R.I.P. Otis Rush

[ranja]

Otis Rush passes at 83. So many great sounds!
Ron

[charjo]

One of my favourite blues numbers.
John

[Don D.]

Hey Ron, thank you for making the announcement. For many years, he was the blues, so far as I was concerned. I saw him up close three times in the late ’90s, they were definitely some of the best concerts I’ve ever been to.

Here’s the playlist I made, with his birthdate given as 1935. I guess I’ll never know for sure, but there’s a link to an essay in the playlist description, titled “Jim O’Neal tribute,” that backs that choice. Not really important, just want you to know I’m aware of discrepancy.

At the very bottom of the playlist description is a link to the albums YouTube provided, and there are some really excellent ones.

By the way, even though there’s a concensus that Otis Rush’s guitar playing isn’t at his absolute best on this date, I love that concert from London in 1983 (not too far down the playlist). It sounds pretty damn great to me. Danny Draher, second guitar on that London concert, plays something that sounds like the chord rhythm from “The Ocean” (or “The Crunge”? Zeppelin, HotH) for about 8 bars (?) when comping on “Crosscut Saw.”

Don D.

[Don D.]

They aren’t labeled that way, but these are The Cobra Recordings, 1956-1958. There are more, including alt. versions, but if you haven’t heard them, this is a great place to start.

Don D.

[Don D.]

I don’t know where this is from, other than Japanese TV, but this is another one of my favorites. Seems like it’s probably around 1983 too. This is how I remember him in 1997-98.

“Right Place, Wrong Time”
https://youtu.be/aa7NKOor-Sk

This is link to the YouTube-generated selections (go to Albums), some killer stuff. If you don’t know his Cobra recordings, that’s THE one. By the way, Albert King and Otis Rush don’t play together on any of the tracks on the album they share (Albert King’s were recorded around 1953, Otis Rush’s around 1960).
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9_Ic6yumZhlfxY2sCjwKSw

Otis Rush was one of the all-time greats and I’d bet he will always be remembered whrn people think about music of our epoch. His held opening note on “I Can’t Quit You Baby” is one of the outstanding moments of 20th-century music.

Don D.

[Lights]

R.I.P
And thank you, Don, for educative information!
Lights.

[AlbertoGunz]

Grew up in Chicago, got the honor and privilege to see him perform live a bunch. RIP Otis, you always knew how to get the room movin and groovin.

Play Loud!

[San Luis Rey]

Great voice and great riffs. He is a joy to hear. RIP Otis and thanks for all the music you left behind.

Mike

[Don D.]

I’ve been conceptualizing the next Blues Roots, and before Otis Rush passed, the focus was on Big Joe Turner. I think I’m going to continue down that path, but here’s a place where they crossed paths.

This song is also known as “Feeling Happy,” Big Joe Turner (vocal), Otis Rush (guitar), Little Brother Montgomery (piano), Jack Myers (bass), Fred Below (drums), at the American Folk Blues Festival, at Friedrichstadt-Palast, East Berlin, GDR, October 16, 1966, almost 52 years ago.

Same people, time and place as above.

Don D.

[Author]

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