Otis Rush
Encyclopedia
Otis Rush is a blues musician
, singer and guitarist. His distinctive guitar
style features a slow burning sound and long bent notes. With similar qualities to Magic Sam
and Buddy Guy
, his sound became known as West Side Chicago blues and became an influence on many musicians including Michael Bloomfield
and Eric Clapton
.
Rush is left-handed and, unlike many other left-handed guitarists, plays a left-handed instrument strung upside-down with the low E string at the bottom. He played often with the little finger of his pick hand curled under the low E for positioning. It is widely believed that this contributes to his distinctive sound. Other guitarists who restrung upside down include Albert King
, Doyle Bramhall II
, and Dick Dale
. He has a wide-ranging, powerful tenor voice.
, Illinois
in 1948, Rush made a name for himself playing in clubs on both the South Side and West Side blues scenes. From 1956 to 1958, he recorded for the Cobra Records
and released eight singles, some featuring Ike Turner
or Jody Williams
on guitar. His first single "I Can't Quit You Baby
" in 1956 reached No. 6 on Billboard
s R&B chart. During his tenure with Cobra, he recorded some of his well known songs such as "Double Trouble" and "All Your Love (I Miss Loving)
."
After Cobra Records went bankrupt in 1959, Rush landed a recording contract with Chess
in 1960. He recorded eight tracks for the label, four of which were released on two singles that year. Six tracks including the two singles later came out on "Door To Door" album in 1969, a compilation also featuring Chess recordings by Albert King
.
He also went into the studio for Duke Records
in 1962, but only one single "Homework/I Have to Laugh" was issued from the label. It also received a release in Great Britain on Vocalion VP9260 in 1963. In 1965, he recorded for Vanguard
which can be heard on the label's compilation album, Chicago/The Blues/Today! Vol.2.
In the 1960s, Rush began playing in other cities in the U.S. and also to Europe
, most notably the American Folk Blues Festival
.
In 1969, the album Mourning in the Morning was released on Cotillion Records
. Recorded at the FAME Studios
in Muscle Shoals, Alabama
, the album was produced by Michael Bloomfield and Nick Gravenites
(then of Electric Flag
). The sound that incorporated soul and rock was a brand new direction for Rush.
In 1971, Rush recorded the album Right Place, Wrong Time
in San Francisco, California
for Capitol Records
, but Capitol decided not to release it. The album was finally released in 1976 when Rush purchased the master from Capitol and had it released by P-Vine Records
in Japan
. Bullfrog Records released it in the U.S. soon after. The album generally has since gained a reputation as one of the best works by Rush.
In the 1970s, he also released some albums on Delmark Records
and also from Sonet Records
in Europe, but by the end of the decade he stopped performing and recording.
Rush made a come back in 1985 making a U.S. tour and releasing the live album, Tops, recorded at the San Francisco Blues Festival
.
In 1994, Rush released Ain't Enough Comin' In, the first studio album in 16 years. Any Place I'm Goin followed in 1998, and Rush earned his first Grammy Award for Best Traditional Blues Album
in 1999.
Though he has not recorded a new studio album since 1998, he continued to tour and perform. In 2002, he was featured on the Bo Diddley
tribute album Hey Bo Diddley - A Tribute!, performing the song "I'm A Man
".
However, he suffered a stroke in 2004 which has kept him from performing since. In 2006, Rush released his latest CD, Live and From San Francisco on Blues Express Records, a live recording from 1999. Video footage of the same show was released on the DVD Live Part 1 in 2003.
Rush has two daughters and two sons from a previous marriage and 2 daughters from his second marriage, Lena and Sophia.
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
, singer and guitarist. His distinctive guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
style features a slow burning sound and long bent notes. With similar qualities to Magic Sam
Magic Sam
Samuel "Magic Sam" Gene Maghett was an American Chicago blues musician. Maghett was born in Grenada, Mississippi, United States, and learned to play the blues from listening to records by Muddy Waters and Little Walter...
and Buddy Guy
Buddy Guy
George "Buddy" Guy is an American blues and jazz guitarist and singer. He is a critically acclaimed artist who has established himself as a pioneer of the Chicago blues sound, and has served as an influence to some of the most notable musicians of his generation...
, his sound became known as West Side Chicago blues and became an influence on many musicians including Michael Bloomfield
Mike Bloomfield
Michael Bernard "Mike" Bloomfield was an American musician, guitarist, and composer, born in Chicago, Illinois, who became one of the first popular music superstars of the 1960s to earn his reputation almost entirely on his instrumental prowess, since he rarely sang before 1969–70...
and Eric Clapton
Eric Clapton
Eric Patrick Clapton, CBE, is an English guitarist and singer-songwriter. Clapton is the only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: once as a solo artist, and separately as a member of The Yardbirds and Cream. Clapton has been referred to as one of the most important and...
.
Rush is left-handed and, unlike many other left-handed guitarists, plays a left-handed instrument strung upside-down with the low E string at the bottom. He played often with the little finger of his pick hand curled under the low E for positioning. It is widely believed that this contributes to his distinctive sound. Other guitarists who restrung upside down include Albert King
Albert King
Albert King was an American blues guitarist and singer, and a major influence in the world of blues guitar playing.-Career:...
, Doyle Bramhall II
Doyle Bramhall II
Doyle Bramhall II is a guitarist and vocalist in his band Smokestack and was also the second guitarist in Eric Clapton's band from 2004 to 2009.-Discography:with Arc Angels*Arc Angels...
, and Dick Dale
Dick Dale
Dick Dale is an American surf rock guitarist, known as The King of the Surf Guitar. He experimented with reverberation and made use of custom made Fender amplifiers, including the first-ever 100-watt guitar amplifier.-Early life:Dale was born in South Boston, Massachusetts and lived in nearby...
. He has a wide-ranging, powerful tenor voice.
Career
After moving to ChicagoChicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
in 1948, Rush made a name for himself playing in clubs on both the South Side and West Side blues scenes. From 1956 to 1958, he recorded for the Cobra Records
Cobra Records
Cobra Records was an independent record label that operated from 1956 to 1959. The label was important for launching the recording careers of Chicago blues artists Otis Rush, Magic Sam, and Buddy Guy and "signaled the arrival of a new generation of [blues] artists and a new sound .....
and released eight singles, some featuring Ike Turner
Ike Turner
Isaac Wister Turner was an American musician, bandleader, songwriter, arranger, talent scout, and record producer. In a career that lasted more than half a century, his repertoire included blues, soul, rock, and funk...
or Jody Williams
Jody Williams
Jody Williams is an American teacher and aid worker who received the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize jointly with the campaign she worked for, the International Campaign to Ban Landmines...
on guitar. His first single "I Can't Quit You Baby
I Can't Quit You Baby
"I Can't Quit You Baby" is a blues standard written by Willie Dixon and first recorded by Chicago blues artist Otis Rush in 1956. The song, a slow twelve-bar blues, has been recorded by various artists, including Led Zeppelin, who included it on their debut album.- Otis Rush version :"I Can't Quit...
" in 1956 reached No. 6 on Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
s R&B chart. During his tenure with Cobra, he recorded some of his well known songs such as "Double Trouble" and "All Your Love (I Miss Loving)
All Your Love (I Miss Loving)
"All Your Love " or "All Your Love" is a blues song written and recorded in 1958 by Chicago blues guitarist Otis Rush. It is "the best-known and most covered of Rush's [authored] songs", with versions recorded by several blues and other artists...
."
After Cobra Records went bankrupt in 1959, Rush landed a recording contract with Chess
Chess Records
Chess Records was an American record label based in Chicago, Illinois. It specialized in blues, R&B, soul, gospel music, early rock and roll, and occasional jazz releases....
in 1960. He recorded eight tracks for the label, four of which were released on two singles that year. Six tracks including the two singles later came out on "Door To Door" album in 1969, a compilation also featuring Chess recordings by Albert King
Albert King
Albert King was an American blues guitarist and singer, and a major influence in the world of blues guitar playing.-Career:...
.
He also went into the studio for Duke Records
Duke Records
Duke Records was an American record label, started in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1952 by David James Mattis and Bill Fitzgerald, owners of Tri-State Recording Company. Their first release was Roscoe Gordon singing "Hey Fat Girl", issued on Duke R-1, later amended to R-101.After forming a partnership...
in 1962, but only one single "Homework/I Have to Laugh" was issued from the label. It also received a release in Great Britain on Vocalion VP9260 in 1963. In 1965, he recorded for Vanguard
Vanguard Records
Vanguard Records is a record label set up in 1950 by brothers Maynard and Seymour Solomon in New York. It started as a classical label, but is perhaps best known for its catalogue of recordings by a number of pivotal folk and blues artists from the 1960s; the Bach Guild was a subsidiary...
which can be heard on the label's compilation album, Chicago/The Blues/Today! Vol.2.
In the 1960s, Rush began playing in other cities in the U.S. and also to Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, most notably the American Folk Blues Festival
American Folk Blues Festival
The American Folk Blues Festival was a music festival that toured Europe beginning in 1962.German jazz publicist Joachim-Ernst Berendt first had the idea of bringing original African-American blues performers to Europe. Jazz had become very popular, and rock and roll was just gaining a foothold,...
.
In 1969, the album Mourning in the Morning was released on Cotillion Records
Cotillion Records
Cotillion Records was a subsidiary of Atlantic Records and was active from 1968 through 1985. The label was originally formed as an outlet for blues and deep Southern soul; its first single, Otis Clay's version of "She's About A Mover", reached the R&B charts. Cotillion's catalog quickly expanded...
. Recorded at the FAME Studios
FAME Studios
FAME Studios are located at 603 East Avalon in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. They have been an integral part of American popular music from the late 1950s to the present...
in Muscle Shoals, Alabama
Muscle Shoals, Alabama
Muscle Shoals is a city in Colbert County, Alabama, United States. As of 2007, the United States Census Bureau estimated the population of the city to be 12,846. The city is included in The Shoals MSA. It is famous for its contributions to American popular music.-Geography:Muscle Shoals is located...
, the album was produced by Michael Bloomfield and Nick Gravenites
Nick Gravenites
Nicholas George Gravenites , with stage names like Nick "The Greek" Gravenites and Gravy, is a blues, rock and folk singer–songwriter, and is best known for his work with Janis Joplin, Mike Bloomfield and several influential bands and names of the generation springing from the 1960s and 1970s...
(then of Electric Flag
Electric Flag
The Electric Flag was a blues rock soul group, led by guitarist Mike Bloomfield, keyboardist Barry Goldberg and drummer Buddy Miles, and featuring other well-known musicians such as vocalist Nick Gravenites and bassist Harvey Brooks. Bloomfield formed the Electric Flag in 1967, following his stint...
). The sound that incorporated soul and rock was a brand new direction for Rush.
In 1971, Rush recorded the album Right Place, Wrong Time
Right Place, Wrong Time (album)
Right Place, Wrong Time Is a 1976 album by blues singer and guitarist Otis Rush. Although regarded as one of his finest recordings, the album was not issued until five years after it was recorded.-Background:...
in San Francisco, California
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
for Capitol Records
Capitol Records
Capitol Records is a major United States based record label, formerly located in Los Angeles, but operating in New York City as part of Capitol Music Group. Its former headquarters building, the Capitol Tower, is a major landmark near the corner of Hollywood and Vine...
, but Capitol decided not to release it. The album was finally released in 1976 when Rush purchased the master from Capitol and had it released by P-Vine Records
P-Vine Records
P-Vine Records is a record label started by Blues Interactions, Inc., a firm in Tokyo, Japan established in 1975 by Yasufumi Higurashi and Akira Kochi...
in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. Bullfrog Records released it in the U.S. soon after. The album generally has since gained a reputation as one of the best works by Rush.
In the 1970s, he also released some albums on Delmark Records
Delmark Records
Delmark Records is an independent American jazz and blues record label, based in Chicago since 1958. The label originated in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1953 when owner Bob Koester released a recording of the Windy City Six, a traditional jazz group, under the "Delmar" imprint.-History:Born in 1932 in...
and also from Sonet Records
Sonet Records
Sonet Records is a jazz record label operating as an imprint of Universal Music Sweden. It was founded in Sweden in 1956.Sonet Records was established by Sven Lindholm and Gunnar Bergström, who managed the label into the 1980s. Dag Haeggqvist, the owner of Gazell Records, became an executive of the...
in Europe, but by the end of the decade he stopped performing and recording.
Rush made a come back in 1985 making a U.S. tour and releasing the live album, Tops, recorded at the San Francisco Blues Festival
San Francisco Blues Festival
Debuting in 1973, the San Francisco Blues Festival is the longest running blues festival in the United States. Tom Mazzolini, the event's producer, founded the blues festival to educate the public about the history and evolution of the blues...
.
In 1994, Rush released Ain't Enough Comin' In, the first studio album in 16 years. Any Place I'm Goin followed in 1998, and Rush earned his first Grammy Award for Best Traditional Blues Album
Grammy Award for Best Traditional Blues Album
The Grammy Award for Best Traditional Blues Album was awarded from 1983 to 2011. From 2001 to 2003 the award recipients included the producers and engineers as well as the artists...
in 1999.
Though he has not recorded a new studio album since 1998, he continued to tour and perform. In 2002, he was featured on the Bo Diddley
Bo Diddley
Ellas Otha Bates , known by his stage name Bo Diddley, was an American rhythm and blues vocalist, guitarist, songwriter , and inventor...
tribute album Hey Bo Diddley - A Tribute!, performing the song "I'm A Man
I'm A Man (Bo Diddley song)
"I'm a Man" is a song written and recorded by Bo Diddley in 1955. A moderately slow blues with a stop-time figure, it was inspired by an earlier blues song and became a #1 R&B chart hit. "I'm a Man" has been acknowledged by Rolling Stone magazine and has been recorded by a variety of artists,...
".
However, he suffered a stroke in 2004 which has kept him from performing since. In 2006, Rush released his latest CD, Live and From San Francisco on Blues Express Records, a live recording from 1999. Video footage of the same show was released on the DVD Live Part 1 in 2003.
Rush has two daughters and two sons from a previous marriage and 2 daughters from his second marriage, Lena and Sophia.
Original albums
- 1969 Mourning In The MorningMourning In the Morning (album)Mourning In the Morning is a 1969 album by blues singer and guitarist Otis Rush. Characterized as his first album, Rush had been cutting singles since 1955. Paired up with some regulars of The Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section, Nick Gravenites and Mike Bloomfield who were then a part of Electric Flag,...
(Cotillion) - 1974 Screamin' And Cryin (Black And Blue)
- 1975 Cold Day In Hell (Delmark)
- 1976 So Many Roads (Delmark)
- 1976 Right Place, Wrong TimeRight Place, Wrong Time (album)Right Place, Wrong Time Is a 1976 album by blues singer and guitarist Otis Rush. Although regarded as one of his finest recordings, the album was not issued until five years after it was recorded.-Background:...
(Bullfrog) - 1978 Troubles Troubles (Sonet)
- 1989 Tops (Blind Pig)
- 1989 Blues Interaction -Live In Japan 1986- (P-Vine)
- 1991 Lost in Blues (Alligator Records ALCD4797)
- 1993 Live In Europe (Evidence Music ECD 26034-2)
- 1994 Ain't Enough Comin' In (This Way Up)
- 1998 Any Place I'm Going (House Of Blues)
- 2006 Live...and in Concert from San Francisco (Blues Express)
- 2009 Chicago Blues Festival 2001 (P-Vine)
Compilations
- 1969 Door To Door (Chess) (coupled with Albert King)
- 1989 I Can't Quit You Baby - The Cobra Sessions 1956-1958 (P-Vine)
- 2000 Good 'Uns - The Classic Cobra Recordings 1956-1958 (Westside)
- 2000 The Essential Otis Rush - The Classic Cobra Recordings 1956-1958 (Fuel 2000)
- 2002 Blue on Blues - Buddy Guy & Otis Rush (Fuel 2000)
- 2005 All Your Love I Miss Loving - Live at the Wise Fools Pub, Chicago (Delmark)
- 2006 Live At Montreux 1986 (Eagle Rock Entertainment) (Joint performance with Eric ClaptonEric ClaptonEric Patrick Clapton, CBE, is an English guitarist and singer-songwriter. Clapton is the only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: once as a solo artist, and separately as a member of The Yardbirds and Cream. Clapton has been referred to as one of the most important and...
and Luther AllisonLuther AllisonLuther Allison was an American blues guitarist. He was born in Widener, Arkansas and moved with his family, at age twelve, to Chicago in 1951. He taught himself guitar and began listening to blues extensively. Three years later he began hanging outside blues nightclubs with the hopes of being...
)
Singles
- 1956 "I Can't Quit You BabyI Can't Quit You Baby"I Can't Quit You Baby" is a blues standard written by Willie Dixon and first recorded by Chicago blues artist Otis Rush in 1956. The song, a slow twelve-bar blues, has been recorded by various artists, including Led Zeppelin, who included it on their debut album.- Otis Rush version :"I Can't Quit...
" / "Sit Down Baby" (Cobra 5000) - 1956 "My Love Will Never Die" / "Violent Love" (Cobra 5005)
- 1957 "Groaning The Blues" / "If You Were Mine" (Cobra 5010)
- 1957 "Jump Sister Bessie" / "Love That Woman" (Cobra 5015)
- 1957 "She's A Good 'Un" / "Three Times A Fool" (Cobra 5023)
- 1958 "Checking On My Baby" / "It Takes Time" (Cobra 5027)
- 1958 "Double Trouble" / "Keep On Loving Me Baby" (Cobra 5030)
- 1958 "All Your Love (I Miss Loving)All Your Love (I Miss Loving)"All Your Love " or "All Your Love" is a blues song written and recorded in 1958 by Chicago blues guitarist Otis Rush. It is "the best-known and most covered of Rush's [authored] songs", with versions recorded by several blues and other artists...
" / "My Baby's A Good Un" (Cobra 5032) - 1960 "So Many Roads So Many Trains" / "I'm Satisfied" (Chess 1751)
- 1960 "You Know My Love" / "I Can't Stop Baby" (Chess 1775)
- 1962 "Homework" / "I Have to Laugh" (Duke 356)
- 1969 "Gambler's Blues" / "You're Killing My Love" (Cotillion 44032)
DVD
- 2003 Live Part One (Blues Express)
- 2006 Live At Montreux 1986 (Eagle Rock Entertainment)