Personnel: Otis Rush (vocals, guitar); Otis Rush; Bob Levis (guitar); Chris Mason (alto saxophone); Rawl Hardman (tenor saxophone); Bob Stroger (bass instrument); Alberto Gianquinto (electric piano); Jesse Lewis Green (drums).
Additional personnel: Chris Mason , Rawl Hardman.
Audio Mixers: Steve Wagner ; Ken Rasek.
Liner Note Author: Steve Tomashefsky.
Recording information: The Wise Fools Pub, Chicago, IL (01/1976).
Otis Rush has the home-court advantage on this live set recorded in Chicago, and he had just recently made his first album for Delmark--the great COLD DAY IN HELL--when he played this gig. Consequently both the musicians and a number of the tunes on the setlist hail from that album, though a couple of those are also Rush classics he'd recorded before, like this disc's title tune. This is mid-period Rush at his best, ripping into the songs with ferocious abandon, and really stretching out on the six-string (though never in a self-indulgent fashion).
Professional Reviews
Rolling Stone (No. 988, p.120) - 3.5 out of 5 stars - "...Rush was in his fierce prime for this 1976 radio broadcast...."
Down Beat (p.83) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "[The songs] further demonstrate his command and control without detracting from the intensity of his performing style."
Dirty Linen (p.86) - "[T]he essence of Rush's greatness is highlighted in stirring versions of 'It Takes Time' and 'Gambler's Blues.'"
No Depression (p.121) - "Buoyed by the deep grooves of his regular band...he's so relaxed he can create effortless tension through his free-flowing solo work..."
Mojo (Publisher) (p.100) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "Listening to Otis Rush is like standing under a waterfall. The force of his singing, the torrent of guitar notes takes your breath away."
