Bobby Rush, the living memory of the southern blues
Bobby Rush in concert on March 16, 2018 in Cleveland, Mississippi.
WireImage - WIll Jacks
By: Joe Farmer Follow
5 mins
At 87 years old, bluesman Bobby Rush continues to release high quality albums that have often been acclaimed by critics and audiences.
The most recent was designed in a context of generalized containment.
Even if it means staying cloistered at home, you might as well think about the best way to stay active and creative.
Bobby Rush therefore took the time to select blues heritage works that he had recorded over the years.
Thus was born "Rawer Than Raw", a rough and shivering acoustic album which honors the great figures of ancestral blues and invites us to listen attentively to one of its most authentic performers.
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Adapted many times by many historical bluesmen including Elmore James, BB King, John Mayall, John Hammond Jr, Luther Allison, Muddy Waters, and many others, "Dust my broom", composed in the 1930s, is a classic that Bobby Rush couldn't dodge on his latest album.
Our dashing octogenarian has been performing around the world for over 50 years, releasing recordings on a very regular basis.
However, it was not until 2017 that one of his records, "Porcupine Meat", was finally celebrated with a Grammy Award.
Since "Rush Hour", the first discographic echo of his talent, decades have passed and Bobby Rush has had time to see his country evolve.
And even if his music is still based on the African-American tradition, he is concerned about the transformation of this precious form of expression victim of the race for audience and profit.
The blues played a crucial role during the civil rights movement of the 1960s in the United States.
Bobby Rush was living in Chicago at the time.
He was in his thirties and vividly remembers the social climate of the day, the speeches of Martin Luther King and his commitment to equality and justice.
Like many American citizens of the time, he was appalled by the appalling news of his assassination in April 1968. “
I felt the world had frozen! I was heartbroken. As a black man. American, I felt the ground give way under my feet, in a way. He was our spokesperson. He said everything we wanted to be and become. He was aware that his speech was not accepted by all but he We saw him on television, we read him in the newspapers. A lot of people shared his ideas, but he was the only one who had the guts to express them openly. I was stunned the day he disappeared! no words to express my pain. I couldn't think anymore. It took a long time to come to my senses. It was devastating news for me… "
Musicians BB King and Bobby Rush, in concert at Beau Rivage Hotel on June 7, 2011 in Biloxi, Mississippi.
WireImage for NARAS - Skip Bolen
Since his birth, Bobby Rush has lived the slow evolution of the blues, shared the stage with his elders, his contemporaries, and sometimes his heirs, but he remains very wary of the interest of the younger generation in the blues.
For him, young blacks in the United States have no awareness of the cultural and historical significance of this music.
"
I don't think they understand the blues. You have to play the blues to transmit it. When they reach my age, maybe they will consider the heritage value of this music. Of course, I thought too, in my youth , that my elders, Muddy Waters and Howlin Wolf, gave me nothing but, over time, their music made me think and taught me a lot about the condition of black people in the United States. learned from their journey. I realized that they had made mistakes and that I should not imitate them. So I learned something. I knew how to move forward in life. "
In recent years, Bobby Rush has returned to live in the southern United States.
He even chose to record in Louisiana where, one evening in November 1933, little Emmet Ellis Jr, who became Bobby Rush, was born.
At 87, Bobby Rush seems at peace with himself.
He found his southern land.
It has been recognized by the recording industry.
He enjoys a certain notoriety and the status of an elder that we listen to with reverence.
Bobby Rush commands respect and invites us to listen to him carefully because, behind this well-defined southern accent, there is a generous, altruistic speech, which deserves to listen.
→
Bobby Rush's website
Bobby Rush, during the Jazz and Heritage Festival, April 28, 2012, in New Orleans, Louisiana.
WireImage - Skip Bolen
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