OPINION

Confessions of a Fanboy 003: My Dream about Otis Rush - and has Samantha Mathis Gained Weight?

Written by Josh Hathaway
Published April 10, 2006

I.

I had a dream about Otis Rush Saturday night.

I rarely remember my dreams. I am sure I dream every night. Scientists say I do. Who the fuck am I to disagree with a fucking scientist? It's just ... I don't seem to remember many of my dreams. How depressing is that? Even in my dreams I can't seem to be any more fucking excited or enthused about life than I am when I am awake. If I had any musical talent of my own I think I would have albums worth of ruminations of how my life sucks because my dreams are so meaningless I never fucking remember any of them. Either that or my shit just works so poorly I can't keep track of anything. I think I like that better. I can blame my lack of progress in life to the lost masterpieces inside my dreams that will never be unlocked. Bitchin'.

Anyway, what I actually dreamed was I met an employee of Otis Rush. She might have been his manager or president of a fan club - I am not sure. She looked like Samantha Mathis, only she was a little heavier (I thought you would want to know). Anyway, this woman and I met somewhere or other (yeah, I remember she was a fat Samantha Mathis lookalike but can't remember where we 'met') and got to talking and she remembered reading one of my reviews of an Otis Rush album. She told me the review had meant so much to Otis and he was very moved by it.

I was stopped dead in my tracks.

Otis read my review?

"The hell you say," I say to fat Samantha Mathis lookalike girl. "How fuckin' cool is that? But I don't believe you. I mean, how would he have?"

Turns out it was true. She actually found the review and showed it to him. Fat Samantha Mathis (not her real name) had actually met Otis Rush! I suddenly had so many questions for this mystery woman. I asked about his health (he will turn 72 this month and suffered a stroke a few years back) and she said he was doing well but his days of performing were probably behind him. She and I then spent the rest of the dream talking about Otis Rush and his music.

So where did this dream come from? Who the fuck knows? I did get assigned (actually volunteered with much enthusiasm) to review an upcoming DVD release entitled Otis Rush - Live at Montreux 1986 (there is also a CD companion to this release) this past week. The excitement of this assignment caused me to listen to the Otis Rush playlist I have on my iPod. I cannot wait until that DVD arrives. You will know when it does as the review will be hosted here at Blogcritics. I guess the combination might have caught up with me a few days later and planted the seeds of this dream. Fat Samantha Mathis will remain a mystery. I am indifferent about the real Samantha Mathis. I am just jealous her larger lookalike has met Otis Rush and I have not.

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Josh Hathaway is Assistant Music Editor for BC Magazine. He is formerly an award-winning journalist and broadcaster and publishes the BC Network site Confessions of a Fanboy .
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Confessions of a Fanboy 003: My Dream about Otis Rush - and has Samantha Mathis Gained Weight?
Published: April 10, 2006
Type: Opinion
Section: Music
Filed Under: Music: Blues
Part of a feature: Confessions of a Fanboy
Writer: Josh Hathaway
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Comments

#1 — April 10, 2006 @ 22:16PM — DuaneFan

Well, ef, ef, effity ef. I guess that sums it the ef up, doesn't it?

#2 — April 10, 2006 @ 22:19PM — Mat Brewster [URL]

Wow. That was so freaking long, I had to take a bathroom break in the middle.

But it does have some really cool stuff in it. Nicely done, Mr DJ

#3 — April 11, 2006 @ 09:10AM — DJRadiohead [URL]

Brewster, thank you. Thank you for making it through the thing (I wholly understand the need for a good, cleansing shit somewhere after Cobra records disbanded) and thanks for commenting. I had no idea I was going to go this long when the piece started. This was one of those where I was just along for the ride, too.

And Duane... I couldn't have said it better myself.

#4 — April 12, 2006 @ 09:24AM — DJRadiohead [URL]

I did a search on GoogleNews for "Otis Rush" and this story came up tops. Maybe the fictional Samantha Mathis character will show the man himself. I hope he likes it.

Now, if I can just get those people to send me the DVD so I can review it.

#5 — April 12, 2006 @ 09:34AM — Mark Saleski [URL]

ah yea! great take on Otis Rush. i don't have any of his recordings, but must say, the can can put together a tune. the first one i ever heard was the Geils version of "Homework" (from Full House).

makes me want to go home and plug in the guitar.

#6 — April 12, 2006 @ 09:37AM — DJRadiohead [URL]

Thanks, Mark. Glad you made it through. Was it a one bathroom break or a two-shitter for you? Wait... don't answer that.

Essential and Right Place... are really good places to start if you are at all curious. Honestly, knowing what little I have come to know of your tastes, I have a feeling you would find Right Place... a more fulfilling, enjoyable listen. It's just a hunch.

#7 — April 12, 2006 @ 09:39AM — Mark Saleski [URL]

remember, one of my favorite writers is Kerouac...so it did't seem so long to me.

i will definitely check out some Otis Rush.

#8 — April 12, 2006 @ 09:53AM — DJRadiohead [URL]

Well, I could have kept yammering for another 1,000 words or so. I'll try harder the next time.

Re-reading these comments and this column has caused me to again reach for Right Place... myself. Time well spent.

#9 — April 13, 2006 @ 13:53PM — DJRadiohead [URL]

I got excited when there was a package in the mail... turns out to have not been Otis. It was another CD I will be reviewing. Still. I wanted to watch Otis.

#10 — April 13, 2006 @ 17:03PM — DJRadiohead [URL]

UPDATE: The CD/DVD arrived today. My review will be surfacing soon. Some Otis tonight. Not a bad way to spend an evening.

#11 — May 9, 2006 @ 12:17PM — Aaron, Duke De Mondo [URL]

DJ, that was beautiful. Beautiful. i dunno that i've ever heard a note this fella played, and to be honest, electric blues carry on's were never my bag. To paraphrase Sun House; the blues are about that snarl in your gut when bad shit's goin down.
I like it when they sound like that, too. And for the most part, i've only ever really heard that from acoustic blues malarkey.

But that's got nothing to do with the wonders of this piece, or maybe it has everything to do with it. I never heard a note and doubt i'd even like it if i did, and yet entranced, i was.

and those last couple lines were perfect. There's a lotta perfect lines in there, mind. But those last two - they were perfectly perfect.

#12 — May 9, 2006 @ 14:00PM — DJRadiohead [URL]

Duke, I know what you mean about the acoustic blues and the very guttural stuff. Some of Otis' work, despite being all electric blues, has been described as hair raising in that sort of sense. Certainly not all of it. What I think is if you listened to a few of his records you would be disinterested in a good chunk but there would be a song or two that you'd want to take with you. And on that acoustic blues subject- if you haven't taken Brother Saleski and my advice to get Muddy Waters' Folk Singer album you should not let one more day of your life pass without it.

I had to go back and re-read the last couple of lines to see which were the perfectly perfect. Thanks for that, Duke, and thanks for reading this. This one was a lot of fun. I don't write "dream" sequences often.

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