"Your Turn to Cry" is my favorite song on the album because it fooled me. Some melody patterns are so well-worn and familiar you can see them coming before they get there. It is part of what makes some pop songs so catchy. You feel like you know them immediately. "Your Turn to Cry" takes what you think you know and uses it against you. You listen to the song and think it is going one direction only to have it go the other. The horn accents are never better utilized then they are here.
He penned the title track and it is another of his best. He takes advantage of the opportunity to have longer songs and gets multiple guitar runs and he still manages to leave room for his excellent horn section to provide great accents to the song. His voice is note perfect. This is Otis Rush at his best.
Sadly, this would be his last great studio album for twenty years. Cold Day in Hell was released around the same time as Right Place because of the label jackassery. Cold Day has some super moments but does not hold together the way Right Place does.
The rest of Rush's 70s and 80s output is mostly a collection of live albums. These live albums allow him to strip down the sound and stretch the songs out at the same time. The live setting allows him to jam and he takes full advantage with a series of searing guitar runs. He usually worked with a horn section on most of his studio recordings but rarely had the money to bring one on the road with him. The leaner sound puts more emphasis on Rush as a guitar player and nearly every night he is up to the challenge. There are occasions when he overindulges but even in these instances he is never a boring listen.
There are two of these live albums I recommend picking up. Actually, there are three but I would start with these two: So Many Roads, So Many Trains: Live which was recorded in Japan in 1975 and All Your Love I Miss Loving: Live at Wise Fools Pub Chicago which was recorded in 1976.
So Many Roads probably gets the edge in sound quality. He was playing with a different group of musicians on this set than on All Your Love…. The rhythm section on this set sounds like they have some jazz experience and they deftly follow Rush wherever he leads. Most of the songs run between four and five minutes which keeps things moving. The rendition of "All Your Love (I Miss Loving)" is not to be missed nor is the title track of the release. Neither, particularly "All Your Love," have ever sounded better.
Article comments
1 - DuaneFan
Well, ef, ef, effity ef. I guess that sums it the ef up, doesn't it?
2 - Mat Brewster
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 - DJRadiohead
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 - DJRadiohead
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 - Mark Saleski
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 - DJRadiohead
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 - Mark Saleski
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 - DJRadiohead
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 - DJRadiohead
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 - DJRadiohead
UPDATE: The CD/DVD arrived today. My review will be surfacing soon. Some Otis tonight. Not a bad way to spend an evening.
11 - Aaron, Duke De Mondo
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 - DJRadiohead
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.