Rudy Toombs(1920-1962)
- Actor
- Soundtrack
Starting out as a song-and-dance man in the last years of vaudeville,
Rudy Toombs was a prolific composer and lyricist of doo-wop and rhythm
and blues standards during the '50's and '60s; his widow estimated that
he either composed the music or wrote the lyrics for over five hundred
songs. He hit his stride as a writer and arranger for Ahmet Ertegun's
Atlantic Records. Among his best-known songs are "One Mint Julep" (sung
by The Clovers, went to Number 2 on the charts in 1951), "5-10-15
Hours" (sung by Ruth Brown; this song finished Number 1 in 1951), "One
Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer", originally recorded by John Lee Hooker,
but covered by George Thorogood; "Gum Drop," "Teardrops From My Eyes,"
another hit for Ruth Brown, and later, Ray Charles; "I'm Shakin'", a
hit for Little Willie John; "Lonesome River Blues," "I Cried and Cried"
and "I Get a Thrill." Toombs was beaten to death in the hallway of his
apartment house, the result of a failed mugging.
