Known as the queen of Memphis soul, Carla Thomas seemed destined for greatness
from the beginning. Despite being raised in the Foot Homes Projects in Memphis,
she grew up in a musical family as the daughter of Rufus Thomas, a successful
singer and dancer in his own right, fondly remembered for the novelty hits
'Walking The Dog' and 'Do the Funky Chicken'. Her father was also an MC at the
amateur shows staged locally at the Palace Theater, which is where the young
Carla got her first taste of public performance.
At the age of ten in 1952 she joined the Teen Town Singers, a Memp...