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Bobby Rush
The
creator of a singular sound which he dubbed "folk-funk,"
multi-instrumentalist Bobby Rush was among the most colorful characters
on the contemporary chitlin circuit, honing a unique style which
brought together a cracked lyrical bent with elements of blues, soul,
and funk.
Born Emmit Ellis, Jr. in Homer, LA, on November 10, 1940, he and his
family relocated to Chicago in 1953, where he emerged on the West Side
blues circuit of the 1960s, fronting bands which included such notable
alumni as Luther Allison and Freddie King. However, as Rush began to
develop his own individual sound, he opted to forgo the blues market in
favor of targeting the chitlin circuit, which offered a more receptive
audience for his increasingly bawdy material; he 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 the 1979 LP Rush Hour, produced by Kenny Gamble and Leon
Huff for their Philadelphia International imprint. During the early
'80s, Rush signed with the LaJam label, where he remained for a number
of years; there his work became increasingly funky and deranged, 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 the mid-'90s, Rush moved to
Waldoxy, 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, his tour bus crashed, injuring several bandmembers and
killing one, Latisha Brown. Rush was hospitalized for a short time,
then returned home to recuperate.
Rush returned to action in 2003 with the release of the Live From
Ground Zero CD and DVD on his own label, Deep Rush, followed by
Folkfunk, also on Deep Rush, in 2004. Rush released two albums in 2005,
Hen Pecked and Night Fishin'.
-Written
by Jason Ankeny
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