This page contains Rufus Thomas songs, albums and video links. Music profile for Rufus Thomas with events, tracks, videos, pictures, lyrics and band information.
Image:Rufusthomaspoison.jpg|right|thumb|200px|Rufus' 1990 album for Alligator Records, ''That Woman Is Poison!''
Rufus Thomas, Jr. (March 26 1917 – December 15 2001) was a rhythm and blues, funk and soul music|soul singer and comedian from
Memphis, Tennessee|Memphis, Tennessee, who recorded on Sun Records in the
1950s and on Stax Records in the 1960s and 1970s. He was the father of soul singer Carla Thomas and keyboard player Marvell Thomas. A third child, Vaneese, a former French teacher, has a recording studio in upstate New York and sings for television commercials.
Early life and education
Born a sharecropper's son in the rural community of Cayce, Mississippi, Thomas moved to Memphis with his family at age 2. His mother was “a church woman.†Thomas made his artistic debut at the age of 6 playing a frog in a school theatrical production. Much later in life, he would impersonate all kinds of animals: screeching cats, funky chickens and penguins, and mournful dogs. By age 10, he was a tap dancer, performing in amateur productions at Memphis' Booker T. Washington High School.
Thomas attended one semester at Tennessee State University|Tennessee A&I University, but due to economic conditions left to pursue a career as a professional entertainer, joining up in 1936 with the Rabbit Foot Minstrels, an all-black revue that toured the South. He then worke... read all
