. . . "1917Z"^^ . "American musician" . . "1998Z"^^ . . "Rufus Thomas, Jr. (March 26, 1917 \u2013 December 15, 2001) was an American rhythm and blues, funk, soul and blues singer, songwriter, dancer, DJ and comic entertainer from Memphis, Tennessee. He recorded for several labels including Chess and Sun in the 1950s, before becoming established in the 1960s and 1970s at Stax Records. He is best known for his novelty dance records including \"Walking the Dog\" (1963), \"Do the Funky Chicken\" (1969) and \"(Do the) Push and Pull\" (1970)."@en . . . "Thomas, Rufus"@en . "Rufus Thomas"@en . . . "1917-03-26Z"^^ . . . . . . "1930Z"^^ . . . "2001Z"^^ . . "1917-03-27Z"^^ . . . . . . "solo_singer" . . "Rufus Thomas, Jr."@en . . . "2001-12-15Z"^^ .