Funkiest Man Alive (eBook)

Rufus Thomas and Memphis Soul

Matthew Ruddick (Autor)

eBook Download: PDF

2023 | PDF SINGLE
344 Seiten
University Press of Mississippi (Verlag)
978-1-4968-3843-8 (ISBN)

Infos

The lively story of the rise of R&B in Memphis through the eyes of one of its powerhouses

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Certificate of Merit Recipient for the 2024 Association for Recorded Sound Collections Award for Excellence in Historical Sound Research in Recorded Blues, R&B, Gospel, Hip Hop or Soul Music

Rufus Thomas may not be a household name, but he is widely regarded as the patriarch of Memphis R&B, and his music influenced three generations. His first singles in the early 1950s were recorded as blues transitioned into R&B, and he was arguably one of the founding fathers of early rock ’n’ roll. In the early 1960s, his songs “The Dog” and “Walking the Dog” made a huge impact on the emerging British “mod” scene, influencing the likes of the Georgie Fame, the Rolling Stones, and the Who. And in the early 1970s, Thomas rebranded himself as the “funkiest man alive” and recorded funk classics that were later sampled by the likes of Public Enemy, Missy Elliot, and the Wu-Tang Clan.

In Funkiest Man Alive: Rufus Thomas and Memphis Soul, Matthew Ruddick reveals the amazing life and career of Thomas, who started as a dancer in the minstrel shows that toured the South before becoming one of the nation’s early African American disc jockeys, and then going on to record the first hit singles for both Chess Records and Stax Records. Ruddick also examines the social fabric of the city of Memphis, analyzing the factors behind the vast array of talent that appeared in the late 1950s, with singers like Isaac Hayes, William Bell, Maurice White (Earth, Wind & Fire), and Thomas’s older daughter, Carla Thomas, all emerging from the tightly knit African American community. He also tells the story of Memphis-based Stax Records, one of the nation’s leading R&B record labels. From the earliest blues, the segregated minstrel shows, and the birth of rock ’n’ roll through to the emergence of R&B and funk, Rufus Thomas saw it all.

Autor

Matthew Ruddick is cofounder and editor of the jazz website Kind of Jazz (www.kindofjazz.com) and has worked as a music critic for a variety of publications, including Beats magazine in Hong Kong. He is author of Funny Valentine: The Story of Chet Baker, published to widespread acclaim in 2012.

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 15.5.2023
• Reihe/Serie: American Made Music Series
• Reihe/Serie: American Made Music Series
• Vorwort: Rob Bowman
• Zusatzinfo: 55 b&w photographs
• Verlagsort: Jackson
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Literatur ► Biografien / Erfahrungsberichte
• Themenwelt: Kunst / Musik / Theater ► Musik ► Jazz / Blues
• Themenwelt: Geschichte ► Allgemeine Geschichte ► Zeitgeschichte
• Themenwelt: Geisteswissenschaften ► Geschichte ► Regional- / Ländergeschichte
• Schlagworte: Blues • Booker T. Jones • Carla Thomas • Chess Records • Elvis Presley • Ethnomusicology • Memphis sound • Porretta Soul Festival • R&B • Sam Phillips • Stax Records • Steve Cropper • Sun Records • The Rolling Stones • Vaneese Thomas
• ISBN-10: 1-4968-3843-2 / 1496838432
• ISBN-13: 978-1-4968-3843-8 / 9781496838438