Search - Otis Rush :: Live in Europe

YES!!!

tin2x | Staten Island, NY USA | 03/08/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I love Otis and this is just a fine recording of him live. He's famously erratic, but there's some great playing and an even greater vibe on this. He hasn't been recorded anywhere near enough and half of the stuff out there proves it. This is from that half. Buy it!"

Some of the very best live Otis

Docendo Discimus | Vita scholae | 03/22/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"There are numerous live albums out there featuring the great Otis Rush. Surprisingly many, considering how relatively little he actually recorded. But most of them are very good, and some are just plain magnificent, and "Live in Europe" is one of the very best.



This really ought to be titled "Live in France" or something...the title makes it sound like a compilation of live recordings from one or more European tours, but it is in fact a single ten-song set from a 1977 concert in the Lotharingian capital Nancy. The fidelity is good (even without being truly stellar), and Otis is in top form. His guitar playing is as strong and focused as you'll ever hear it, and the drums, which are mixed way into the background on some live recordings, or possibly just not seperately miked, are prominent without being overwhelming, just the way it ought to be.



Otis Rush is backed by a three-piece band (drums, bass, second guitar), and they delight the enthusiastic French crowd with terrific, inspired renditions of songs like "Cut You Loose", "Crosscut Saw", "I'm Tore Up", and the classics "All Your Love (I Miss Loving)" and "I Can't Quit You Baby". Rush's stinging solos are never less than good, and frequently incendiary, each one with its own unique set of twists and turns.

A cover of John Lee Hooker's "I Wonder Why" features some of the most tasteful blues guitar playing you'll ever hear. He outdoes B.B. King on a sizzling eight-minute "You're Breaking My Heart", and he sings like he means it all the way through.



To me, this is one of the two best live recordings of the Chicago blues giant, one which no fan should miss. Your first Otis Rush-purchase should always be his classic 50s Cobra Singles, but don't forget to pick up this one right afterwards!

Highly, highly recommended."