Chords for RUFUS THOMAS - A Full & Funky Life
Tempo:
118.5 bpm
Chords used:
Eb
Ebm
Ab
Bb
D
Tuning:Standard Tuning (EADGBE)Capo:+0fret
Start Jamming...
I don't know really how I did it.
Just one day I said, this is what I want to be.
I want to be one of the greatest entertainers in the world.
[E] And not being conceited, I am.
[Eb]
Rufus Thomas achieved [Bb] his ambition and much [G] more in a life [Bb] unique in American music.
He began as a [Cm] teenage Memphis tap dancer in the 1930s and hit the road with the Rabbitfoot [Bb] Minstrel's Tent Show,
[Db] developing the impish humor and ability to [Gm] connect with any audience [Fm] that became his [Cm] trademarks.
[Gm] Back home in Memphis, [C] Rufus married his high school sweetheart [Bb] in 1940 and soon took a day [D] job in a factory to support [C] a growing family.
[E] But his nighttime career [B] kept right on going as a comedian and a singer.
[Bb] He became a fixture on Beale Street where [Cm] his Palace Theater talent shows launched a [B] generation of Memphis performers.
[E] B.B. King and Bobby [Ebm] Bluebland began [F] legendary careers with Thomas' help.
[Db] Rufus joined WDIA, the nation's first all-black radio station, as a [Cm] featured disc jockey [C] and quickly became an institution in the [G] community.
[Am] This is Rufus Thomas [Cm] of CBS Radio.
[B]
[C] He was not only spinning records, Rufus was making them.
He recorded for [D] several labels in the 50s and [Bb] years before Sun Records [Db] became the birthplace of rock and roll,
he gave the new Memphis label its first hit, 1953's Bearcat.
[G] You ain't [Ab] nothing but a bearcat.
[Bbm] [Gb] Six years later, his pioneering [Dm] spirit found a home with another startup [Bb] label.
Thomas' duet with [Ab] his teenage daughter Carla, [Eb]
Cause I Love You, [Ab] was the first hit [C] for Satellite Records.
[Eb]
Satellite quickly became Stax [F] Records.
Father and daughter stayed with the [Eb] label and laid the foundation for its success.
[D]
[Eb]
[Bbm] Walkin' the Dog became an international hit in 1963.
Rufus was [Eb] 46 years old.
After working at the textile plant for 22 years, he could finally quit and become [D] a full-time entertainer.
[F] [Ab] Walkin' the Dog [Eb] influenced a generation [Gb] of young [F] musicians, including the Rolling Stones, [Am] who covered it on their [D] first album.
I'll show you how to walk the [A] dog.
[Eb] More than 50 artists [D] have recorded Walkin' the Dog, so far.
[Ebm] Rufus hit his [Gb] stride in the [Ebm] 1970s with a string [Ab] of hits like Push and Pull, [Ebm] The Breakdown, and Do the Funky [Eb] Chicken.
You flap your arms, and your feet start kickin', then you know you're doin' the funky kickin'.
The groundbreaking Watch Stax documentary in 1973 featured the master at work.
[B]
[C] [N]
Rufus had been with Stax since the company began, and he was there when the doors closed for good in [D] 1975.
[Db] [Dbm] But instead of thinking about [Ebm] retirement, Rufus kicked into [Eb] a new gear that [G] would last another [Eb] 26 years.
He kept releasing new albums, and his entire recorded history was [C] reissued again and [Bb] again.
His live shows were treasured around the [Ab] world, in every possible venue.
Concerts, [Eb]
festivals, special events, jamming with [Ebm] friends, [Fm] even visits to [F] nursing homes.
He was still on the air [Ab] every Saturday morning [Bb] on WDIA.
He [Eb] shot cameo roles in [Bb] several feature films, and his [Ab] TV appearances left no [Cm] doubt that the legendary performer was [N] still on his game.
[D] Offstage, his happy marriage to Laureen lasted for almost 60 years,
and he was proud that all three of his children built their own successful musical careers.
Rufus kept entertaining the world until the end of his life,
[G] and he was inducted into [D] the Blues Hall of Fame in 2001, not long before his passing at 84.
[G] His unquenchable spirit [D] lives on, [Dm] in his timeless music, and in the countless lives [F] he touched and [B] inspired.
So if you can remember me, and remember the good things that I've done with people, not music alone, but with people.
These people right now would say, if it hadn't been for you, I never would have gotten into music.
Now that makes me feel good, that somebody thinks of me as their beginning.
You're the one that caused me to do this thing in music.
And I'm happy for me because of you.
Just remember me as somebody that liked everybody.
And I came to the point where I hated no one.
[Ebm]
[Ab] [Ebm]
[Ab] [Eb]
[Ebm]
I ain't no old man.
[Eb]
I'm yesterday, I'm [Ebm] today, I am [Ab] tomorrow.
[Ebm] [Ab] [Eb]
[Ebm]
Just one day I said, this is what I want to be.
I want to be one of the greatest entertainers in the world.
[E] And not being conceited, I am.
[Eb]
Rufus Thomas achieved [Bb] his ambition and much [G] more in a life [Bb] unique in American music.
He began as a [Cm] teenage Memphis tap dancer in the 1930s and hit the road with the Rabbitfoot [Bb] Minstrel's Tent Show,
[Db] developing the impish humor and ability to [Gm] connect with any audience [Fm] that became his [Cm] trademarks.
[Gm] Back home in Memphis, [C] Rufus married his high school sweetheart [Bb] in 1940 and soon took a day [D] job in a factory to support [C] a growing family.
[E] But his nighttime career [B] kept right on going as a comedian and a singer.
[Bb] He became a fixture on Beale Street where [Cm] his Palace Theater talent shows launched a [B] generation of Memphis performers.
[E] B.B. King and Bobby [Ebm] Bluebland began [F] legendary careers with Thomas' help.
[Db] Rufus joined WDIA, the nation's first all-black radio station, as a [Cm] featured disc jockey [C] and quickly became an institution in the [G] community.
[Am] This is Rufus Thomas [Cm] of CBS Radio.
[B]
[C] He was not only spinning records, Rufus was making them.
He recorded for [D] several labels in the 50s and [Bb] years before Sun Records [Db] became the birthplace of rock and roll,
he gave the new Memphis label its first hit, 1953's Bearcat.
[G] You ain't [Ab] nothing but a bearcat.
[Bbm] [Gb] Six years later, his pioneering [Dm] spirit found a home with another startup [Bb] label.
Thomas' duet with [Ab] his teenage daughter Carla, [Eb]
Cause I Love You, [Ab] was the first hit [C] for Satellite Records.
[Eb]
Satellite quickly became Stax [F] Records.
Father and daughter stayed with the [Eb] label and laid the foundation for its success.
[D]
[Eb]
[Bbm] Walkin' the Dog became an international hit in 1963.
Rufus was [Eb] 46 years old.
After working at the textile plant for 22 years, he could finally quit and become [D] a full-time entertainer.
[F] [Ab] Walkin' the Dog [Eb] influenced a generation [Gb] of young [F] musicians, including the Rolling Stones, [Am] who covered it on their [D] first album.
I'll show you how to walk the [A] dog.
[Eb] More than 50 artists [D] have recorded Walkin' the Dog, so far.
[Ebm] Rufus hit his [Gb] stride in the [Ebm] 1970s with a string [Ab] of hits like Push and Pull, [Ebm] The Breakdown, and Do the Funky [Eb] Chicken.
You flap your arms, and your feet start kickin', then you know you're doin' the funky kickin'.
The groundbreaking Watch Stax documentary in 1973 featured the master at work.
[B]
[C] [N]
Rufus had been with Stax since the company began, and he was there when the doors closed for good in [D] 1975.
[Db] [Dbm] But instead of thinking about [Ebm] retirement, Rufus kicked into [Eb] a new gear that [G] would last another [Eb] 26 years.
He kept releasing new albums, and his entire recorded history was [C] reissued again and [Bb] again.
His live shows were treasured around the [Ab] world, in every possible venue.
Concerts, [Eb]
festivals, special events, jamming with [Ebm] friends, [Fm] even visits to [F] nursing homes.
He was still on the air [Ab] every Saturday morning [Bb] on WDIA.
He [Eb] shot cameo roles in [Bb] several feature films, and his [Ab] TV appearances left no [Cm] doubt that the legendary performer was [N] still on his game.
[D] Offstage, his happy marriage to Laureen lasted for almost 60 years,
and he was proud that all three of his children built their own successful musical careers.
Rufus kept entertaining the world until the end of his life,
[G] and he was inducted into [D] the Blues Hall of Fame in 2001, not long before his passing at 84.
[G] His unquenchable spirit [D] lives on, [Dm] in his timeless music, and in the countless lives [F] he touched and [B] inspired.
So if you can remember me, and remember the good things that I've done with people, not music alone, but with people.
These people right now would say, if it hadn't been for you, I never would have gotten into music.
Now that makes me feel good, that somebody thinks of me as their beginning.
You're the one that caused me to do this thing in music.
And I'm happy for me because of you.
Just remember me as somebody that liked everybody.
And I came to the point where I hated no one.
[Ebm]
[Ab] [Ebm]
[Ab] [Eb]
[Ebm]
I ain't no old man.
[Eb]
I'm yesterday, I'm [Ebm] today, I am [Ab] tomorrow.
[Ebm] [Ab] [Eb]
[Ebm]
Key:
Eb
Ebm
Ab
Bb
D
Eb
Ebm
Ab
_ _ _ _ I don't know really how I did it.
Just one day I said, this is what I want to be.
I want to be one of the greatest entertainers in the world.
[E] _ _ And _ not being conceited, I am.
_ [Eb] _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ Rufus Thomas achieved [Bb] his ambition and much [G] more in a life [Bb] unique in American music.
He began as a [Cm] teenage Memphis tap dancer in the 1930s and hit the road with the Rabbitfoot [Bb] Minstrel's Tent Show,
[Db] developing the impish humor and ability to [Gm] connect with any audience [Fm] that became his [Cm] trademarks.
[Gm] Back home in Memphis, [C] Rufus married his high school sweetheart [Bb] in 1940 and soon took a day [D] job in a factory to support [C] a growing family.
[E] But his nighttime career [B] kept right on going as a comedian and a singer.
[Bb] He became a fixture on Beale Street where [Cm] his Palace Theater talent shows launched a [B] generation of Memphis performers.
[E] B.B. King and Bobby [Ebm] Bluebland began [F] legendary careers with Thomas' help.
_ [Db] Rufus joined WDIA, the nation's first all-black radio station, as a [Cm] featured disc jockey [C] and quickly became an institution in the [G] community.
[Am] This is Rufus Thomas [Cm] of CBS Radio.
[B] _ _
[C] He was not only spinning records, Rufus was making them.
He recorded for [D] several labels in the 50s and [Bb] years before Sun Records [Db] became the birthplace of rock and roll,
he gave the new Memphis label its first hit, _ _ 1953's Bearcat.
[G] You ain't [Ab] nothing but a bearcat.
_ [Bbm] _ _ [Gb] _ Six years later, his pioneering [Dm] spirit found a home with another startup [Bb] label.
Thomas' duet with [Ab] his teenage daughter Carla, [Eb]
Cause I Love You, [Ab] was the first hit [C] for Satellite Records.
[Eb] _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ Satellite quickly became Stax [F] Records.
Father and daughter stayed with the [Eb] label and laid the foundation for its success.
_ _ [D] _
_ _ _ _ _ [Eb] _ _ _
_ _ _ [Bbm] _ Walkin' the Dog became an international hit in 1963.
Rufus was [Eb] 46 years old.
After working at the textile plant for 22 years, he could finally quit and become [D] a full-time entertainer.
[F] _ _ _ _ [Ab] Walkin' the Dog _ _ _ [Eb] influenced a generation [Gb] of young [F] musicians, including the Rolling Stones, [Am] who covered it on their [D] first album.
I'll show you how to walk the [A] dog. _ _
_ [Eb] More than 50 artists [D] have recorded Walkin' the Dog, so far.
[Ebm] _ Rufus hit his [Gb] stride in the [Ebm] 1970s with a string [Ab] of hits like Push and Pull, [Ebm] The Breakdown, and Do the Funky [Eb] Chicken.
You flap your arms, and your feet start kickin', then you know _ you're doin' the funky kickin'.
The groundbreaking Watch Stax documentary in 1973 featured the master at work.
_ _ [B] _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
[C] _ _ _ _ [N] _ _ _ _
Rufus had been with Stax since the company began, and he was there when the doors closed for good in [D] 1975.
[Db] _ _ [Dbm] But instead of thinking about [Ebm] retirement, Rufus kicked into [Eb] a new gear that [G] would last another [Eb] 26 years.
He kept releasing new albums, and his entire recorded history was [C] reissued again and [Bb] again.
His live shows were treasured around the [Ab] world, in every possible venue.
_ Concerts, [Eb] _
festivals, special events, _ jamming with [Ebm] friends, [Fm] even visits to [F] nursing homes.
He was still on the air [Ab] every Saturday morning [Bb] on WDIA.
_ He [Eb] shot cameo roles in [Bb] several feature films, and his [Ab] TV appearances left no [Cm] doubt that the legendary performer was [N] still on his game.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ [D] _ _ Offstage, his happy marriage to Laureen lasted for almost 60 years,
and he was proud that all three of his children built their own successful musical careers.
_ Rufus kept entertaining the world until the end of his life,
[G] and he was inducted into [D] the Blues Hall of Fame in 2001, not long before his passing at 84.
_ _ _ [G] _ His unquenchable spirit [D] lives on, [Dm] in his timeless music, and in the countless lives [F] he touched and [B] inspired. _
So if you can remember me, and remember the good things that I've done with people, not music alone, but with people.
These people right now would say, if it hadn't been for you, I never would have gotten into music.
Now that makes me feel good, that somebody thinks of me as _ their beginning.
_ _ You're the one that caused me to do this thing in music.
And I'm happy for me because of you.
_ Just remember me as somebody that _ _ liked everybody.
_ _ And I came to the point _ where I hated no one. _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ [Ebm] _
_ _ _ [Ab] _ _ _ [Ebm] _ _
[Ab] _ _ _ [Eb] _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ [Ebm] _ _ _ _
_ _ I ain't no old man.
[Eb] _
I'm yesterday, _ _ I'm [Ebm] today, _ _ I am [Ab] tomorrow. _ _
[Ebm] _ _ _ [Ab] _ _ _ [Eb] _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ [Ebm] _
Just one day I said, this is what I want to be.
I want to be one of the greatest entertainers in the world.
[E] _ _ And _ not being conceited, I am.
_ [Eb] _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ Rufus Thomas achieved [Bb] his ambition and much [G] more in a life [Bb] unique in American music.
He began as a [Cm] teenage Memphis tap dancer in the 1930s and hit the road with the Rabbitfoot [Bb] Minstrel's Tent Show,
[Db] developing the impish humor and ability to [Gm] connect with any audience [Fm] that became his [Cm] trademarks.
[Gm] Back home in Memphis, [C] Rufus married his high school sweetheart [Bb] in 1940 and soon took a day [D] job in a factory to support [C] a growing family.
[E] But his nighttime career [B] kept right on going as a comedian and a singer.
[Bb] He became a fixture on Beale Street where [Cm] his Palace Theater talent shows launched a [B] generation of Memphis performers.
[E] B.B. King and Bobby [Ebm] Bluebland began [F] legendary careers with Thomas' help.
_ [Db] Rufus joined WDIA, the nation's first all-black radio station, as a [Cm] featured disc jockey [C] and quickly became an institution in the [G] community.
[Am] This is Rufus Thomas [Cm] of CBS Radio.
[B] _ _
[C] He was not only spinning records, Rufus was making them.
He recorded for [D] several labels in the 50s and [Bb] years before Sun Records [Db] became the birthplace of rock and roll,
he gave the new Memphis label its first hit, _ _ 1953's Bearcat.
[G] You ain't [Ab] nothing but a bearcat.
_ [Bbm] _ _ [Gb] _ Six years later, his pioneering [Dm] spirit found a home with another startup [Bb] label.
Thomas' duet with [Ab] his teenage daughter Carla, [Eb]
Cause I Love You, [Ab] was the first hit [C] for Satellite Records.
[Eb] _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ Satellite quickly became Stax [F] Records.
Father and daughter stayed with the [Eb] label and laid the foundation for its success.
_ _ [D] _
_ _ _ _ _ [Eb] _ _ _
_ _ _ [Bbm] _ Walkin' the Dog became an international hit in 1963.
Rufus was [Eb] 46 years old.
After working at the textile plant for 22 years, he could finally quit and become [D] a full-time entertainer.
[F] _ _ _ _ [Ab] Walkin' the Dog _ _ _ [Eb] influenced a generation [Gb] of young [F] musicians, including the Rolling Stones, [Am] who covered it on their [D] first album.
I'll show you how to walk the [A] dog. _ _
_ [Eb] More than 50 artists [D] have recorded Walkin' the Dog, so far.
[Ebm] _ Rufus hit his [Gb] stride in the [Ebm] 1970s with a string [Ab] of hits like Push and Pull, [Ebm] The Breakdown, and Do the Funky [Eb] Chicken.
You flap your arms, and your feet start kickin', then you know _ you're doin' the funky kickin'.
The groundbreaking Watch Stax documentary in 1973 featured the master at work.
_ _ [B] _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
[C] _ _ _ _ [N] _ _ _ _
Rufus had been with Stax since the company began, and he was there when the doors closed for good in [D] 1975.
[Db] _ _ [Dbm] But instead of thinking about [Ebm] retirement, Rufus kicked into [Eb] a new gear that [G] would last another [Eb] 26 years.
He kept releasing new albums, and his entire recorded history was [C] reissued again and [Bb] again.
His live shows were treasured around the [Ab] world, in every possible venue.
_ Concerts, [Eb] _
festivals, special events, _ jamming with [Ebm] friends, [Fm] even visits to [F] nursing homes.
He was still on the air [Ab] every Saturday morning [Bb] on WDIA.
_ He [Eb] shot cameo roles in [Bb] several feature films, and his [Ab] TV appearances left no [Cm] doubt that the legendary performer was [N] still on his game.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ [D] _ _ Offstage, his happy marriage to Laureen lasted for almost 60 years,
and he was proud that all three of his children built their own successful musical careers.
_ Rufus kept entertaining the world until the end of his life,
[G] and he was inducted into [D] the Blues Hall of Fame in 2001, not long before his passing at 84.
_ _ _ [G] _ His unquenchable spirit [D] lives on, [Dm] in his timeless music, and in the countless lives [F] he touched and [B] inspired. _
So if you can remember me, and remember the good things that I've done with people, not music alone, but with people.
These people right now would say, if it hadn't been for you, I never would have gotten into music.
Now that makes me feel good, that somebody thinks of me as _ their beginning.
_ _ You're the one that caused me to do this thing in music.
And I'm happy for me because of you.
_ Just remember me as somebody that _ _ liked everybody.
_ _ And I came to the point _ where I hated no one. _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ [Ebm] _
_ _ _ [Ab] _ _ _ [Ebm] _ _
[Ab] _ _ _ [Eb] _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ [Ebm] _ _ _ _
_ _ I ain't no old man.
[Eb] _
I'm yesterday, _ _ I'm [Ebm] today, _ _ I am [Ab] tomorrow. _ _
[Ebm] _ _ _ [Ab] _ _ _ [Eb] _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ [Ebm] _