Otis Rush, one of Chicago blues’ leading lights, passed away on September 29th this year. His playing lives on in landmark recordings such as “All Your Love (I Miss Loving)” and “I Can’t Quit You Baby” impressed Eric Clapton, John Mayall and Jimmy Page – meaning that his sound became part of the tool box for blues rock heroes to come.
In the late 50s and early 60s he was one of Chicago’s brightest rising stars, tagged with Magic Sam and Buddy Guy as a creator of the spiky new West Side sound, but after his first record label, Cobra, went out of business he was signed by Chess, which did little for him, and Duke, which did less. “I started lagging with recordings,” he said later, “and it seemed like all I was meeting up with was crooks.”
Read the Guardian’s full story here: