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Notodden Blues Festival, 1997 — photographer unrecorded/unknown (Wikimedia Commons, public domain)

Chicago

Otis Rush

This artist is no longer with us.

Born: April 29, 1934, Philadelphia, Mississippi · Died: September 29, 2018, Chicago, Illinois (complications of a stroke)• United States

Chicago BluesElectric Blues

Otis Rush played guitar left-handed and strung it upside down anyway — low E string on the bottom rather than flipped to the top, the opposite of how most left-handed guitarists compensate — and often anchored the little finger of his picking hand under that low string for leverage. It's a genuinely idiosyncratic setup, and it produced one of the most emotionally wrenching guitar tones in all of Chicago blues. He was born April 29, 1934, in Philadelphia, Mississippi, one of seven children of sharecroppers Julia Campbell Boyd and Otis C. Rush, and worked the family farm through the tail end of the Great Depression before moving to Chicago at fourteen, in 1949 (Kilde: Wikipedia). There, alongside Buddy Guy and Magic Sam, he helped originate what became known as the West Side sound — a rawer, more anguished, more electrically intense strain of Chicago blues than the Muddy Waters/Chess generation that came before it. Willie Dixon produced his first sessions for the small Cobra Records label starting in 1956, and the first thing they cut together, "I Can't Quit You Baby," became both Cobra's debut single and Rush's breakthrough, reaching #6 on the Billboard R&B chart. Dixon produced eight tracks with him for Cobra through 1958, including "Double Trouble" — recorded at Cobra's Chicago studio with Dixon on bass and, on that particular session, Ike Turner on guitar — and "All Your Love (I Miss Loving)," which became the single composition most identified with him and the one covered most often by other artists (Kilde: Wikipedia). His career after Cobra folded in 1959 was, by most accounts, marked as much by missed chances as by talent: he recorded for Chess in 1960 (only four of eight tracks cut were ever released), cut a single session for Duke Records, contributed five tracks to a Vanguard compilation project in 1965, and didn't release his first full studio album, "Mourning in the Morning," until 1969, on Cotillion. He recorded for Delmark, including live material, through the 1970s, and reportedly turned down or missed opportunities to record with the Rolling Stones, Johnny Winter and Carlos Santana along the way (Kilde: Wikipedia). After a sixteen-year gap without a new studio album, he returned in 1994 with "Ain't Enough Comin' In" for Mercury/Bullfrog, and went on to record for Blind Pig, P-Vine, Black & Blue and other labels. His 1998 album "Any Place I'm Going" won the Grammy Award for Best Traditional Blues Album — belated mainstream recognition for a guitarist whose reputation among fellow musicians had already been enormous for four decades. He continued touring and performing until 2003, when a stroke ended his career; Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel declared June 12, 2016 "Otis Rush Day" in his honor, and in 2018, months before his death, he received the Jazz Foundation of America's Lifetime Achievement Award (Kilde: Wikipedia). He died of complications from the stroke on September 29, 2018, in Chicago, at 84; his wife, Masaki, announced his death on his official website (Kilde: Wikipedia).

Musical Influence

Rush's anguished vocal delivery and searing, sustained guitar bends directly shaped Michael Bloomfield, Peter Green (whose Fleetwood Mac recorded a version of "All Your Love") and Eric Clapton, who has performed and recorded "Double Trouble" repeatedly across his career, including live with Rush himself. Led Zeppelin's early sound drew on the same West Side Chicago vocabulary Rush helped establish alongside Buddy Guy and Magic Sam. Despite his enormous influence on better-known guitarists, mainstream recognition came late — his 1998 Grammy for "Any Place I'm Going" arrived more than four decades into a career musicians had already been studying for a generation (Kilde: Wikipedia).

Influences

Muddy WatersWillie Dixon

Family and personal life

Parents

Julia Campbell Boyd & Otis C. Rush

Sharecroppers; Otis was one of seven children.

Wife

Announced his death on his official website in 2018.

Formative experiences

•1949: Moved to Chicago at age 14. (Kilde: Wikipedia)
•1956: Recorded "I Can't Quit You Baby" with Willie Dixon — his breakthrough hit. (Kilde: Wikipedia)
•1969: Released his first full studio album, "Mourning in the Morning," on Cotillion. (Kilde: Wikipedia)
•1998: Won the Grammy Award for "Any Place I'm Going." (Kilde: Wikipedia)
•2003: A stroke ended his touring and performing career. (Kilde: Wikipedia)

Instruments & Equipment

Guitar

Left-handed guitar, strung upside-down

Low E string kept at the bottom rather than flipped to the top; often anchored his picking-hand pinky under the low string for leverage — a genuinely idiosyncratic setup.

Stories & Anecdotes

"Reportedly turned down or missed opportunities to record with the Rolling Stones, Johnny Winter and Carlos Santana over the course of his career. (Kilde: Wikipedia)"

"Went 16 years between studio albums, from the late 1970s until 1994's "Ain't Enough Comin' In." (Kilde: Wikipedia)"

"Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel declared June 12, 2016 "Otis Rush Day" in his honor. (Kilde: Wikipedia)"

Collaborators

Produced his breakthrough Cobra Records sessions, 1956–1958.

Fellow pioneer of the West Side Chicago blues sound.

Fellow pioneer of the West Side Chicago blues sound.

Played guitar on the "Double Trouble" session.

Watch & Listen

Featured

Otis Rush - I Can't Quit You Baby (Cobra) 1956

His breakthrough single, produced by Willie Dixon — Cobra Records' debut release.

DJ Pete Pop

Otis Rush ~ 'Double Trouble' (Original Recording, Electric Blues 1958)

Otis Rush ~ 'Double Trouble' (Original Recording, Electric Blues 1958)

OTIS RUSH - All Your Love (I Miss Loving) [Cobra 5032] 1958

OTIS RUSH - All Your Love (I Miss Loving) [Cobra 5032] 1958

Watch & Listen

Henter videoer fra YouTube…

Discography

Year	Title	Producer	Studio	Label	Chart	Sales	Musicians	YouTube	Notes
1956	Cobra Records era, Chicago	Willie Dixon	—	Cobra	—	—	Willie Dixon (Bass), Ike Turner (Guitar)		1956–1958; eight tracks, including debut single "I Can't Quit You Baby" (#6 R&B), "Double Trouble" and "All Your Love (I Miss Loving)."
1960	Chess Records session	Chess	—	Chess	—	—	—		Eight tracks recorded, only four ever released.
1965	Vanguard Records compilation	Vanguard	—	Vanguard	—	—	—		Five tracks for a blues compilation project.
1969	Mourning in the Morning	Cotillion	—	Cotillion	—	—	Michael Bloomfield (Guitar, producer), Nick Gravenites (Producer)		His first full studio album. Produced by Michael Bloomfield and Nick Gravenites with members of the band Electric Flag, recorded at FAME Studios, Muscle Shoals.
1994	Ain't Enough Comin' In	Mercury / Bullfrog	—	Mercury / Bullfrog	—	—	—		Return to the studio after a 16-year gap.
1998	Any Place I'm Going	Various	—	House of Blues	—	—	—		Won the Grammy Award for Best Traditional Blues Album.

Famous songs

01I Can't Quit You Baby

02Double Trouble

03All Your Love (I Miss Loving)

External links

YouTube Music Wikipedia

Sources

Otis Rush — Wikipedia

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