Mike Bloomfield (Otis Rush)!
bl...@inland.com
Mike Bloomfield does not sound like Stevie Ray or Buddy Guy.
He sounds like Otis Rush! That's because he used to play a
second guitar with Rush. Bloomfield borrowed much of his
style, licks, and sound from Rush.
If you can find any early recording of Otis, I guarantee
he will knock you out.
In my opinion, Otis Rush is the best electric blues guitarist
that every played the instrument. I just wish the record
companies would release his old recording from the fifties on
CD.
Deepak Kumar
>
>In my opinion, Otis Rush is the best electric blues guitarist
>that every played the instrument.
Change that to "was"....it seems (and it probably applies to other
genres too) that basking in past glory is the name ofthe game here.
In the last two years, I have seen most of the living "blues legends"
perform to my utmost disappointment. I'll mention a few names
being thrown around the net lately....
James Cotton--- saw him 3 times in the last year (twice in clubs
and headlining an evening at the Chicago Blues Fest
He showed up drunk and played trash. Also missed
his induction at the Blues Hall of Fame at the
Checkerboard...coz he was drunk.
Albert Collins--- Saw him twice (once at an outdoor show, once in
a club)...both times he played very short sets
(less than 40 min!!!), was partially drunk at the club
date, kept breaking strings, spent most of the time
mounting new ones on the stage (worth $15??)
Otis Rush--- Saw him at the Chicago Blues Fest...was totally drunk
and out of it, couldn't hold any licks, was almost
falling over...lucky there was Roy Rogers also up
on the stage who took over.
Buddy Guy--- Doesn't know the meaning of a full tune anymore...still
has the stage dynamics but plays all shows like a long
extended jam skipping from on song to the other...while
this was fun the first time i saw him...he did the
same stuff in his 4 subsequent appearances..."Hey, I can
play like Hendrix and Clapton" he sez...and plays
5 seconds of "who Knows" or "sunshine of your love"...
Hold a tune Buddy!!!
So what does everyone else think?????
Deepak.
PS> I could name many more musicians who are really good and give
great performances...but that is a separate thread.
--
On even the most exalted thrones in this world, only an arse hole rests.
kum...@cs.buffalo.EDU Deepak Kumar, Department of Comp. Sc.
kumard%cs.buff...@ubvm.bitnet 226 Bell Hall, SUNY@Buffalo, NY 14260.
Martin A Miller
>In the last two years, I have seen most of the living "blues legends"
>perform to my utmost disappointment. I'll mention a few names
>being thrown around the net lately....
>
>James Cotton
>Albert Collins
>Otis Rush
>Buddy Guy
>
>So what does everyone else think?????
>
>Deepak.
>
>PS> I could name many more musicians who are really good and give
> great performances...but that is a separate thread.
>
>--
>On even the most exalted thrones in this world, only an arse hole rests.
>kum...@cs.buffalo.EDU Deepak Kumar, Department of Comp. Sc.
>kumard%cs.buff...@ubvm.bitnet 226 Bell Hall, SUNY@Buffalo, NY 14260.
Let me add Albert King to this list. I saw him at Blues Etc. in Chicago
about a year and half to two years ago. The cover was $10, and we
found spots to stand right in front of the stage. His band, whose
members appeared to be very young did the usual 2 or 3 "warm-up" tunes, and
then Albert came up, plugged in and started playing. From the first
tune he played, he kept turning to one of the band members (a different
one each time) either glaring or yelling at them. Then in the middle of
"The Sky is Crying", he turns back at the drummer and yells "mother f*cker" -
I tell you, the man was *pissed* at something. All the while, the bandleader,
on keyboards, had this terrified look on her face the entire time. At the
end of that, he walks off the stage never to return.
They played for 15-20 minutes total. I was not pleased and let the trumpet
player know it. All the more is the shame since Albert King was my first
guitar hero..very disapointing.
Maybe just a bad night eh?
-mm
--
| Martin A. Miller Internet: mar...@convex.csd.uwm.edu |
| Programmer/Consultant Bitnet : martin%convex.csd.uwm.edu@INTERBIT |
| University of Wisconsin-Milw. UUCP : uunet!mar...@convex.csd.uwm.edu |
Francis Vaughan
|> In article <78...@eerie.acsu.Buffalo.EDU> kum...@acsu.buffalo.edu
(Deepak Kumar) writes:
|>
|> >In the last two years, I have seen most of the living "blues legends"
|> >perform to my utmost disappointment. I'll mention a few names
|> >being thrown around the net lately....
|> >
|> >James Cotton
|> >Albert Collins
|> >Otis Rush
|> >Buddy Guy
|> >
|> >So what does everyone else think?????
In article <12...@uwm.edu>, mar...@convex.csd.uwm.edu (Martin A Miller) writes:
|>
|> Let me add Albert King to this list. I saw him at Blues Etc. in Chicago
.....
|> They played for 15-20 minutes total. I was not pleased and let the trumpet
|> player know it. All the more is the shame since Albert King was my first
|> guitar hero..very disapointing.
|>
|> Maybe just a bad night eh?
Seems like it.
Over here is OZ the blues are a little thin on the ground. So when a
big name does come over it is really something, and they do seem to
put some real effort into it. So far, Albert Collins, Buddy Guy, and
Albert King have graced us with their presence. (Of those on the
current list being discussed.) Every one gave a good performance.
Buddy Guy was phenominaly good, turning on one of the best acts I have
ever seen. Albert Collins was about five years ago, and was very good,
not brilliant, but they put hin on a stage, in a hall with 2,000 seated
patrons, so it was a little stayed. Albert King toured earlier this year
and played a good show, not brilliant but good.
We do seem to get a reasonable selection of blues greats over here,
butit really is a case of hoping to see each one at least once in
your life (if you don't leave the city). The worst show I ever saw
was Roy Buchannen. I saw him twice, the first time was fantastic, a
trully inspirational performance. The second time was a disaster.
When his encore is a Led Zep cover you worry.
We pay a bit more too, I paid $32 to see BB King. Very good show
but a bit steep.
Francis Vaughan
Jesse Thorn
>he will knock you out.
>
>In my opinion, Otis Rush is the best electric blues guitarist
>that every played the instrument. I just wish the record
>companies would release his old recording from the fifties on
>CD.
Last year's Record Roundup catalog lists a couple of cds containing
Rush's early Cobra recordings. (I don't have any of these) There is
also the Chess Otis Rush/Albert King reissue on cd of "Door to Door"
which has some absolutely killer stuff by Rush including "All Your
Love I Miss Loving". I have this cd and can recommend it to fans of
Chicago electric Blues guitar.
The stuff is out there!
I recently picked up a Rush cd on Alligator "Lost in the Blues" I
thought it was new stuff but it seems to be an older late 70's
recording originally released on the European Sonet label. It has been "cleaned
up" with added keyboard tracks by Lucky Peterson. I was dissapointed
by this purchase :-( Its not the stinging knife-in-the-heart kind of
music I associate with Rush.
- Jesse
Nik Simpson x4333
>>
>>In my opinion, Otis Rush is the best electric blues guitarist
>>that every played the instrument.
>
> a club)...both times he played very short sets
> (less than 40 min!!!), was partially drunk at the club
> date, kept breaking strings, spent most of the time
> mounting new ones on the stage (worth $15??)
>
Town and Country Club, he played fro about 1.5 hours, broke no strings and
wasn't drunk. I guess you have to accept the occasional binge from a
these people, this is the blues after all ;-)
>Buddy Guy--- Doesn't know the meaning of a full tune anymore...still
> has the stage dynamics but plays all shows like a long
> extended jam skipping from on song to the other...while
> this was fun the first time i saw him...he did the
> same stuff in his 4 subsequent appearances..."Hey, I can
> play like Hendrix and Clapton" he sez...and plays
> 5 seconds of "who Knows" or "sunshine of your love"...
> Hold a tune Buddy!!!
I saw Buddy Guy at one of Eric Claptons' blues nights at the Albert
Hall earlier this year, I don't have much experience of his previous live
work but I certainly liked what he did here, maybe EC provided some
discipline or I saw him on a good night.
>
>So what does everyone else think?????
>
>Deepak.
>
>PS> I could name many more musicians who are really good and give
> great performances...but that is a separate thread.
>
>
>
>--
>On even the most exalted thrones in this world, only an arse hole rests.
>kum...@cs.buffalo.EDU Deepak Kumar, Department of Comp. Sc.
>kumard%cs.buff...@ubvm.bitnet 226 Bell Hall, SUNY@Buffalo, NY 14260.
--
|--------------------------------------------------|
| Nik Simpson Mail : n...@swindon.ingr.com |
| Systems Consultant (UNIX). Intergraph UK Ltd. |
|--------------------------------------------------|
W. L.
I agree with you to a certain extent - alot of the original bluesmen
just weren't as accomplished with their instruments as some out today.
Ronnie Earl, for example, is as good a guitarist as I've ever heard
play blues. And, as an added benefit, I've never seen Ronnie drunk.
Bill
funky chicken
>In the last two years, I have seen most of the living "blues legends"
>perform to my utmost disappointment. I'll mention a few names
>being thrown around the net lately....
>
>James Cotton--- saw him 3 times in the last year (twice in clubs
> and headlining an evening at the Chicago Blues Fest
> He showed up drunk and played trash. Also missed
> his induction at the Blues Hall of Fame at the
> Checkerboard...coz he was drunk.
The same can be said of Junior Wells. But in both cases, if you catch them
with their shit together, each man *IS* the blues. They're both capable of
good music.
>Albert Collins--- Saw him twice (once at an outdoor show, once in
> a club)...both times he played very short sets
> (less than 40 min!!!), was partially drunk at the club
> date, kept breaking strings, spent most of the time
> mounting new ones on the stage (worth $15??)
Sometimes I think that the fact that Collins is considered good just shows
how stupid an image blues has in the public eye. But I've never had a
real disappointing experience seeing him.
>Otis Rush--- Saw him at the Chicago Blues Fest...was totally drunk
> and out of it, couldn't hold any licks, was almost
> falling over...lucky there was Roy Rogers also up
> on the stage who took over.
>
>Buddy Guy--- Doesn't know the meaning of a full tune anymore...still
> has the stage dynamics but plays all shows like a long
> extended jam skipping from on song to the other...while
> this was fun the first time i saw him...he did the
> same stuff in his 4 subsequent appearances..."Hey, I can
> play like Hendrix and Clapton" he sez...and plays
> 5 seconds of "who Knows" or "sunshine of your love"...
> Hold a tune Buddy!!!
I agree one hundred percent. The saddest part is that a large portion
of the audience eats it up when he does novelty tricks that get in the
way of the music.
>So what does everyone else think?????
I blame the audiences. Drugs are a factor, but, really, it is hard to
be a musician when good musicianship doesn't get the applause. The
worst blues performances I've ever seen were given by Roy Rogers and
John Hammond (on separate occasions). Both were totally sober, yet
they played like they were more interested in showing how cool they
were than in playing some good music.
>Deepak.
>
>PS> I could name many more musicians who are really good and give
> great performances...but that is a separate thread.
At this years Chicago Blues Fest, I'm particularly looking forward to
Lockwood, Taj Mahal, Jack Owens and Bud Spires (Spires I can do without,
but Owens plays some really lowdown Skip James-style blues. Both times
I've seen him, I've had shivers up an down my spine), and the Ice
Cream Men (white boys who regularly gig at Lilly's, playing in a very
workman-like Post War Chicago style. The coolist thing about them is
that they get people from that era who don't really perform anymore to
front them.)
>
>
>--
>On even the most exalted thrones in this world, only an arse hole rests.
>kum...@cs.buffalo.EDU Deepak Kumar, Department of Comp. Sc.
>kumard%cs.buff...@ubvm.bitnet 226 Bell Hall, SUNY@Buffalo, NY 14260.
--Matt Funkchick
Jim Hori
>As a side note, what is considered a really hot album by Albert King?
>I heard a couple of great songs at a friend's house years ago, but
>I don't know which album they were from.
The definitive Albert King LP has to be "Born Under A Bad Sign"
recorded in Memphis at the Stax-Volt studios with Booker T and
the MGs (Steve Cropper/rhythm guitar, Duck Dunn/bass, Al Jackson/
drums, Booker T/keyboards), plus the house horn section of the
time. King is at his vocal and guitar playing peak, but more
importantly, for a blues album, the songs are well chosen, a
mix of originals and covers, and includes at least one lyric/
melodic classic, the title song. If anyone can find it, King's
single most awe inspiring guitar rampage might be his 7" single
only cover of James Brown's "Cold Sweat" - some 5 and change minutes
of chorus after chorus of string bending, slashing attack, recorded
several years later for Stax.
....
jimh