Search - Rufus Thomas :: Very Best of Rufus Thomas

"The World's Oldest Teenager"

08/21/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"According to the excellent six pages of liner notes written by Rob Bowman, author of Soulsville, U.S.A. The Story Of Stax Records, that's what Rufus Thomas is known as far and wide. Born on March 26, 1917, and the father of Carla (23 hits) and Vaneese Thomas (4 hits as a solo artist and one as one-half of the duo Siren), this talented singer/choreographer/songwriter registered 20 hit singles from 1953 to 1976, most for Stax Records even while working as a DJ at WDIA in Memphis from 1953 to 1974.



His first came at the equally-legendary Sun Records in the spring of 1953 when, billed as Rufus HOUND DOG Thomas, Jr., he recorded Bear Cat, an "answer" song to Willie Mae "Big Mama" Thornton's Hound Dog, which reached # 3 R&B b/w Walking In The Rain. His next didn't come for a full decade when, now with Stax, he had The Dog go to # 22 R&B/# 87 Hot 100 in February 1963. Later that year, Walking The Dog became his best Hot 100 cross-over when it hit # 10 in November, as well as # 5 R&B.



When the "Dog" theme continued early in 1964 with Can Your Monkey Do The Dog? Billboard had suspended the R&B charts, and since it remained that way throughout 1964, the chart references you see now reflect the same position for both the Hot 100 and R&B, which they apparently did for "historical" purposes. It's finish at # 48 Hot 100/R&B in February/March is therefore not an accurate reflection of its popularity. Then, too, the opening stage of the British Invasion was in full swing. The "Dog" finally ran its course that April When Somebody Stole My Dog stalled at # 86 Hot 100/R&B.



In the early part of the summer a duet with Carla (That's Really Some Good b/w Night Time Is The Right Time, billed to Rufus & Carla, could only register # 92 and 94 respectively (and neither is included here), while the solo Jump Back did much better in October, rising to # 49. There were no hits in 1965 or 1966, despite a couple of good cuts presented here at tracks 6 and 7, but mid-1967 he did come back with Sophisticated Sissy, which wound up at a low # 43 R&B (those charts were restored in 1965). Then he again experienced a dry spell from there and throughout 1968 and 1969, although tracks 9 and 10 were as good as anything done to date.



Early in 1970 he scored with Do The Funky Chicken which went all the way to # 5 R&B and also finished at a quite respectable # 28 Hot 100, although it was back to a struggle again later that summer when Sixty Minute Man - Part II could only manage a weak # 42 R&B. The flipside, rather than being Part I, was actually a tune dating back to 1905, The Preacher And The Bear, which is recorded as a # 42 R&B "follow-along." But in December he came up with his only # 1 R&B hit with (Do The) Push And Pull Part I, which also hit # 25 Hot 100 (this time the flip was Part II). The ups and downs then continued in May 1971 when The World Is Round peaked at # 34 R&B, followed by The Breakdown (Part I) which spent two weeks at # 2 R&B and also hit # 31 Hot 100 (and again, the flip was Part II).



That also applied to Do The Funky Penguin Part I, a # 11 R&B and # 44 Hot 100 in late 1971/early 1972. After another three lean years (track 18 was a non-hit in 1972), he had the minor R&B entry (# 93), The Funky Bird, in April 1974, but that's omitted here. In August, Boogie Ain't Nothin' (But Gettin' Down) Part I, could only manage a # 63 R&B, and in May 1975, Do The Double Bump staggered to a # 74 R&B. After that he would only have one more hit single, and that came in late summer 1976 when If There Was No Music ended up at # 92 R&B on the Allied Artists Of America label.



The sound is excellent, and on the reverse of the CD insert is a discography of the contents."

Funky and Fun

mistermaxxx@yahoo.com | usa | 12/24/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Rufus Thomas is one of those artists who i can listen to any time because if you like funky feel good music that makes you smile and laugh and also jhust lifts your spirits then this is the Music for you. the funky Stax sounds and grooves and the humor that is Rufus Thomas and his catchy grooves are all here. i do yardwork,cook outs and just chilling and having a good time to his music. he was something else."