Saturday, July 5, 2008

In a youtube kind of mood

The last time I saw Rufus Thomas was at the Beale street music festival, a part of Memphis in May. He walked up on stage with the help of a 
handler and a cane. Rickety as all get out and seemingly feeble. He was helped to the microphone and when the handler made sure he was 
steady and walked away he wobbled a little bit on his cane. He had on a big coat, very diferent than his trade mark pink shorts pants suit. 
It was sad in a way. There was a collective tension in the crowd at seeing this great, vibrant man looking so old. I think many people were still 
standing there out of respect alone. And then it happened. The band started playing. He dropped the cane. He started to bend but couldn't
reach it. He looked out at us, shrugged and then stood right up, threw off his coat to reveal the aforementioned pink suit and big white boots
and went straight into Walking the Dog, with full dance routines and bouncing around. Followed by the famous Funky Chicken and Land of 1000
Dancers and on and on and on. For an hour at least. He never stopped to rest. It was unbelievable. The joke was on us. He wasn't feeble at all, old,
yes, but not feeble. He was every bit the showman he was known to be. He died of heart failure six months later.

The video below is from Wattstax, which you should google. He's wearing the outfit, though is decidedly younger than the he was on the night
above. I picked the funky chicken because it's what he's most known for. Enjoy.


Maybe I should not ever go see old people play music, they tend to die right after. This is the only video I could find of Mose Vinson, He's a bit more
lively than when I saw him, but here you go... Sid Selvidge is playing with him. There's a video of Sid below.


Sid is a family friend. He is emensely talented and has such a beautiful voice. Also, the man can yodel like nobody's business. This was my favorite
song of his when I was a child...

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow... now I know where that song/dance called “CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP” came from… Damn… some young folks have zero creativity...LMAO

ALERT!!!
Clementine is in the audience…
Old folks please evacuate the place ... get your wheelchair and roll for your life.

Anonymous said...

hahaha! that was awesome! seeing everyone groovin' to the funky chicken! that made me smile! pink short suit and all!

The Amatuer Writer said...

These people are what you would address them as 'Legends' in their own rights!..Old and feeble on daily 'chores' but once on stage; they miraculously transformed into a seemingly different 'persona'..its in their blood and they loved doing it so much that even if they did die on stage, they will be contented. God Bless their souls..

Thank you.

Stay well, strong and cool DB.

xoxo ;)

texgirl said...

DB - you left yourself wide open with the last 2 blogs: 2 left feet & now the funky chicken video. Is this a subliminal message about your dancing? I guess we won't see you dong the "soldier boy" dance on youtube. Good video, thanks for sharing and it was great for keeping a much younger audience occupied.

“Anonymous” good comment.

texgirl said...

OOPPSS! That shld hv B'N do'N not dong. That can make some laugh. :)

texgirl said...

Youtube kind of mood?

Google and Youtube info to Viacom? How much have you viewed since the court order?

Anonymous said...

Thank you for a nice video.
Especially the funky chicken video is a favorite. I watched it five times today. It is music and the dance that I love!!