Bobby Rush

Boogie Speaks With Bobby Rush



It was a distinct honor for me along with Dorothy Moore to present Bobby Rush with The Soul Blues Male Artist of the Year Bobby Rush award at this years BLUES MUSIC AWARDS,

More recently I had the honor and privilege to interview Bobby for the Southern Soul Top 20 Countdown.

During the interview Bobby touched on his recent trips to China and Iraq.He also gave insight into the Theme of his latest Release"Look At What You Gettin'

http://www.theboogiereport.com
- Boogie Report

When I think of bobby rush, many things come to mind. There are many ways to try to define him.
Certainly you start with great showman. I’ve never seen a more intriguing stage show in my 53 years of life.
Then you think legendary song writer. Bobby Rush, in his fifty plus year career has written or contributed to the writing of some of the biggest hit songs in blues and soul music.
Recording artists definitely, having recorded more than two hundred fifty songs that have been commercially successful, even if not always for him.
Then there is businessman, Rush has owned his own record label for many years, distributing through an ever changing group of major distributors.
You cannot describe Bobby Rush without acknowledging him as a humanitarian who tirelessly gives of himself, often for no pay to appear at schools, hospitals, political functions and on and on, for the benefit of someone somewhere.
Rush is a great father, an excellent husband and provider. A great pioneer of southern soul music, also called the blues, and among the few remaining American musical treasures that still live and perform at such a high level.
August 21 through 29, 2007, Bobby Rush completed on an incredible journey in which he discovered China and China discovered him. Each understanding that it was in the presence of greatness, they made an alliance and Rush dedicated his efforts to bringing Americans and Chinese together in their love of history, tradition and the blues.
This is but one of many frontiers that Rush has explored in his fifty two plus year amazing career. He is seventy four years old. He loves to tell you that. Bobby Rush was born Emmitt Ellis, Jr. named for his father the preacher Emmitt Ellis, in the town of Homer, LA.
In the 50’s, when Rush’s professional career really got its start, Chicago was the place he plied his trade. Bobby has long been admired for his remarkable work ethic. Many speak about the times when he donned a fake mustache to emcee his own shows, collecting extra pay from an unsuspecting club owner. During those years he played in bands that included Freddie King, Earl Hooker, Luther Allison and Elmore James. Rush began to lead his own bands while still a teenager and successfully took advantage of all of the opportunities that being in charge of your destiny bring.
His biggest commercial hit song was the 1971 released “Chicken Heads” on Galaxy records. Chicken Heads was re-released in 2007 on the soundtrack for the Paramount/Vantage motion picture “Black Snake Moan” starring Samuel Jackson, Christina Ricci and Justin Timberlake.
Rush would record for a number of labels over the years including Jewel, Philadelphia International, Warner Brothers, and would become a major star of the "chitlin circuit," the decades old network of clubs that stretches across the southern United States.
In the 80’s Bobby left Chicago and moved to Jackson, MS, where he continues to live today.
Over the decades he has consistently updated his show by incorporating an ever evolving fresh mix of musical approaches, while carefully orchestrating his on stage presentation to keep him vibrant and relevant. His special style of performance with him singing, joking and jiving as his dancers defy the laws of gravity and the band keeps that sheen of sweat ever present on your body which is after all why we call it funk music. Folk funk. The blues.
In 2005, Rush released the ground breaking DVD “Live at Ground Zero” recorded live at Morgan Freemans Live at Ground Zero night club in Clarksdale, MS, with commentary by Morgan Freeman.
In 2006, Bobby Rush was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame by the Memphis Based International Blues Foundation in recognition of his many years of success in the music industry.
In 2007, Bobby Rush was awarded the West Coast Blues Hall of Fame’s “Songwriter of the Year” and “Best Blues Song “Award’s for his 2006 release “Night Fishin”.

Rush was honored by the Badaling Great Wall Foundation in China as a true Living Musical Pioneer and was named their official U.S. spokesperson in this the year of the Beijing Olympics. He will headline an eight city tour in May and June 2008 featuring American born blues and gospel artists, Latino artists, and folk artists from China and Russia. He will also be featured in a documentary film shot over nine days in four Chinese cities culminating with a festival appearance in front of forty thousand Chinese fans. This film will be titled “Experience the Rush, Live at the Great Wall of China”, and will debut in May, 2008.

On April 1, 2008 Rush and his band will leave the U.S. to headline the first ever Blueszapalooza, the first blues event of it’s kind to travel behind the front lines and perform for the troops in Kuwait, Iraq and Afghanistan returning April 9, 2008.

Rush broke new milestones by releasing his first ever acoustic, solo album in late 2007, musically returning to his roots of basic, solid blues music and the rewards of th - Blues Festival Guide

Las Vegas based Beaty Four Entertainment is proud to announce that blues pioneer Bobby Rush to headline blues at the front lines.

BLUZAPALOOZA, the first Blues concert tour to go to a war zone, ships out to military bases in Iraq and Kuwait on April 1, 2008 to entertain our troops.

Created by Blues producers Steve Simon and John Hahn and presented by Armed Forces Entertainment, this inaugural BLUZAPALOOZA tour stars Blues icon and four-time Blues Music Awards (BMA) nominee Bobby Rush, two-time BMA Contemporary Blues Female Artist of the Year Janiva Magness, Beale Street Entertainer of the Year Billy Gibson, and Tony Braunagel from The Phantom Blues Band heading up the BLUZAPALOOZA All-Stars Blues Band.

"BLUZAPALOOZA gives America's greatest Blues musicians the opportunity to say 'Thank you' and 'We love you' to America's greatest troops," stated Steve Simon, co-producer of BLUZAPALOOZA.

"For our men and woman serving on the front lines, BLUZAPALOOZA is like attending a great Blues festival right in their own home town," stated John Hahn, BLUZAPALOOZA's co-producer.

This inaugural BLUZAPALOOZA tour has been made possible with the help of Armed Forces Entertainment, The Blues Foundation, Blind Raccoon, Blues Revue, Gibson Guitars, Alligator Records, Beaty Four Entertainment, Northern Blues Music, Delta Groove Records, Blind Pig Records, Telarc Records, Sony Corporation and Ruf Records.

Armed Forces Entertainment (AFE) is the lead Department of Defense agency for providing entertainment to U.S. military personnel serving overseas. Founded in 1951, AFE brings a touch of home to more than 500,000 troops each year. BLUZAPALOOZA is proud to be working with AFE.
- Armed Forces Entertainment

BOBBY RUSH/Live at the Ground Zero Blues Club: A delightful anachronism
that keeps rolling after 50 years of banging out the blues, Rush is one
of the last of the breed when it comes to blues showmen that know the
southern chitlin circuit supper clubs like the back of his hand. Having
had a turn in the mass spotlight with a song about oral sex many years
ago, Rush is one of a kind and deserves as many turns in the spotlight
as he can get. If you've never been to a hard core, real blues show, be
glad for the convenience of dvd, put it on and find out why he's getting
a late career bump from the alternative tastes. Wild and raucous fun
stuff that's a clear cut reminder about when music was a lot more fun.

CHRIS SPECTOR, Editor and Publisher

- MidWestRecord.com

Over the years Bobby Rush has been nominated or won

Grammy nominated Best Contemporary Blues Album: Hoochie Man - 2001

Handy/BMA for Blues Entertainer of The Year, but has been nominated in 1997, 98, 99, 2000, 01, 02, 04, 05, 06 and 08

Living Blues Critics Awards
Best Live Performer: 1995, 97, 98, 99, 2000, 01, 02, 03, 07, 08
Male Blues Artist of the Year: 1998
Outstanding Blues Singer: 1998

Living Blues Readers Awards
Best Live Performer: 1998, 2000, 01, 02, 04, 05, 06, 07, 08
Male Blues Artist of the Year: 2004
Most Outstanding Blues Singer: 1998

Blues Foundation, 2nd annual B.B. King Blues Hero Award: 1998

- Blues Soul Magazine