Uploaded by MemphoTenn on Feb 7, 2008
Some singers knew what subject was best for them to sing about. For Memphis soul man and "world's oldest teenager" Rufus Thomas, animals seemed to always equal hits. He scored an R&B Top Five with "Bear Cat," "The Dog," and "Do the Funky Chicken" (Top 30 Pop).
Given his rural background, it wasn't so surprising that some of Thomas' biggest successes would involve some of his four-legged friends; the best singers know to sing about what they're familiar with.
One Sunday afternoon, Thomas was returning home from church when he recognized the cars owned by members of Booker T & The MGs parked in front of Stax Studios. He'd had an idea for a song during the church service, and the DJ/singer/songwriter decided to stop to see if he could record it.
After a few run-throughs, the song "Walkin' the Dog" was recorded. As it so happened, Atlantic Records producer Tom Dowd was visiting from New York. Hearing what he thought was a hit, Dowd decided to make the track one of the releases that was part of Stax's distribution deal with Atlantic.
"The Dog" was the title of a popular early '60s dance craze. The funky, loping, mono-recorded "Walkin' the Dog" made it to #5 (R&B) & #10 (Pop) in Fall 1963.
Rufus Thomas Tribute: http://staxrecords.free.fr/rufustribute.htm
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rufus thomas
3 years ago 5
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RUFUS THOMAS
3 years ago 2
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Classic!
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Actually genius Dowd was sent to Memphis to fix some broken tools in Stax studio when he was done Rufus came in Dowd heard'em and worked his magic on the tone. Heey those ppl were great :)
3 years ago 3
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Love this song! Thomas always seemed to make some incredibly funky records while at Stax, and this certainly was one of them. Just can't get enough of this, and thanks for the great photos with the music.
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I've tried twice to link up and here's the link it's on my channel
Walking the Dog! v=i06_muQiSDc
- 5:28Rufus Thomas "Walking the Dog"by 199alexander28,357 views
- 1:56Rufus Thomas - The Funky Chickenby scmm42491,801 views
- 3:40Aerosmith - Walkin' The Dog (Live 1974)by kingcrimson197223,355 views
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- 6:25Stevie Ray Vaughan-Walking The Dog (1973)by prompen3107,223 views
- 2:51Walking The Dog - The Whoby OxAeroBabixO18,880 views
- 10:01Stevie Ray Vaughan-Barefootin' (1973)by prompen326,080 views
- 2:34Carla Thomas - How could you throw my love awayby incrediblecHiller122,116 views
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- 12:55Wattstax: Rufus Thomas-Breakdown/funky Chicken-by Pioupioust27,237 views
- 2:27Walkin' The Dog danceby Tengobaila19,040 views
- 3:30Slim Harpo - Baby Scratch My Backby jimmytheferret209,012 views
- 2:31Rufus Thomas - "Walking The Dog" (1963)by TheBacmaster15,821 views
- 2:42Frankie Lymon - Little Bitty Pretty One (Original)by Nocaro396,175 views
- 1:47Cher Dancingby DarkLadyUK498,688 views
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- 3:07Aerosmith- Toys in the Atticby Burythneedle25,332 views
- 2:31RUFUS THOMAS - Walking the Dog (1965)by blaxter47543,462 views
I covered this one last month. I got to sing it at a big soul revue too!
5starzSteve 4 years ago 6
Stevester, I do believe we have the same taste in music! Are you gonna post a video of you performing it? How cool that you got to perform it at a soul revue.
MemphoTenn 4 years ago 2