I Got Some Boogie For Ya!

Rufus Thomas:

Boogie Ain't Nuttin' (But Gettin' Down) (Pt. 1) b/w (Pt. 2)

As Stax Records entered its desperate last days in late 1974 and early 1975, many of the longest-tenured Stax artists stayed true to the company, recording and keeping the faith until the label was forced to close in early 1976. It is only fitting that Rufus Thomas, whose duet with daughter Carla, "Cause I Love You," was Stax's first hit record, would be one of the last to have a single release on the label, with "Jump Back '75." Today's selection was a 1974 Stax single that actually made it into the lower fringes of the R&B charts, but by the time of its release Stax was fading fast. For some reason producer Tom Nixon had Rufus record "Boogie Ain't Nuttin'" at FAME studios rather than at Stax, and the tune, accordingly, had a much lighter groove than most of Rufus' material. It's a nice groove, though, featuring some nice electric piano and good horn work. Thomas, whose long career certainly made him an authority on the subject, links "boogie" from its 1974 proponents (name checking Eddie Kendricks and Kool & The Gang, both of whom had scored hits that year with "Boogie Down" and "Jungle Boogie," respectively) to the '40s and '50s R&B greats like Wynonie Harris and Roy Brown over both parts of the single. History lessons aside, it's a nice piece of boogie all by itself, and Rufus' "I got some boogie for ya" chant is right on the money.