"(Do The) Push and Pull (Part 1)" | ||||
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Single by Rufus Thomas | ||||
from the album Rufus Thomas Live: Doing the Push & Pull at P.J.'s | ||||
B-side | "(Do The) Push and Pull" (Part 2) | |||
Released | 1970 | |||
Genre | R&B | |||
Length | 3:14 | |||
Label | Stax | |||
Songwriter(s) | Rufus Thomas | |||
Producer(s) | Al Bell, Tom Nixon | |||
Rufus Thomas singles chronology | ||||
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"(Do The) Push and Pull (Part 1)" is a 1970 single on Stax Records by singer Rufus Thomas. The song was written by Thomas, and the recording was arranged by Carl Hampton, and produced by Al Bell and Tom Nixon. [1]
This was the first and only number-one song for Thomas, who had first hit the R&B chart in 1953. The song was at the top of the Billboard Best Selling Soul Singles chart for two weeks in February 1971. The single also reached the Top 30 on the pop chart, peaking at number 25. [2]
Chart (1971) | Peak position |
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U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 25 |
U.S. Billboard Best Selling Soul Singles | 1 |
Rufus C. Thomas, Jr. 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 Records and Sun Records 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). According to the Mississippi Blues Commission, "Rufus Thomas embodied the spirit of Memphis music perhaps more than any other artist, and from the early 1940s until his death . . . occupied many important roles in the local scene."
Carla Venita Thomas is an American singer, who is often referred to as the Queen of Memphis Soul. Thomas is best known for her 1960s recordings for Atlantic and Stax including the hits "Gee Whiz " (1960), "B-A-B-Y" (1966) and "Tramp" (1967), a duet with Otis Redding. She is the daughter of Rufus Thomas.
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