Biography

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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 that the tapes existed, I had long given up hope that they would ever be issued. Their appearance now, some 30 years later, is cause for tremendous excitement among lovers of Chicago blues. Otis Rush is one of a handful of Chicago Blues artists who is both a fluent and innovative guitarist and a singer of tremendous range and power - the soul-baring singing and the long, sustained guitar lines tell you why you love the blues.

1 Please Love Me 3:37 (King/Taub, Careers BMG Music Publ., BMI)
2 You’re Breaking My Heart 7:42 (King/Bihari, Careers BMG Music Publ., BMI)
3 All Your Love (I Miss Loving) 4:50 (Otis Rush, Conrad Music, a division of Arc Music Corp., BMI)
4 Will My Woman Be Home Tonight 4:00 (Mel London, Arc Music/Lonmel Publ. Music, BMI)
5 Mean Old World 6:58 (Aaron T-Bone Walker, Lord and Walker Publ., BMI)
6 Woke Up This Morning 6:18 (King/Taub, Careers BMG Music Publ., BMI)
7 High Society 5:34 (E. J. White, EMI UnArt Catalog. Inc.)
8 It Takes Time 3:28 (Otis Rush, Arc Music Corp., BMI)
9 Gambler’s Blues 8:12 (King/Pate, Careers BMG Music Publ./Yvonne Publ. Co., BMI)
10 Feel So Bad 4:39 (Chuck Willis, Berkshire Music Inc./Chuck Willis Music Co./Elvis Presley Music, BMI)
11 Sweet Little Angel 5:54 (P.D.)
12 Motoring Along 3:22 (Jimmy Smith, Edmy Music Publ. Co., BMI)

Album Supervision: Steve Tomashefsky
Album Production: Robert G. Koester and Steve Wagner
Recorded at The Wise Fools Pub, January, 1976 by Ken Rasek
Mixed and Mastered at Riverside Studio, Chicago by Ken Rasek and Steve Wagner
Photos: Amy van Singel (courtesy Jim O’Neal)
Design: Dave Forte
Special thanks from Otis Rush to Masaki Rush, Rick Bates, Nancy Meyer
Delmark Records would like to thank WXRT, Seth Mason, Dick Shurman, Dave Ungerleider, Mike and Dan Cordis, current owners of Wise Fools Pub, www.wisefoolspub.com


January, 1976

Otis Rush, vocals, guitar
Bob Levis, rhythm guitar
Alberto Gianquinto, electric piano
Bob Stroger, bass
Jesse Green, drums
Chris “Barcelona Red” Mason, alto sax (8-12)
Rawl Hardman, tenor sax (8-12)

This CD 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 that the tapes existed, I had long given up hope that they would ever be issued. Their appearance now, some 30 years later, is cause for tremendous excitement among lovers of Chicago blues.
In the early ’70s, WXRT was a fledgling, part-time FM station that – although it catered primarily to a rock audience – was run by music fans who loved and even played blues. Airplay on XRT was instrumental in establishing the commercial success of several blues artists, including Hound Dog Taylor and, later, Robert Cray. One of the station’s regular programs was a live recording series called the “Unconcert” because it was sponsored by the “Uncola,” SevenUp. Most of the Unconcerts were recorded for XRT by Ken Rasek, a local audiophile and record collector who pioneered sophisticated but nonintrusive live recording techniques using multiple close microphone placements similar to those used in recording studios. The result was a series of high-quality recordings made in local clubs, something fairly rare at the time.
Otis Rush’s first Delmark album, Cold Day In Hell, received a fair amount of airplay on XRT, and the station offered to record an Unconcert with him. The natural venue for the recording was the Wise Fools Pub on Chicago’s North Side. Throughout the ’70s and early ’80s, the Wise Fools was one of the best places in Chicago in which to hear blues. Week after week, Wednesday through Saturday, the Wise Fools presented such wonderful artists as Mighty Joe Young, Jimmy Dawkins, Magic Slim, Otis Clay, and many more, including Otis Rush. Indeed, during those years, the Wise Fools was the only Chicago club that Otis regularly played. Many artists appreciated the warm and professional attitude fostered by the club’s owner, Dave Ungerleider, and it’s hardly an exaggeration to say that Dave was a key figure in keeping the Chicago blues scene alive by providing regular work and a respectful environment to many of the city’s greatest talents. On a personal note, the Wise Fools was the first Chicago club where I heard live blues, when I was under-age and snuck in on someone else’s ID to hear Jimmy Dawkins. Later, the staff developed effective inquisitorial techniques that the TSA would do well to copy.
Recording the Otis Rush Unconcert at the Wise Fools was a natural for all concerned. Otis brought his regular working band: guitarist Bob Levis, bassist Bob Stroger, and drummer Jesse Green, all long-time collaborators. For a few months at that time, Otis’ band also included the irrepressible pianist Alberto Gianquinto, who had recorded with James Cotton in the late 1960s and who had gone on to perform and record with Santana. Saxophonists Rawl Hardman and Chris “Barcelona Red” Mason, regular Wise Fools performers, sat in on several numbers.
Most of Otis Rush’s latter-day recordings are dominated by some sort of tension: personal struggles, unfamiliar sidemen, producers seeking to impose their ideas on Otis’ music. This one is different. It is Otis as Otis wanted to play, backed by musicians with whom he felt very comfortable and in a club where he was at home, recorded with a minimum of intrusion. Most of the material will be familiar to those who have followed Otis’ career. But that nine-note arpeggio forming the signature riff of “All Your Love I Miss Loving” never fails to drive a spike into the soul, even though you know it’s coming every time Otis takes the stage. And whenever Otis sings “They say love is just a proposition / Strictly a game of give and take / But I’m here to tell you that the proposition is just a fake” in “Gambler’s Blues,” you can tell he’s singing from a place deep within himself, even if you’ve heard him sing it a hundred times.
Face facts: Otis Rush is one of a handful of Chicago Blues artists who is both a fluent and innovative guitarist and a singer of tremendous range and power. When he’s on – as he is here—there seems to be nothing he can’t do with either instrument. For all of his virtuosity, Otis never casually tossed off a song or phoned in a performance. And when all the conditions were right, and all the obstacles cleared away, as they were that night at the Wise Fools Pub, the soul-baring singing and the long, sustained guitar lines tell you why you love the blues.

Steve Tomashefsky