The great Rudy Ray Moore aka Dolemite aka The king of party records aka The Human Tornado aka Petey Wheatstraw the Devils son in-law passed away at age 81 last night. Rudy Ray Moore was one of the original potty mouthed comedians along with Redd Foxx, Luwanda Page, Leroy and SKillet and Wild Man Steve. These guys pioneered black comedy and set the table for people like Richard Pryor and later on Eddie Murphy not to mention the legions of post Def Jam comedians.In the mid 90’s Rudy Ray’s career was revitalized by people such as Snoop Dogg who brought Dolemite’s vibe to the mainstream and incorporated Rudy Ray’s pimp persona into his own. I dug it when I saw him in Snoops Doggy Dog world video. It made me dig Snoop even more no pun intended.
I remember seeing the Human Tornado at the Jefferson theatre on 14th street with my crew of young derelicts. We had just discovered weed and smoking a skinny double papered big bambu joint with my crew in the balcony of the theater was my intro to Rudy Ray Moores comedy. Weed was a new thing for us and Rudy helped us usher in the experience. You could say I was totally captivated by his low budget faux Kung Fu flick and was made a fan for life of weed and Dolemite at the tender age of 12 or so. I once in a DC record store at least 10 years later found original copies of many of his record titled things like ” Eat out more often”, “The Devils son in law”, and the Human Tornado. Those gems are still in the collection and the covers are as unforgettable as the material. I always loved his ode to Hurricane Annie with her big old fanny amongst many other dirty little ditty’s he had up his sleeve.
Thanks for the laughs. Rudy Ray Moore you helped shape my irreverent sense of humor, you really trolled in the under ground of black culture and your contributions to hip-hop culture timeless REST IN POWER RUDY RAY MOORE AKA DOLEMITE!
This video trailer is classic Rudy Ray Moore:
