Rudy Toombs

Rudolph "Rudy" Toombs (c.1914–November 28, 1962), born in Monroe, Louisiana, 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. [cite book
first=
last=
authorlink=
coauthors= Jim Dawson & Steve Propes
year= 1992
title= What Was the First Rock'n'Roll Recork
edition=
publisher= Faber & Faber
location= Boston & London
id=ISBN 978-0-571-12939-3 ]

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.cite web
url=http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0867514/bio
title=Biography for Rudy Toombs
publisher=IMBD
accessdate=2006-11-01 ]

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. [cite book
first= Arnold
last= Shaw
year= 1978
title= Honkers and Shouter: The Golden Years of Rhythm & Blues
edition=
publisher= Macmillan Publishing Company
location= New York, N.Y.
id=ISBN 978-0-02-061740-2 ]

ongs

Some of Toombs best known songs are listed below:
* "Teardrops from My Eyes" a hit for Ruth Brown
* "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

Artists

His songs (apart from those recordings listed above) have been sung by the following artists: [cite web
year=
month=
url=http://wm07.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&searchlink=RUDY|TOOMBS&sql=11:jzfpxqqgldke~T3
title=Rudy Toombs
publisher=allmusic.com
accessdate=2007-11-25 ]
*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

Notes

External links

* [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0867514/bio Rudy Toombs Biography]
* [http://www.rockabilly.nl/references/messages/rudolph_toombs.htm Mini biography]