Rufus Thomas personified Memphis music for seven decades. His career began in the 1930s with the Rabbit Foot Minstrels. He cut his first record in 1941, but really made his mark on the Memphis music scene as a DJ on WDIA. He emceed talent shows on Memphis' famous Beale Street, showcasing young talent like B.B. King, Bobby Bland, Junior Parker, Ike Turner, and Roscoe Gordon.

His first success as a recording artist was in 1953 with "Bear Cat,” a record that gave Sun Records its first hit and helped establish the career of the label’s owner Sam Phillips.

In 1959, Rufus was also instrumental in the rise of Stax Records; with his daughter Carla, he recorded the company’s first hit "'Cause I Love You."

For as long as Stax was a major force in the music industry, Rufus churned out hits like “Walking the Dog," "Do the Funky Chicken," "(Do The) Push and Pull," and "The Breakdown," all good-time get-up-and-dance tracks that he agilely performed on stage with fancy footwork perfected in his vaudeville days

On this album, Ugly Like Me, Rufus delivers 11 wonderful tracks with the same verve and in the same inimitable style that made him a universally beloved icon of 20^th century American music. Aside from the title track, other standouts include the rollicking “I’ll Be A Good Boy,” “That’s No Good” (a duet with daughter Carla Thomas), and a killer treatment of the blues classic “Trouble In Mind”