Blues, Rock n' Roll, Rockabilly, and Soul music styles. Born March 26, 1917 in Cayce, Mississippi, Rufus first began performing as a self-taught tap dancer while attending Booker T. Washington High School in Memphis. He started his professional career as a tap dancer with the Rabbit Foot Minstrels under the tutelage of Nat D. Williams before branching out as a comic and emcee at Amateur Night at the Palace Theater on Beale Street along with his partner, Bones. 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 radio stations of the era. He also ran talent shows on Memphis' famous Beale Street that helped showcase the emerging skills of such influential figures as B.B. King, Bobby Bland, Junior Parker, Ike Turner, and Roscoe Gordon. He continues to host his weekly radio show on WDIA to this day. He first recorded for Sun Records in the 1950's before moving on to the fledgling Stax label where he scored their first hit record. While at Stax, Rufus proved himself a hitmaking songwriter and recording artist with "Walking The Dog," "Do The Funky Chicken" and "Breakdown" among his classics. One of the early explorers of Southern funk, Thomas had continued success throughout the 1970's and early '80s on King Snake and Alligator Records. In 1998 Rufus released Rufus Live! on Ecko Records that features a voice that rings pure and true on some of his biggest hits. He even turns country into soul with his exceptional rendition of the Merle Haggard classic, "Today I Started Loving You Again." He has received innumerable lifetime achievement awards as well as the W.C.Handy Howlin' Wolf Award at the Chicago Blues Festival for "Outstanding Blues Performance." He even has a street named after him which crosses the famous Beale Street (where Thomas spent most of his career). Now known as the Official Ambassador of Memphis Music, Rufus Thomas remains the consummate entertainer and showman with a reputation as a live performer that has grown to legendary proportions. Even in his eighties he is sought after at blues festivals from coast to coast and around the world. Memphis is known as home of the blues and Rufus Thomas is one of the reasons for that reputation.
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