Matthew Ruddick – Funkiest Man Alive: Rufus Thomas And Memphis Soul
University Press of Mississippi
344 Pages Hardcover edition
While fans of James Brown might want to argue this book’s title assertion, there is no denying that singer Rufus Thomas embodied the soul sounds that have been emanating from Memphis, TN for decades. A fixture on Beale Street, he made his mark with timeless hits like “Walking The Dog,” and as a DJ for WDIA radio, a station that in 1949 made a format switch to all black programming. Later in life he was regarded as a musical ambassador for the city with a recording legacy spanning five decades.
Author Matthew Ruddick lays out the story in chronological fashion, and what a story to tell! Getting into the entertainment business initially as a comedian, Thomas decided to take a stab at singing one night when there was space to fill in the show. Singing guitarist Lonnie Johnson’s song “Jelly Roll Baker,” Thomas was surprised by the boisterous reaction from the audience, many of whom threw coins on the stage. As the singer remembered, “I had a old ragged voice that wasn’t considered good….my voice then was beginning to turn and I couldn’t sing anything sweet with all that gravel in it.”
After a few local 45 rpm releases, Thomas cut several tracks for Sam Phillips at the legendary Sun Records label, six of which were licensed to Chess Records in Chicago for release. Those tracks didn’t make much noise, but when Big Mama Thornton hit the charts with her hit “Hound Dog,” Phillips sensed an opportunity. He had Thomas cut an “answer” song entitled “Bear Cat,” which climbed to #3 on the Billboard R&B chart. It was the first hit record for Thomas, but a bittersweet triumph for Phillips, as “Bear Cat” was a close copy of Thornton’s tune, sparking a round of lawsuits. Thomas followed up with “Tiger Man,” which did not reach the same level of success, but did make quite an impression on a young Memphis artist. Using the Thomas arrangement, Elvis Presley included the song in his ’68 Comeback Special.
As his career blossomed, Thomas also was raising several children, all of whom expressed their musical talents at a young age. His son Marvell was a natural on piano while daughter Carla was gifted with a fine voice. Both learned about the music business as members of the Teen Town singers, a group sponsored by WDIA featuring the group for a half hour every Saturday morning.
The center section of the book moves the focus to Carla’s career and the Stax Records legacy. Her first release, “Gee Whiz,” a song she wrote at age fifteen, was released on Satellite Records, the precursor to the Stax label. Once Stax signed an ultimately ill-fated distribution deal with Atlantic Records, the record was played nationally and managed to hit Billboard’s Hot Top 100 chart, peaking at #10 in 1961.
When Atlantic executive Jerry Wexler came to Memphis to meet Carla, the singer and her father had to enter the rear of the Claridge Hotel and ride up the freight elevator to dine with Wexler in his room. The elder Thomas was incensed, ready to walk away until his wife Lorene persuaded him to consider Carla’s career opportunities. Later in the evening, after the family departed, several the city’s police officers appeared at Wexler’s door, ready to arrest him for having an African-American in his hotel room.
Stax Records holds an exalted slot in the history of American music. Ruddick covers its rise and fall, a label that featured Otis Redding, Booker T & the M.G.s, William Bell, Sam & Dave, and Issac Hayes. Carla was right in the thick of things with a steady flow of records, scoring her biggest hit yet with “B-A-B-Y,” and recording an album of duets with Redding. But Rufus was the man. He provided the label with it’s first massive hit with “Walking The Dog,” written with guitarist Steve Cropper after Carla gave her father a lesson on a new dance called the Dog.
As laid out by the author, Thomas managed to remain relevant through the British invasion and the rise of soul music as a hit-making genre. The passage of time found him becoming increasingly frustrated by what he perceived as a lack of interest from Stax, despite helping the label to flourish in its infancy. Another issue was that a number of his hits were considered novelty songs, limiting his appeal with some portions of the listening public. But that formula paid dividends one more time when he hit the upper reaches of the charts with “Do The Funky Chicken” in 1970, following that with other funk classics like “Funkiest Man Alive” and “(Do The) Push & Pull”.
Once Stax imploded in 1975, Thomas found himself adrift in a world consumed with disco music. He soldiered, on releasing some records with minimal success. The self proclaimed “world’s oldest teenager” went back on the air at WDIA to the delight of listeners. His career was revived when Bob Greenlee of King Snake Studios offered to work with the singer. Their project, featuring an all-star line-up, ended up getting released by Bruce Iglauer at Alligator Records as That Woman Is Poison, generating a new level of acclaim for the singer.
In his final years, Thomas could often be spotted on Beale St. in his usual attire of white boots, shorts, a cape, and a killer smile. His youngest daughter Vaneese began to make her own name in the music business. Heart issues finally slowed him down, and in December, 2001, Thomas was laid low by colon cancer.
The book has plenty of b&w photos throughout documenting various phases of the singer’s life. Ruddick’s extensive research includes numerous testimonials from Thomas contemporaries highlighting his influence on the Memphis music community. In the end, the biography is a fitting tribute to a man who, for many, has faded into the mists of time. Thanks to Ruddick, Thomas lives on in a book well worth reading. Just make sure you crank up some of Thomas’ classic songs, and rejoice in the joy his music brings!
