Rufus Thomas recorded for several labels, including Chess Records and Sun Records in the 1950s, before becoming established in the 1960s and 1970s at Stax Records.
28 Facts About Rufus Thomas
2.
Rufus Thomas began his career as a tap dancer, vaudeville performer, and master of ceremonies in the 1930s.
3.
Rufus Thomas later worked as a disc jockey on radio station WDIA in Memphis, both before and after his recordings became successful.
4.
Rufus Thomas remained active into the 1990s and as a performer and recording artist was often billed as "The World's Oldest Teenager".
5.
Rufus Thomas was the father of the singers Carla Thomas and Vaneese Thomas and the keyboard player Marvell Thomas.
6.
Rufus Thomas moved with his family to Memphis around 1920.
7.
Rufus Thomas made his debut as a performer at the age of six, playing a frog in a school theatrical production.
8.
Rufus Thomas worked a day job in the American Finishing Company textile bleaching plant, which he continued to do for over 20 years.
9.
Rufus Thomas 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.
10.
Rufus Thomas regarded Louis Armstrong, Fats Waller and Gatemouth Moore as musical influences.
11.
Rufus Thomas 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.
12.
Rufus Thomas recorded for the Bullet label in Nashville, Tennessee, when he recorded with Bobby Plater's Orchestra and was credited as "Mr Swing"; the recordings were not recognised by researchers as being by Thomas until 1996.
13.
We're feeling gay though we ain't got a dollar, Rufus Thomas is here, so hoot and holler.
14.
Rufus Thomas claimed to be the first black DJ to play Elvis Presley records, which he did until the police made him stop due to segregation.
15.
Rufus Thomas performed on stage with Elvis to an all-black audience, and although the police tried to shut it down, the audience stormed through to get to him.
16.
Rufus Thomas did not record again until 1956, when he made a single, "I'm Steady Holdin' On", for the Bihari brothers' Meteor label; musicians on the record included Lewie Steinberg, later a founding member of Booker T and the MGs.
17.
Rufus Thomas had his own hit with "The Dog", a song he had originally improvised in performance based on a Willie Mitchell bass line, complete with imitations of a barking dog.
18.
Rufus Thomas became the first, and still the only, father to debut in the Top 10 after his daughter had first appeared there.
19.
Rufus Thomas became a mentor to younger Stax stars, giving advice on stage moves to performers like Otis Redding, who partnered daughter Carla on record.
20.
Rufus Thomas continued to record and toured internationally, billing himself as "The World's Oldest Teenager" and describing himself as "the funkiest man alive".
21.
Rufus Thomas continued as a DJ at WDIA until 1974, and worked for a period at WLOK before returning to WDIA in the mid-1980s to co-host a blues show.
22.
Rufus Thomas appeared regularly on television and recorded albums for various labels.
23.
Rufus Thomas played an important part in the Stax reunion of 1988, and appeared in Jim Jarmusch's 1989 film Mystery Train, Robert Altman's 1999 film Cookie's Fortune, and D A Pennebaker's documentary Only the Strong Survive.
24.
Rufus Thomas received a Pioneer Award from the Rhythm and Blues Foundation in 1992, and a lifetime achievement award from ASCAP in 1997.
25.
Rufus Thomas was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 2001.
26.
Rufus Thomas died of heart failure in 2001, at the age of 84, at St Francis Hospital in Memphis.
27.
Rufus Thomas is buried next to his wife Lorene, who died in 2000, at the New Park Cemetery in Memphis.
28.
Rufus Thomas was honored with a marker on the Mississippi Blues Trail in Byhalia.