JACKSON, Miss. — Naming one’s
album after a song titled “Porcupine Meat” may seem a little unusual —
unless, of course, you’re Bobby Rush,
who earned his first gold record in 1971 with a hit entitled “Chicken
Heads.” He elaborates on his recent composition: “If a lady won’t
treat me right, but she doesn’t want anyone else to have me, that is hard
to digest.” Hence the lyric, “too fat to eat, too lean to throw
away.”
Porcupine Meat
is Rush’s debut release for Rounder
Records, and one of the
best recordings of his astonishing 60-plus year career. The album is due
out September
16, 2016.
Rush estimates that he has cut over 300 songs since he first began making
music. He has been honored with three Grammy nominations, as well as ten
Blues Music Awards and 41 nominations. He was inducted into the Blues Hall
of Fame in 2006.
Make no mistake: Rush is not your typical octogenarian. At age 82, he
exudes the energy of a 20-year-old, on the road for more than 200 dates a
year. His hectic tour schedule has earned him the affectionate title King
of the Chitlin’ Circuit. Rush has traveled the globe including Japan and
Beirut. In 2007, he earned the distinction of being the first blues artist
to play at the Great Wall of China. His renowned stage act features his
famed shake dancers, who personify his funky blues and the ribald humor
that he has cultivated during the course of his storied career.
Born Emmet Ellis, Jr. in Homer, Louisiana, he adopted the stage name Bobby
Rush out of respect for his father, a pastor. According to Rush, his
parents never talked about the blues being the devil’s music. “My daddy
never told me to sing the blues, but he also didn’t tell me to not sing
the blues. I took that as a green light.”
Rush built his first guitar when he was a youngster. “I didn’t know where
to buy one, even if I had the money. I was a country boy,” he says. After
seeing a picture of a guitar in a magazine, he decided to make one by
attaching the top wire of a broom to a wall and fretting it with a bottle.
He also got some harmonica lessons from his father He eventually acquired a
real guitar, and started playing in juke joints as a teenager, when his
family briefly relocated to Little Rock, Arkansas. The fake moustache Rush
wore made club owners believe he was old enough to gain entry into their
establishments. While he was living in Little Rock, Rush’s band, which
featured Elmore James, had a residency at a nightspot called Jackrabbit.
During the mid-1950s, Rush relocated to Chicago to pursue his musical
career and make a better life for himself. It was there that he started to
work with Earl Hooker, Luther Allison, and Freddie King, and sat in with
many of his musical heroes, such as Howlin’ Wolf, Muddy Waters, Jimmy Reed,
Willie Dixon, and Little Walter. Rush eventually began leading his own band
in the 1960s. He also started to craft his own distinct style of funky
blues, and recorded a succession of singles for a various small labels. It
wasn’t until the early 1970s that Rush finally scored a hit with “Chicken
Heads.” More recordings followed, including an album for Kenny Gamble and
Leon Huff’s Philadelphia International Label.
Rush relocated one final time, to Jackson, Miss. in the early 1980s. He was
tired of the cold up north, and he realized that setting up his base of
operations directly in the center of the South would make it easier to
perform in nearby cities on weekends. More indie label recordings followed.
Songs like “Sue, A Man Can Give (But He Sure Can’t Take It),” “What’s Good
For The Goose Is Good For The Gander Too,” and” I Ain’t Studdin’ You”
became regional jukebox favorites in juke joints throughout the region, and
many of those songs are still fan favorites that are an integral part of
his live repertoire.
Since 2003, Rush has self-released the majority of his work (including the
critically acclaimed Folk Funk album) on his Deep Rush label, but
recently, he came to the realization that having a bigger record company
behind him would be beneficial. “I outgrew myself,” he says. “I need
someone to help in doing the things I can’t do. When you are wearing all
the hats, you can’t be everywhere at once.”
Enter esteemed producer and two-time Grammy winner Scott Billington,
Rounder Records’ longtime VP of A&R. Billington first met Rush at a
Recording Academy meeting 25 years ago, and they became fast friends. He
has wanted to work with Rush ever since. “He is the most vital
bluesman of his generation,” says Billington. He continues, “There are many
people who still don’t know Bobby Rush, even though he is a hero in the
parallel universe of the Chitlin’ Circuit — fans stop him on the street in
Memphis and Helena and Little Rock.”
Porcupine Meat
will not only please Rush’s older fans, but is likely to win over many new
ones. Billington reflects, “We wanted to come up with something fresh,
while staying 100% true to Bobby.”
The album was recorded in New Orleans, and Rush was pleased and proud to be
given the opportunity to make an album in his home state for the very first
time. His impassioned vocals and in-the-pocket harmonica playing are among
the best performances of his career. Unlike most of his recent releases,
these sessions only feature real instruments and no synthesizers. All of
the rhythm tracks were cut live in the studio, often edited down from jams
that on several occasions ran close to ten minutes.
For the project, Billington assembled some of the best Louisiana musicians,
including Shane Theriot, David Torkanowsky, Jeffrey “Jellybean” Alexander,
Kirk Joseph, Cornell Williams, and others. Rush brought along his old
friend and longtime collaborator, guitarist Vasti Jackson, who worked with
Bobby and Scott on getting the songs ready for the studio. Guitar greats
Dave Alvin, Keb’ Mo’, and Joe Bonamassa all make guest appearances on the
album.
Rush has always been a prolific and clever songwriter. The songs he penned
for Porcupine
Meat such as “Dress Too Short,” “I Don’t Want Nobody
Hanging Around,” “Me, Myself And I,” “Nighttime Gardener,” “It’s Your
Move,” and the title selection, all equal or rival his best material. “Funk
O’ De Funk” delivers exactly what the title suggests and what Rush has
always done the best, which is putting the funk into the blues. While “Got
Me Accused” is inspired by events from Rush’s own life, the lyrics tell an
all-too-familiar tale about the rampant racial injustice that afflicts our
society. Producer Billington and his wife Johnette Downing (the well known
New Orleans songwriter and children’s musician) co-wrote a couple of fine
selections, “Catfish Stew” and “Snake In The Grass.”
Bobby Rush is the greatest bluesman currently performing. Porcupine Meat
is a testament to his brilliance, which presents him at his very best, and
doesn’t try to be anything that he is not. “I just try to record good music
and stories,” he humbly states. With this recording, he has more than
accomplished his goal, and has produced one of the finest contemporary
blues albums in recent times.
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