Bobby Rush
The creator of a singular sound that he dubbed "folk-funk," vocalist, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Bobby Rush is among the most colorful and enduring characters on the contemporary chitlin circuit, honing a unique style that brings together a cracked lyrical bent with elements of blues, soul, and funk. For decades, Rush was a star on the Southern club circuit where soul-blues and retro-soul acts thrive while barely making an impression on mainstream listeners, but that began to change in 2003, when he was featured in The Road to Memphis, an episode of the acclaimed PBS documentary series The Blues, which featured interviews with Rush and footage of him on-stage working the crowd. While Rush's early singles were raw, straightforward blues, by the '70s his music had grown into a swampy hybrid of blues, soul, and funk, seasoned with a deeply Southern flavor and Rush's cocky vocal style, as typified by his 1971 hit "Chicken Heads." Rush had been recording singles for 14 years before he released his first album, 1978's Rush Hour, which was polished by his standards, but down-home compared to most of the work of producers Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff. But it was the more stripped-down style of '80s efforts like Gotta Have Money and A Man Can Give It But He Can't Take It where Rush seemed most comfortable, and he did some of his strongest work in the 2000s after launching his own label, and waded deeper into the blues on LPs like Folkfunk and Raw. At the age of 83, Rush finally won a Grammy Award when 2016's Porcupine Meat was named Best Traditional Blues Album. Rush replicated this achievement in 2021 when Rawer Than Raw took home the same trophy, setting the stage for the 2023 release of All My Love for You, another Grammy winner.
Born Emmit Ellis, Jr. in Homer, Louisiana on November 10, 1933, Rush and his family relocated to Chicago in 1953, where he emerged on the West Side blues circuit of the '60s, fronting bands that included such notable alumni as Luther Allison and Freddie King. Rush made his recording debut in 1967, cutting a single for Chicago's Checker Records, "Sock Boo Ga Loo" b/w "Much Too Much." However, as Rush began to develop his own individual sound, he detoured from the blues market, which was beginning to follow the whims of the rock audience, in favor of targeting the chitlin circuit, which offered a more receptive audience for his increasingly bawdy material. Rush notched his first hit in 1971 with his Galaxy label single "Chicken Heads," and later scored with "Bow-Legged Woman" for Jewel. He appeared on a wide variety of labels as the decade progressed, culminating in his first full-length album in 1979, Rush Hour, produced by Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff for their Philadelphia International imprint.
During the early '80s, Rush signed with the La Jam label, where he remained for a number of years; there his work became increasingly funky and comically eccentric, with records like 1984's Gotta Have Money and 1985's What's Good for the Goose Is Good for the Gander often featuring material so suggestive he refused to re-create it live during his endless string of club dates. During the mid-'90s, Rush moved to Jackson, Mississippi, and struck a deal with Waldoxy Records, heralding a return to a soul-blues sound on LPs including 1995's One Monkey Don't Stop No Show, 1997's Lovin' a Big Fat Woman, and 2000's Hoochie Man.
In April 2001, while Rush and his band were en route to a date in Pensacola, Florida, their tour bus crashed, injuring several bandmembers and killing one, Latisha Brown. Rush was hospitalized for a short time, then returned home to recuperate. But the unstoppable Rush returned to action in 2003, releasing the studio set Undercover Lover and the concert souvenir Live at Ground Zero (a CD and DVD set), both on his own label, Deep Rush. Another studio album on Deep Rush, Folkfunk, followed in 2004. Rush released two albums in 2005, Hen Pecked and Night Fishin', and continued his prolific activity with 2008's Look at What You Gettin', which offered a mix of ballads, soul, and bluesy double entendres.
Between 2009 and 2014, the prolific Rush released four albums while he slowly but surely gained a mainstream audience, attracting a following among fans of contemporary soul and blues. In 2015, Omnivore Recordings released Chicken Heads: A 50-Year History of Bobby Rush, a four-disc box set that skimmed the highlights from Rush's career as one of the hardest-working men in soul and blues. In 2016, Rush signed a deal with the respected roots music label Rounder Records, which released the funky and eclectic Porcupine Meat, featuring guest appearances from Joe Bonamassa, Dave Alvin, and Keb' Mo'. The album earned enthusiastic reviews, and it won him a Grammy Award for Best Traditional Blues Album. 2019 saw Rush revive his Deep Rush label (this time with distribution from Thirty Tigers) with the release of Sitting on Top of the Blues, a session that put the emphasis on his impassioned vocals and wailing harmonica work. That same year, he appeared as himself in the Eddie Murphy Netflix film Dolomite Is My Name. Rush returned with Rawer Than Raw, a sequel of sorts to 2007's Raw, in August 2020. The album became his second to win the 2021 Grammy for Best Traditional Blues Album. Rush eased into a reflective mode on All My Love for You, a 2023 album featuring the semi-autobiographical single "I'm the One." The album was once again honored as Best Traditional Blues Album at the 66th Annual Grammy Awards in 2024.
© Jason Ankeny /TiVo
Artistas semelhantes
Discografia
43 álbum(ns) • Ordenado por Mais vendidos
-
All My Love For You
Blues - Lançado por Deep Rush em 18 de ago. de 2023
Disponível em24-Bit/48 kHz Estéreo -
Sitting on Top of the Blues
Blues - Lançado por Deep Rush em 16 de ago. de 2019
Disponível em24-Bit/96 kHz Estéreo -
Porcupine Meat
Blues - Lançado por Rounder Records em 16 de set. de 2016
Disponível em24-Bit/96 kHz Estéreo -
Rawer Than Raw
Blues - Lançado por Deep Rush em 28 de ago. de 2020
Disponível em24-Bit/96 kHz Estéreo -
Who Was That
Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Bobby Rush
Blues - Lançado por Deep Rush em 17 de jan. de 2025
Disponível em24-Bit/96 kHz Estéreo -
Chicken Heads 50th Anniversary
Blues - Lançado por Deep Rush em 18 de fev. de 2022
Disponível em16-Bit/44.1 kHz Estéreo -
Dust My Broom
Blues - Lançado por Deep Rush em 14 de ago. de 2020
Disponível em24-Bit/96 kHz Estéreo -
I'm The One
Blues - Lançado por Deep Rush em 2 de jun. de 2023
Disponível em16-Bit/44.1 kHz Estéreo -
Shake It for Me
Blues - Lançado por Deep Rush em 10 de jul. de 2020
Disponível em24-Bit/96 kHz Estéreo -
Get Out of Here (Dog Named Bo)
Blues - Lançado por Deep Rush em 10 de mai. de 2019
Disponível em24-Bit/96 kHz Estéreo -
99 And 1/2 Won't Do
Bobby Rush, The Blind Boys Of Alabama
Blues - Lançado por 72MM Records em 19 de jul. de 2024
Disponível em24-Bit/44.1 kHz Estéreo -
Hey Baby (What Are We Gonna Do)
Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Bobby Rush
Blues - Lançado por Deep Rush em 21 de fev. de 2025
Disponível em24-Bit/96 kHz Estéreo -
Porcupine Meat
Blues - Lançado por Rounder Records em 16 de set. de 2016
Disponível em16-Bit/44.1 kHz Estéreo -
Young Fashioned Ways
Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Bobby Rush
Blues - Lançamento no dia 21 de mar. de 2025 por Deep Rush
Disponível em24-Bit/96 kHz Estéreo -
Undercover Lover
Blues - Lançado por Deep Rush em 9 de set. de 2003
Disponível em16-Bit/44.1 kHz Estéreo -
Down In Louisiana
Blues - Lançado por Deep Rush em 19 de fev. de 2013
Disponível em16-Bit/44.1 kHz Estéreo -
Dolemite Kid
Blues - Lançado por Deep Rush em 7 de fev. de 2020
Disponível em16-Bit/44.1 kHz Estéreo -
Down in Mississippi
Blues - Lançado por Deep Rush em 31 de jul. de 2020
Disponível em24-Bit/96 kHz Estéreo -
Chicken Heads: A 50-Year History Of Bobby Rush
Blues - Lançado por Omnivore Recordings em 27 de nov. de 2015
Disponível em16-Bit/44.1 kHz Estéreo -
Decisions
Funk - Lançado por Silver Talon Records em 15 de abr. de 2014
Disponível em16-Bit/44.1 kHz Estéreo