Album of the Day

Rufus Thomas was one of the true greats of Memphis music, recording for the legendary Sun label in the 1950s and scoring a string of hits the following decade - by which time he was in his forties and his daughter Carla was already an established hitmaker. Cut at Stax with the studio's great house band and later released through Atlantic, WALKING THE DOG captures Thomas'  raw R&B and sense of humor on a dozen songs split between originals and spirited covers of favorites from the likes of Lee Dorsey, Chris Kenner and John Lee Hooker. Among the originals are the Top 10 title track as well as “Can Your Monkey Do The Dog” and “Mashed Potatoes” - this 1964 collection is filled with good times and tight grooves from the days of dance craze and answer records. On this day in 2001, Rufus Thomas passed away at age 84, and we'll remember “the world’s oldest teenager” with WALKING THE DOG.