The fingerprints of Otis Rush’s music are all over the blues of his Chicago contemporaries and those who have followed and studied them since his initial heyday in the 1950s. Spoken and musical accolades have come from early peers like Magic Sam, Buddy Guy, Luther Allison, Eddy Clearwater, Little Milton and the many others who have made his songs continuing staples.
Anyone who’s heard Otis’s best recordings, or who has caught him live on one of those transcendent occasions when it’s obvious that nobody in the world is hearing better or deeper blues, understands the acclaim. The depth of his emotion and his power of expression are so overwhelming that he’s actually been criticized for making listeners feel too sad.
