Thomas's renown in Memphis didn't pay the bills. Yet he became the first to play Presley songs on WDIA, refusing to segregate his playlists. Thomas was dropped from Sun and went on to record for other local labels. After Sun discovered Elvis Presley and began concentrating on white rockabilly singers, Mr. ''Bear Cat,'' which he wrote and sang as an answer to Big Mama Thornton's ''Hound Dog,'' became the first hit on Sun Records. Thomas started his recording career in the 1950's. ''They'd come into town and forget all their worries and woes.'' ''Beale Street was the black man's haven,'' Mr. He formed his own comedy duo, Rufus and Bones (with Robert Couch), and took over as the master of ceremonies at the Palace Theater, presenting an amateur show where the contest winners included B. Thomas toured the South as a dancer, singer and comedian with the Rabbit Foot Minstrels until he married in 1940 and settled in Memphis. Williams, was also an emcee at the Palace Theater on Beale Street in Memphis, and he made Mr. Thomas tap danced in the streets for tips. The family moved to Memphis, and as a high-school student in the 1930's, Mr. Thomas, a sharecropper's son, was born in Casey, Miss., in 1917.
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