The above biography taken from: Wikipedia - Rufus Thomas
The Crown Prince of Dance; an early rock & roll DJ, Memphis soul icon and creator of the Funky Chicken.
Artist Biography (below) by Richie Unterberger
Few of rock & roll's founding figures are as likable as Rufus Thomas. From the 1940s onward, he has personified Memphis music; his small but witty cameo role in Jim Jarmusch's Mystery Train, a film which satirizes and enshrines the city's role in popular culture, was entirely appropriate. As a recording artist, he wasn't a major innovator, but he could always be depended upon for some good, silly, and/or outrageous fun with his soul dance tunes. He was one of the few rock or soul stars to reach his commercial and artistic peak in middle age, and was a crucial mentor to many important Memphis blues, rock, and soul musicians.
Thomas was already a professional entertainer in the mid-'30s, when he was a comedian with the Rabbit Foot Minstrels. He recorded music as early as 1941, but really made his mark on the Memphis music scene as a deejay on WDIA, one of the few black-owned stations of the era. He also ran talent shows on Memphis' famous Beale Street that helped showcase the emerging skills of such influential figures as B.B. King, Bobby Bland, Junior Parker, Ike Turner, and Roscoe Gordon.
Thomas had his first success as a recording artist in 1953 with "Bear Cat," a funny answer record to Big Mama Thornton's "Hound Dog." It made number three on the R&B charts, giving Sun Records its first national hit, though some of the sweetness went out of the triumph after Sun owner Sam Phillips lost a lawsuit for plagiarizing the original Jerry Leiber/Mike Stoller tune. Thomas, strangely, would make only one other record for Sun, and recorded only sporadically throughout the rest of the 1950s.
Thomas and his daughter Carla would become the first stars for the Stax label, for whom they recorded a duet in 1959, "'Cause I Love You" (when the company was still known as Satellite). In the '60s, Carla would become one of Stax's biggest stars. On his own, Rufus wasn't as successful as his daughter, but issued a steady stream of decent dance/novelty singles.
These were not deep or emotional statements, or meant to be. Vaguely prefiguring elements of funk, the accent was on the stripped-down groove and Rufus' good-time vocals, which didn't take himself or anything seriously. The biggest by far was "Walking the Dog," which made the Top Ten in 1963, and was covered by the Rolling Stones on their first album.
Thomas hit his commercial peak in the early '70s, when "Do the Funky Chicken," "(Do The) Push and Pull," and "The Breakdown" all made the R&B Top Five. As the song titles themselves make clear, funk was now driving his sound rather than blues or soul. Thomas drew upon his vaudeville background to put them over on-stage with fancy footwork that displayed remarkable agility for a man well into his 50s. The collapse of the Stax label in the mid-'70s meant the end of his career, basically, as it did for many other artists with the company. In 2001, Rufus Thomas was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame. Later that year, on December 15, he died at St. Francis hospital in Memphis, TN.
The above biography taken from: All Music Biography - Rufus Thomas by Richie Unterberger
Jump Back
Rufus Thomas Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
24 robbers at my door. (jump back baby jump back)
I got up and let 'em in (jump back baby jump back)
Hit 'em in the head with a rolling pin. (jump back baby jump back)
When I got 'em in a billy goat town (jump back baby jump back)
Billy goat kicked his pappy down (jump back baby jump back)
(Oh jump back baby jump back)
(Oh jump, jump)
Now I lay me down to sleep (jump back baby jump back)
giving the bed bugs a chance to creep (jump back baby jump back)
If one should bite before I wake (jump back baby jump back)
Hope the world his jaw will break (jump back baby jump back)
(Oh jump back baby jump back)
(Oh jump back baby jump back)
(Oh jump, jump)
Went to the river, I couldn't get across
Paid five dollars for an old gray hoss
Hoss wouldn't pull, I swapped him for a bull
Bull wouldn't holla, I sold him for a dollar
Dollar wouldn't pass, I throwed it in the grass
Grass wouldn't grow, I chopped it wid a hoe
Hoe wouldn't chop, I took it to the shop
Shop made money like a bee makes honey.
(Oh jump back baby jump back) [Repeat: x2]
(Oh jump) mm wait a minute baby, (jump)
Oh, come on do it (jump)
Yeah, yeah, yeah (jump)
Oh, yeah, yeah (oh, jump back)
Oh, wait a minute baby (oh, jump back)
Oh, come on baby (oh, jump back) [Repeat: x2]
Oh, wait a minute baby (oh, jump back)
Jump back, jump back baby (oh, jump back) [Repeat: x4]
Oh, come on baby (oh, jump back) [Repeat: x2]
Oh, wait a m
inute baby (oh, jump back)
In Rufus Thomas's song Jump Back, the lyrics describe a humorous story about a night when 24 robbers come to the singer's door. He decides to let them in and hits them on the head with a rolling pin. The story then becomes more absurd as it talks about a billy goat town, where a billy goat kicks his own father down. The rest of the lyrics are a collection of nonsensical rhymes that add to the playful and fun nature of the song.
Line by Line Meaning
Last night, night before (jump back baby jump back)
Referring to the night before the day he sang the song, Rufus says 'Jump back baby, jump back'
24 robbers at my door. (jump back baby jump back)
Rufus says that 24 robbers showed up at his door last night right after he said 'jump back baby, jump back'
I got up and let 'em in (jump back baby jump back)
Rufus got up and let the 24 robbers who were at his door inside
Hit 'em in the head with a rolling pin. (jump back baby jump back)
Rufus hit all 24 robbers in the head with a rolling pin
When I got 'em in a billy goat town (jump back baby jump back)
Rufus got all the thieves in an area in which there were billy goats
Billy goat kicked his pappy down (jump back baby jump back)
A billy goat kicked his father down right after he shouted 'Jump back baby, jump back'
(Oh jump back baby jump back)
This is a refrain that is repeated throughout the song. It is used to punctuate and emphasize certain moments and phrases.
(Oh jump, jump)
Similar to the previous line, it serves as a refrain that punctuates and emphasizes certain moments and phrases.
Now I lay me down to sleep (jump back baby jump back)
Rufus Thomas recites a prayer before he goes to bed and after saying the prayer, he shouts 'Jump back baby, jump back'
giving the bed bugs a chance to creep (jump back baby jump back)
As Rufus gets into bed, he hopes the bed bugs do not crawl on him as he sleeps, but still shouts 'jump back baby, jump back'
If one should bite before I wake (jump back baby jump back)
Rufus admits that bed bugs may still bite him before he wakes up after saying his prayer
Hope the world his jaw will break (jump back baby jump back)
If one of the bed bugs bite him, Rufus hopes that the bed bug's jaw will break
Went to the river, I couldn't get across
Rufus tried to cross a river but could not
Paid five dollars for an old gray hoss
Rufus bought an old gray horse for five dollars
Hoss wouldn't pull, I swapped him for a bull
The horse Rufus bought could not pull anything, so he traded it for a bull
Bull wouldn't holla, I sold him for a dollar
The bull Rufus got in the trade could not holler like he wanted it to, and so he sold it for a dollar
Dollar wouldn't pass, I throwed it in the grass
The dollar Rufus got from selling the bull was bad and so he threw it in the grass
Grass wouldn't grow, I chopped it wid a hoe
After throwing the dollar in the grass, the grass would not grow, so Rufus chopped it up with a hoe
Hoe wouldn't chop, I took it to the shop
After using the hoe to chop up the grass, Rufus took it to the shop because it wouldn't chop anymore
Shop made money like a bee makes honey.
The shop where Rufus took his hoe to be fixed made money like a bee makes honey
Oh jump back baby jump back
Refrain used to punctuate and emphasize certain moments and phrases.
(Oh jump) mm wait a minute baby, (jump)
Similar to the previous refrain, it is a way to punctuate Rufus's lyrics.
Oh, come on do it (jump)
Rufus tells someone to do something while punctuating and emphasizing with 'jump'
Yeah, yeah, yeah (jump)
Rufus exclaims 'yeah, yeah, yeah' while punctuating and emphasizing with 'jump'
Oh, yeah, yeah (oh, jump back)
Similar to the previous lines in this section, Rufus is punctuating his lyrics with 'jump back' and exclaiming 'oh, yeah, yeah'
Oh, wait a minute baby (oh, jump back)
Rufus asks someone to wait a minute, while punctuating with 'jump back'
Jump back, jump back baby (oh, jump back)
Rufus punctuates and emphasizes with 'jump back'
(oh, jump back) [Repeat: x4]
The refrain is repeated four times to create a sense of repetition and rhythm in the song.
Oh, come on baby (oh, jump back) [Repeat: x2]
Rufus implores someone to do something twice, while punctuating and emphasizing with 'jump back'
Oh, wait a minute baby (oh, jump back)
Rufus asks someone to wait a minute, while punctuating with 'jump back'
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: RUFUS THOMAS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind