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Wednesday, March 13, 2013

OTIS RUSH - HOMEWORK

After the city laid out the foundation of electric blues in the late '50's thru the 1950's, Chicago blues of the 1960's turned into a whole new thing. Influenced by the budding soul music scene, the so-called "West Side" sound of Magic Sam and Buddy Guy introduced a new type of intensity and a hard swinging rhythm into a reverb drenched stew that was unique, propulsive and (in this writers opinion) the last gasp for the sound before it veered into cliche after cliche.

Otis Rush was only 27 at the time of this recording, but his career at the time had slid into a nadir after several r&b hits starting in 1956.

While it's merely speculation on my part based in no small part by my love of where the music "went" during this era, I honestly believe that these great Chicago musicians realized that in order to appeal to a younger generation it was crucial to modernize their sound, and the result was a sophistication in the music that is heard brilliantly on this side (just LISTEN to what the organ does throughout the track, not to mention the horns). If Otis' "Oh Baby's" (especially the one heard at :32) doesn't send a shiver down your spine, you may have landed at the wrong place by mistake.

from 1962...

OTIS RUSH - HOMEWORK



8 comments:

JohnnyDiego said...

Oh man, oh man! This is from 1962? Why did it take just over 50 years before I heard this one?

A Short List of the Top Hits of 1962:

I Left My Heart In San Francisco -
Tony Bennett
Roses Are Red - Bobby Vinton
Patches - Dickie Lee
Sheila - Tommy Roe
Big Girls Don't Cry - The Four Seasons

I thank you (and my iPod thanks you) for this post and for your great blog (which I visit each day.)

Tom G. said...

Nice! That one never gets old!

saomusubi said...

Thanks a lot!

Gerard Herzhaft said...

This track is fantastic. But the flip of this Duke 45 is so rare that even some of the most die hard blues fans have never heard it. Could you please post it? It would be of a great help to a lot of people. Thanks! By the way, Otis Rush recorded at this session enough material for a whole album. Unfortunately it is still laying down somewhere in some vaults!

tut said...

EXCELLENT..JUST EXCELLENT..
people go blues nuts for B.B.King but I have always prefered Otis Rush, Albert, Freddie and Earl King..
throw in a spoonful of Slim Harpo and my gumbo is boilin`..

33ejb said...

J Geils Band did a good version of this in the early '70's. I saw them do it live back then - - great live band.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_QbIgtzQFQ

33ejb said...

sorry again - - forgot the link!

... and a good 1968 Peter-Green era Fleetwood Mac version...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=FoV2prB6vHo&feature=endscreen

Fredro11 said...

cool blog. question - on the record label you show here, the song is credited to A. Perkins and D. Clark. J. Geils also included Otis Rush as a writer. On their wikipedia page, A. Perkins has a clickable link that goes to Texas pedal steel and dobro player, Al Perkins. Do you know if this is the same Al Perkins who co-wrote this song? He would only have been 18 years old when the record came out.