LESSON > BEYOND BLUES
The Soulful Otis Rush
BY KID ANDERSEN
Currently the guitarist for Rick Estrin & the
Nightcats, Kid Andersen has recorded and per-
formed with Charlie Musselwhite, Elvin Bishop,
and many other blues legends. Originally from
Norway, Andersen is now based in San Jose,
California, with the immigration status of “Alien
of Extraordinary Ability.” For more information,
visit rickestrin.com.
his CDs right now This column will still
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Many blues fans swear by his earliest
recordings on the Cobra label and he also
put out great stuff on Chess (and Checker).
Rush was featured on a very nice set on
Vanguard’s Chicago: The Blues Today series,
and all that stuff is classic must-have,
required listening. But my favorite recordings are the 1968 LP he did for Atlantic,
called Mourning in the Morning, and Right
Place, Wrong Time, which he cut in 1971
and was released in 1975.
By that point in his career, he had
switched from a Strat to an Epiphone
Riviera with mini humbuckers, and in
my opinion, that’s when he really found
his sound—at least the sound I’ve been
searching for most of my adult (if I may
call it that) life. Of course, his Strat tone
on the Cobra stuff is classic, and Ike
Turner plays a bunch of badass guitar on
those records as well, but I’m a Gibson guy
at heart and the Epi is basically the same
thing and just really does it for me.
The wonderful thing about his tone on
the Atlantic album is that not only does
his guitar amp sound amazing, you can
also hear the acoustic tone of his guitar
bleeding through his red-lining vocal mic,
which adds just a whole ’nother dimen-
sion of sonic goodness to the stew. I’ve
bought many a guitar and amp searching
for Otis’ tone, but ultimately, it’s in your
fingers. The most important and unique
aspect of his sound cannot be taught in
this lesson—I’m talking about his vibrato
and his touch. That will take you a
CHOPS: Intermediate
THEORY: Intermediate
LESSON OVERVIEW:
• Learn licks in the style of Chicago blues master Otis Rush.
• Develop cool minor-blues
rhythm phrases.
• Understand how important it is
to bend strings in tune.
Click here to hear
sound clips of
these examples.
I’ve bought many
a guitar and amp
searching for Otis’
tone, but ultimately,
it’s in your fingers.
The most important
and unique aspect of
his sound cannot
be taught in this
lesson—I’m talking
about his vibrato
and his touch.
Otis Rush, ladies and gentlemen. One of the biggest influences on
modern blues and rock guitar, and a guy
I’ve been trying my darndest to copy ever
since I heard him do “Feel So Bad” at age
13. He was a huge influence on me, and an
often-tapped source by other not-quite-as-influential-as-Kid-Andersen guitarists, such
as Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page.
I jest, of course, but you can trace a direct
line from Otis’ style to Clapton, Page, Peter
Green, and Mick Taylor, who then influ-
enced Eddie Van Halen. The line continues
on from EVH to any number of unnamed
dudes with spiky haircuts decked out in Ed
Hardy and posing next to Britney Aquafina
or Clay Lambert in today’s “music scene.”
Meanwhile, Rush is still living the blues-
man’s fate by being grossly unrecognized
by the masses and looking back on a career
of constant bum deals and unfortunate
circumstances. If you’re any kind of man or
woman, and you haven’t already, buy all of
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˙
70 PREMIER GUITAR JUNE 2012
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