Fact #190373
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Rufus Thomas : I wrote that in 1963, and even now when I sing it people love it. I was once interviewed by a fellow in France who said he personally knew of 44 different versions. There's even a country version by Run CAndW - a bluegrass version. And I have to say I appreciate The Rolling Stones doing it, 'cause I actually got paid. But I've heard some real bad versions, and it hurts your heart, man. You want to tell 'em, 'Please don't - I wish you wouldn't do my song like that'.
Tom Dowd (record producer) : Rufus comes walking in (to the Stax studio) in this suit - fine threads. He's just coming home from church. And he says, "I was drivin' down MacLemore [Avenue, where the studio is located] and I see how many cars are in the parking lot, so I figure the studio's working; somebody's fixed it."
So I meet Rufus for the first time. And he looks at the band and says, "Hey, I got this ditty. It'll take two minutes. Let me sing it to you, and then we'll record it". So I threw a tape on. They run the song down once or twice; I make two passes at it. I play it back to him; he says, "Yeah, that's fine, man." He's going home happy as a pig in a poke.
That's Walkin' the Dog. I go up to New York with a tape under my arm the next day, and I finally get to Wexler's office late in the afternoon, and I say, "Hey, the studio's flying, they'll chase you some stuff, and here's proof - I made this yesterday." And he listens to it, and he says, "Put the damn thing out!"
(Source : not known)
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Tom Dowd (record producer) : Rufus comes walking in (to the Stax studio) in this suit - fine threads. He's just coming home from church. And he says, "I was drivin' down MacLemore [Avenue, where the studio is located] and I see how many cars are in the parking lot, so I figure the studio's working; somebody's fixed it."
So I meet Rufus for the first time. And he looks at the band and says, "Hey, I got this ditty. It'll take two minutes. Let me sing it to you, and then we'll record it". So I threw a tape on. They run the song down once or twice; I make two passes at it. I play it back to him; he says, "Yeah, that's fine, man." He's going home happy as a pig in a poke.
That's Walkin' the Dog. I go up to New York with a tape under my arm the next day, and I finally get to Wexler's office late in the afternoon, and I say, "Hey, the studio's flying, they'll chase you some stuff, and here's proof - I made this yesterday." And he listens to it, and he says, "Put the damn thing out!"
(Source : not known)