Rufus Thomas
One of the most recognizable and beloved soul artists, Rufus Thomas was the first to record in the Stax Records studio.

First Recordings
Rufus Thomas (March 27, 1917- December 15, 2001) and his daughter Carla were the first artists to record at 926 E. McLemore with “Cause I Love You” in 1960. By then Thomas already had a long and varied showbiz career to his credit.

Early Entertaining
Rufus joined the Rabbit Foot Minstrels in the 1930s as a tap dancer. He then went on-air in the ‘40s as one of the first black disc jockeys in the country with groundbreaking Memphis radio station WDIA. Thomas had the first hit for a fledgling Memphis record company called Sun in 1953. Amazingly, he did all of this while holding down a day job at American Finishing Corporation.

He Must Have Been An Animal Lover
Thomas recorded hundreds of songs throughout his career, but the most popular had titles like “Bear Cat” (1953), “Walking the Dog” (1963) and “Do the Funky Chicken” (1969). Eventually his animals became more exotic, with “Do the Funky Penguin” (1972) and when he ran out of animals, he turned to futuristic technology with “The Funky Robot” (1973).

Beloved Ambassador
It fits that Thomas recorded one of the final Stax singles in 1975. Though his recording career fizzled with the end of Stax, Thomas continued as a beloved ambassador of Memphis music. Rufus Thomas was inducted into the Blues Foundation hall of Fame in 2001. He died that year and is buried in New Park cemetery in South Memphis.