When young Bobby went professional as a blues musician, he changed his moniker so as to not disrespect his devout dad.īobby Rush was born. The senior Ellis relocated his family to Pine Bluff, Arkansas in 1948. His daddy was a preacher and knew enough about a harmonica to pass along a few riffs to his progeny, who twanged a diddley bow before picking up a guitar around age 11. The master chef stirring that sizzling soup was born Emmett Ellis, Jr. You put ’em all in a bowl and stir ’em up, you get a Bobby Rush. I guess you can find about 20 guys that I like, and when you hear my music, you can hear a little of this, a little of that, a little up, a little down. And I like Junior Parker because he was so smooth and slick with what he done. I also like Bobby Bland, the way he kind of squawked with a soft voice. “I like Howlin’ Wolf because he was good and he was different because of the voice he had. Sonny Boy Williamson, I like the way he plays harp, and I like the way he delivers his songs and writes the songs,” Rush continues. I respect Little Walter, because he was a good, slick harmonica player. “I think the first one was my daddy, as a preacher. And I often talk about how I came up and who did I love and who influenced me. It’s got a little of this, a little of that. So that’s where I was coming from with that. Anything I do or say is going to be about the blues. Even if I do something different, I’m going to put enough blues in it so you’ll know that I’m still this blues singer that’s giving you what I know about it. “That’s about the truth of me,” he says of his new disc. “So we went and finished it up.” The album spotlights all of Rush’s strengths: blues, soul, funk, and everything in between. “I wanted to come with a record behind winning a Grammy,” says the veteran bluesman. Scott Billington, producer of Porcupine Meat for Rounder Records, was involved this time too, though to a lesser extent as Rush recruited the multi-talented Jackson to help with much of the action behind the board. And I think the music itself says that about me.” I’m crossing over now, but I haven’t crossed out. “I’m considered the king of the chitlin’ circuit. “I think I’m getting more acclaim because I’m working harder, and when people tell me I can’t do something, that’s the wrong thing to tell Bobby Rush,” he says. Never one to rest on his considerable laurels, Bobby’s not about to start now. Rush has been a master storyteller for decades, and the songs on this disc follow in that tradition. Rush wails on pungent harmonica throughout the set, his vocals as sly and sensuous as ever while elastic grooves simmer and surge behind him. There’s something for everyone on Sitting on Top of the Blues, from the boisterous R&B-laced opener “Hey Hey Bobby Rush” through the cooking “Good Stuff,” the sexy “Slow Motion,” and a stripped-down “Recipe For Love” that features Bobby and his co-producer Vasti Jackson supplying all the accompaniment necessary with their interlocking guitars. “I’m happy about what I’m doing and still enthused about what I’m doing. I’m a bluesman who’s sitting on the top of my game, proud of what I do and proud of who I am and thankful for people accepting me for what I am and who I am,” says the charismatic Rush. What’s more, Bobby’s brand-new album Sitting on Top of the Blues on his own Deep Rush imprint (distributed by Thirty Tigers) promises to further spread the news that this revered legend, well past 80 years of age even if his stratospheric energy level belies the calendar, is bigger and badder and bolder than ever. He won a long-overdue 2017 Grammy for his spectacular album Porcupine Meat and consistently tours the globe as a headliner. King Entertainer of the Year, and makes a cameo in the Netflix Original ‘Dolemite Is My Name’ Starring Eddie Murphy.Īfter decades of tearing up the chitlin’ circuit on a nightly basis with his sweaty, no-holds-barred funkfests, Bobby has thoroughly broken through to the mainstream. Bobby Rush…20 GRAMMY winning blues legend, Blues Hall of Famer, 12x Blues Music Award winner, B.B.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |