"OK, Otis Rush is my favorite and of all his studio work this is his most legendary, but with VERY GOOD REASON! If you like the blues and you don't know Otis Rush yet, do yourself a favour and buy this album. It features Otis' brilliant guitar playing and impassioned vocals. In Robert Palmer's Deep Blues the legendary Muddy Waters says that Otis has a voice like the old timers, and his guitar playing helped inspire Clapton early on. Otis' gutar cuts and weaves through these tracks, and his voice is warm and impassioned. Check out his version of "Rainy Night In Georgia" which deserves to be more famous than Brook Benton's. I think it's the albums hidden gem, because many of Otis' signature tunes that he still plays live to this day take up the rest of the album. Stop reading and buy it!"
Blues guitar to ease your mind
Jostein Berntsen | Porsgrunn, Norway | 08/18/2000
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Otis Rush is a marvellous blues guitarist and singer, and this may be his best album. It is certainly one of my most played album through the years. All songs here are classics. Otis Rush's great vocals and lyrics soars through the record, with beautiful, tormenting guitar licks by the man. The band is also very good, led by Nick Gravenites, and with fine horn arrangements. This is some of the most authentic soul blues you will ever hear. My top songs are 'Right Place, Wrong time' and 'Take a look behind'. This one should be on your stereo."
An Essential Blues Recording
R. Sohi | 12/31/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Otis Rush is one of the greatest singers and guitarists in the history of the blues. "Right Place, Wrong Time" is his unmistakeable masterpiece, far surpassing the Cobra recordings, his initial reputation was built on, and setting a standard he unfortunately never quite reached again. Over ten songs (four of which are originals) he conveys a lifetime of sadness, pain and passion through his tasteful guitar playing and soulful singing. When he sings "they say there's someone for everybody/ Ooooh I wonder where in the world is the one for me," on the title track its the poetry of loneliness brought to life. The final song "Take a Look Behind" is one of the most moving songs about the regret over a life badly lived in all the blues. There isn't a dud on here though. Every track is a thing of beauty.
I first bought this album on vinyl in the 80s and nearly wore it out. The CD I replaced it with continues to get plenty of air time on my home stereo. No blues collection can be complete without this disk."
His Best, one of the best blues albums ever
Jeremy Loome | Edmonton, AB, Canada | 04/14/2004
(5 out of 5 stars)
"The instrumental rendition of I wonder why is reason enough to buy this album, Otis Rush's best. The only other work by Rush found on album that compares with the taught intensity of these performances were the studio sessions he did for Sam Charters and the Chicago, The Blues Today! series issued back, I believe, in 1966. Lots of people have covered Ike Turner's stomper, Tore Up, but nobody's started it with the weaving, amazing 10-note lick Rush pulls out. Every song on the disc works; He's had numerous versions of his old classic Three Times a Fool, but with tight horn backing, Right Place, Wrong Time's version is far and away his best. If you want the best of swinging Chicago R&B, match this up with Hideaway: THe best of Freddy King; Buddy's Blues, the complete Buddy Guy Chess Records recordings; and West Side Soul, by Magic Sam. And above all, get the reissued Chicago, The Blues, Today! series for a real schooling in Chicago chops."
One of the greatest blues CDs
Jerry D. Rosen | Los Angeles, CA United States | 10/31/2002
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Rush's Right Place, Wrong Time is one of the greatest modern era blues recordings and may be the best electric blues album recorded after 1970. It starts off with the best cover I have ever heard of Ike Turner's Tore Up. Rush's soloing on this tune is amazing in its fire and creativity. Rush is a master of getting a hook and taking it as far as it will go. He follows this with the song that that the CD is named after; it is a classic "West Side" of Chicago tune that makes excellent use of the horn section and shows that a slow blues can be dynamic and spiced up. Rush includes an instrumental cover of I Wonder Why which smokes. This is the type of blues CD that you rarely hear recorded anymore. Rush can solo with anybody, but he is original and he gets the fire from his passion and not from volume or from playing a million notes. I put this album in the same league as Magic Sam's West Side Soul, which is my favorite studio album of all time. It is a mystery as to why Rush hasn't received more acclaim and it is a travesty that this album didn't get a big push from a major label. Every tune on it is a classic. Buy it!!"