Rudy Toombs
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Rudolph "Rudy" Toombs (1914, Monroe, Louisiana - 28 November 1962, New York) was a black songwriter who wrote "Teardrops from My Eyes", Ruth Brown's first number one R&B hit song. He wrote more hits for Brown, including "5-10-15 Hours" as well as "One Mint Julep" for The Clovers.[1][2]
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[edit] History
Although he began as a song-and-dance man in vaudeville, he became a productive lyricist and composer of doo-wop songs and rhythm and blues standards during the 1950's and 1960's. His best work was done at Atlantic Records, writing and arranging songs for Ahmet Ertegün. He died in 1962, murdered by robbers in the hallway of his apartment house in Harlem.[2]
Ruth Brown credits Toombs as a big reason for her success. She describes him as joyful, exuberant man, so full of life that he passed that ebullience on to her. He taught her how to take a moody blues ballad and make it into a bouncy, jump song.[3]
[edit] Songs
Some of Toombs best known songs are listed below:[2]
- "Teardrops from My Eyes" a hit for Ruth Brown and also later for Ray Charles
- "One Mint Julep" (sung by The Clovers, went to number one on the charts in 1951)
- "5-10-15 Hours" (sung by Ruth Brown finished number one R&B in 1951)
- "One Scotch, One Bourbon, One Beer", written for Amos Milburn but recorded first by John Lee Hooker and covered by George Thorogood
- "Thinking and Drinking"
- "Gum Drop", a hit for The Crew-Cuts in 1955.
- "I'm Shakin'", a hit for Little Willie John
- "Lonesome River Blues"
- "I Cried and Cried"
- "I Get a Thrill"
- "It Hurts To Be in Love" for Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers
[edit] Artists
His songs (apart from those recordings listed above) have been sung by the following artists:[4]
- Hank Ballard
- Freddy King
- Ella Mae Morse
- Otis Williams and the Charms
- The Orioles
- James Brown
- Big Joe Turner
- Louis Jordan
- Pat Boone
- Wynonie Harris
- Hank Snow
- Johnny "Guitar" Watson
- Betty Everett
- Frankie Laine
- The Five Keys
- Albert King
- Bill Haley & His Comets
[edit] Notes
- ^ (1992) What Was the First Rock'n'Roll Recork. Boston & London: Faber & Faber. ISBN 978-0-571-12939-3.
- ^ a b c Biography for Rudy Toombs. IMBD. Retrieved on 2006-11-01.
- ^ Shaw, Arnold (1978). Honkers and Shouter: The Golden Years of Rhythm & Blues. New York, N.Y.: Macmillan Publishing Company. ISBN 978-0-02-061740-2.
- ^ Rudy Toombs. allmusic.com. Retrieved on 2007-11-25.
