Otis Rush Live and In Concert from San Francisco

Skin Deep It’s erroneous to characterize this 2008 Buddy Guy release, his first in three years, as a comeback, since he’s never been gone. But between a spotlight stealing performance in Martin Scorsese’s Rolling Stones concert flick Shine a Light in the same year an...	10 Days Out (Blues from the Backroads)/ (CD/DVD) This "back-to-the-roots" road-trip documentary CD/DVD from blues-rocking guitarist Kenny Wayne Shepherd can be viewed in two ways--it's either the culmination of a long-held desire to promote and play with some unheralded blues veterans before they pass away (as six had already d...	Live in Europe	All Your Love I Miss Loving: Live at The Wise Fools Pub Chicago [Live] This CD, the only Otis Rush live in Chicago album, results from the fortunate conjunction of three significant forces in the 1970s Chicago blues scene: Otis Rush, the Wise Fools Pub, and the WXRT "Unconcert." Though I was on hand when the recordings were made and knew of course ...	Otis Rush - Live at Montreux 1986 Southpaw guitarist Otis Rush made his debut in 1956 with a cover of Willie Dixon's "I Can't Quit You Baby", charting his first Top Ten R&B hit. Over the course of his 50-year career, Rush has established himself as one of the premiere bluesmen on the Chicago circuit. Often credi...
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Not the best of 'live Otis Rush'
This cd is taken from the dvd from Bluesexpress: Otis Rush, live part 1. So nothing new for the Otis Rush fan. The accompanying band is too big giving a too sophisticated feeling. It shows Otis Rush in his later years, still going strong but for an even stronger and more intimate Otis Rush I recommend "Live in Europe", the best album of Otis Rush ever. Also "Live at the Wise Fools pub Chicago" is better then this bluesexpress performance.

Otis Rush's Soundtrack to his first DVD
Well like Albert King, Otis Rush is an unorthodox guitarist, he plays his axe upside down. This CD is also a bit upside down. Unlike his Montreux release with Eric Clapton last year, this set is a new release of Rush's Blues Express concert in San Francisco (Part One) which was released a couple of years ago on DVD. The interesting thing about that is that Part Two never has been released. This set has one tune that is not on the DVD "Feel So Bad". The sound quality is great and the tunes are largely the same as most of Otis' other live albums (except the Wise Fool's Pub release in 2005 a gem from the Delmark vaults). The absolute highlight of this set is the Band. They are great and really enhance Rush's sound, its the best band he ever played with (I have all of Otis' released material going back to Cobra and Chess Records). The keyboardist is fantastic and he can also be seen with Buddy Guy in his Montreux set released last year. Bobby Murray, who played with Rush on his best ever "Live" release "Tops" is on hand (he is from the Bay Area) to play on "Mojo Working". Overall the sound is great. Otis is 65 years old on this disc and still playing good. His signature "lazy vibrato" is fabulous and his is still playing his Gibson 335/355 guitars. The tunes are Rush's standard fare but they have the Big Band enhancement. "All Your Love" (I Miss Loving- often tagged onto the title so it isn't confused with Magic Sam's "All Your Love" from West Side Soul) is a definate highlight. It features the arrangement of this song that he used after his "Live And Awesome" (1996) release. It is his best interpretation of his signature tune, the one he wrote in a car on the way to the Cobra recording sessions. And the song most of us first heard Eric Clapton play blues with John Mayall. B.B. King's "It's My Own Fault" is another superb slow blues outing, recorded by Rush many times (also a highlight of the Montreux DVD!). All in all this is an excellent Blues CD from one of the two remaining West Side masters. A very good documentary on the latter styles of Otis Rush as he hasn't been playing much since the Chicago Blues Festival in 2002 due to a heart condition.

RICK SHAQ GOLDSTEIN SAYS: "I GOT AN ELECTRIC "RUSH" WHEN I FOUND THESE GOLDEN BLUES!"
This weekend (1/20/07) I was hankering for a new infusion of great electric blues, to add to my extensive collection. I went to my local CD/book store (name withheld to protect amazon.com) and was amazed to find, that their tiny, blues section, was even tinier! It didn't even have the cardboard blues sign up anymore. There weren't even any monthly new release CD's displayed. So as I truly got the blues, I just, as a last ditch effort, started thumbing through, every CD, at "WARP" speed, with one foot almost out the door. Like a sign from heaven, I noticed a multi-colored CD cover with, Otis Rush on it. I gulped, and silently said to myself, "I haven't seen this before!" and since half the head sets, at the un-named retail location, were broken in half, and the other half didn't work, (and the ones broken in half, one half ear set, didn't work) I took a chance and bought this CD without hearing nary a note! I zoomed home and put it in my stereo. Now, if you're one of Shaq's loyal blues review readers, you know the first thing you're worried about on a live CD, (The release date on the CD was 2006, and yet I never heard of it. The concert was December18, 1999, a date you could not find out, unless you bought the CD and opened it!) Is the sound quality? (See prior Shaq reviews!) Well, the sound was loud and crystal clear! The second thing, Shaq is worried about, is "YOU CAN'T GET THE BLUES IN 2-3 MINUTES!" Well, there are 7 songs with a total playing time of 52 minutes! Hoo! Haa! Every single song on this is great. The music, the voice, the feeling with the crowd! Whoever released this CD below the radar should be fired! This CD is an instant electric blues classic! I am told by amazon.com that I am the first person to review this! If that's the case, this review should break the record for the most "THIS REVIEW WAS HELPFUL!" votes! I have played it twice already, all the way through, to make sure I wasn't dreaming! I'm not. In fact as I wrote this review I pinched myself. Ouch! I have already called a blues-friend of mine, and said go buy this. You should too! SUMMARY: IT'S LOUD! IT'S CLEAR! IT'S LIVE! THE GUITAR STRINGS ARE BENDING! AND THE VOICE IS CLEAR! YOU ALL HEARD IT HERE FIRST! SHAQ SAYS A FIVE STAR CLASSIC!