"Tuff" is a song written and performed by

Ace Cannon John Henry "Ace" Cannon (May 5, 1934 – December 6, 2018) was an American tenor and alto saxophonist. He played and toured with Hi Records stablemate Bill Black's Combo, and started a solo career with his record "Tuff" in 1961, using the Blac ...

, and was arranged and produced by

Carl McVoy Carl McVoy (January 3, 1931 – January 3, 1992) was an American pianist. Career McVoy was cousin to the younger Jerry Lee Lewis. He had been to New York City with his father, who had been a minister there. McVoy got hooked on boogie-woogie whil ...

. It was featured on his 1962 album ''Tuff-Sax''.

Chart performance

It reached #3 on the U.S. R&B chart and #17 on the U.S. pop chart in 1962. The song ranked #40 on ''Billboard'' magazine's Top 100 singles of 1962.

Other versions

* Billy Vaughn and His Orchestra released a version of the song on their 1962 album ''Chapel by the Sea''. *

Fausto Papetti Fausto Papetti ( Viggiù, 28 January 1923 – San Remo, 15 June 1999) was an Italian alto saxophone player. A jazz musician by formation, Papetti became widely known for producing instrumental covers of some of the most famous pop and jazz songs. ...

released a version of the song on his 1965 album ''3a Raccolta''. *

Boots Randolph Homer Louis "Boots" Randolph III (June 3, 1927 – July 3, 2007) was an American musician. His 1963 saxophone hit " Yakety Sax" became the signature tune of ''The Benny Hill Show''. Randolph was a prolific session musician and member of the Nas ...

released a version of the song on his 1965 album ''Plays 12 Monstrous Sax Hits!'' *

Ray Anthony Ray Anthony (born Raymond Antonini; January 20, 1922) is an American retired bandleader, trumpeter, songwriter and actor. He is the last living member of the Glenn Miller Orchestra. Biography Anthony was born to an Italian family in Bentleyv ...

released a version of the song on his 1968 album ''Ray Anthony Now''. *

Charlie Musselwhite Charles Douglas Musselwhite (born January 31, 1944) is an American blues harmonica player and bandleader who came to prominence, along with Mike Bloomfield, Paul Butterfield, and Elvin Bishop, as a pivotal figure in helping to revive the Chicago ...

released a version of the song on his 1979 album ''The Harmonica According to Charlie Musselwhite''. *

Hank Crawford Bennie Ross "Hank" Crawford, Jr. (December 21, 1934 – January 29, 2009) was an American alto saxophonist, pianist, arranger and songwriter whose genres ranged from R&B, hard bop, jazz-funk, and soul jazz. Crawford was musical director for ...

and

Jimmy McGriff James Harrell McGriff (April 3, 1936 – May 24, 2008) was an American hard bop and soul-jazz organist and organ trio bandleader. Biography Early years and influences Born in Germantown, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, McGriff started playing pia ...

released a version of the song on their 1990 album '' On the Blue Side''. * Clifford Scott released a version of the song on his 1992 album ''Mr. Honky Tonk Is Back in Town''. * John Fahey and

Cul de Sac A dead end, also known as a ''cul-de-sac'' (; , ), a no-through road or a no-exit road, is a street with only one combined inlet and outlet. Dead ends are added to roads in urban planning designs to limit traffic in residential areas. Some d ...

released a version of the song on their 1997 album '' The Epiphany of Glenn Jones''.

References

1961 songs 1961 singles Hi Records singles 1960s instrumentals {{1960s-single-stub