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.
