Biography
Teddy Humphries posed the musical query "What Makes You So Tough?" on a little-known single from 1959. A possible explanation lies in his upbringing within a Pittsburgh musical clan that produced, ranked by discographical output, cousin Roger Humphries on drums along with uncles Frank Humphries and Hildred Humphries on horns. These relatives and additional family members all participated in the Humphries Brothers Band, a longstanding Pittsburgh institution.
Discographer Tom Lord credits Humphries, who performed as pianist and vocalist, with appearances on four sessions from 1958 through 1962. Among them was the track in question, issued by King Records as the flip side of "Guitar Pickin' Fool." Although Roger Humphries spent years in Ray Charles and His Band, the Humphries single marked one of the family's primary departures from jazz; the precise classification of this style—rhythm and blues, rock and roll, or rockabilly—remained unsettled at the time. Collectors have kept the King release in circulation, where it frequently appears on anthologies.
Discographer Tom Lord credits Humphries, who performed as pianist and vocalist, with appearances on four sessions from 1958 through 1962. Among them was the track in question, issued by King Records as the flip side of "Guitar Pickin' Fool." Although Roger Humphries spent years in Ray Charles and His Band, the Humphries single marked one of the family's primary departures from jazz; the precise classification of this style—rhythm and blues, rock and roll, or rockabilly—remained unsettled at the time. Collectors have kept the King release in circulation, where it frequently appears on anthologies.