He is the king of contemporary chitlin’, well-known for his fiery and hot mix of blues, soul, and funk. The creator of a singular sound that he dubbed “folk-funk,” vocalist, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Bobby Rush is among the most colorful and enduring characters on the contemporary chitlin circuit, honing a unique style that brings together a cracked lyrical bent with elements of blues, soul, and funk. Rush was a major star in the Southern club circuit, where retro-soul and soul-blue acts thrived. But that all changed in 2003 when Rush was featured in The Road to Memphis. This episode of PBS’s acclaimed documentary series The Blues featured Rush interviewing the audience and footage of Rush working the crowd. Although Rush’s first singles were simple, raw blues, his music evolved into a swampy mix of soul, blues and funk by the 1970s. His songs are characterized by Rush’s distinctive vocal style and Southern flavor. Rush had been recording singles 14 years prior to his debut album, 1978’s Rush Hour. It was polished but not as refined as the work of Leon Huff and Kenny Gamble. Rush was most at ease with the simpler ’80s albums like Gotta Have Money or A Man Can Give it But He Can’t Accept It. Rush did his best work in 2000s, when he launched his own label and dived deeper into the blues with LPs such as Folkfunk and Raw. Rush’s 2016 album Porcupine Meat won him a Grammy award. This was a sign that he had finally gained the respect of the music industry. Rush was born Emmit Ellis, Jr., in Homer, Louisiana, on November 10, 1933. His family moved to Chicago in 1953. Rush’s band, which included Luther Allison and Freddie King, made their way on the West Side Blues circuit in the ’60s. Rush recorded his debut single in 1967 for Chicago’s Checker Records. It was “Sock Boo Ga Loo” and “Much Too Much”. Rush started to create his own sound and moved away from the blues market which was becoming more dependent on the rock audience to focus his efforts on the chitlin circuit. This allowed him to reach a wider audience with his increasingly raunchy material. Rush’s first hit was in 1971 with the single from Galaxy. He later recorded “Chicken Heads” for Jewel. As the decade progressed, Rush appeared on many labels, including his first hit in 1971 with “Chicken Heads,” a Galaxy label single. He later scored with Jewel’s “Bow-Legged Woman” album, Rush Hour, which Leon Huff and Kenny Gamble produced for their Philadelphia International imprint. Rush signed with La Jam in the 1980s. He stayed there for many years. His work became more funky and eccentric with records such as 1984’s Gotta Have Money or 1985’s What’s Good for the Goose is Good for the Gander. Rush refused to recreate the material live during his endless series of club dates. Rush made a move to Jackson, Mississippi in the mid-’90s and signed a deal to Waldoxy Records. This marked a return to a soul-blues sound with LPs like 1995’s One Monkey Don’t Stop No Show and 1997’s Lovin’ a Big Fat Woman and 2000’s Hoochie Man. Rush and his band were on their way to Pensacola, Florida in April 2001 when the bus carrying them crashed. Rush was among those injured and one of the bandmembers, Latisha Brown, was killed. Rush was admitted to the hospital for a brief time and then returned home to recover. The unstoppable Rush was able to return to action in 2003 when he released the studio album Undercover Lover as well as the concert souvenir Live At Ground Zero (a CD/DVD set) both on his own label Deep Rush. Folkfunk was the next studio album by Deep Rush. In 2005, Rush released Hen Pecked’ and Night Fishin’. He continued his prolific work with 2008’s “Look at What You Gettin’,” which featured a mixture of soul, blues and ballads. The prolific Rush released four albums between 2009 and 2014. He slowly but surely built a fan base among blues and contemporary soul fans. Omnivore Recordings published Chicken Heads: A 50 Year History of Bobby Rush in 2015. This four-disc set focuses on Rush’s life as one of the most hardworking men in blues and soul. Rounder Records signed Rush a deal in 2016 to release the eclectic and funky Porcupine Meat. It also featured guest appearances by Joe Bonamassa and Dave Alvin. It received positive reviews and won Rush the Grammy Award for Best Traditional Blues Album. With Sitting on Top of the Blues, Rush’s Deep Rush label was relaunched (this time distributed by Thirty Tigers), a session that emphasized his passionate vocals and his wailing harmonica playing. Allmusic
