11/15/2023 0 Comments Bobby rush blues. six decades on“ Bessie Smith and Louis Jordan and many others started out with minstrels,” he states. Aged 15, he joined the Rabbit’s Foot Minstrels troupe as a singer and dancer, dabbing burnt cork on his face (as was then expected of minstrels) before performing. Determined to perform, and being tall and confident, he began sitting in with blues musicians playing local juke joints (shanty bars often built on plantations). It’s Black folks’ oldest blues song in America – making a way out of no way.”Įmmet Jr decided to make his own way aged 13, leaving home to work full time as a farm labourer. But Daddy and Momma loved us and raised us right and, even if they had very little money, made sure we got the essentials. Grew up picking cotton and got little schooling. “We didn’t have no electricity in our home,” says Rush. Life is so short that I take the good as the overlap of the bad.”īorn Emmet Ellis Jr in Homer, Louisiana, to sharecropping parents, segregation overshadowed a dirt poor upbringing. All those hills and valleys I’ve climbed, well, someone always came through and lifted me out. “My thing has always been to not give up, to keep on pushing – as Curtis Mayfield sang. Musicians helped him on the hard road to success but James Brown, both when Rush was a junior and later a veteran, left him out of pocket when he offered largesse. “I didn’t want anyone to read the book and feel sorry for me,” says Rush of a life that has seen him get shot, jailed, badly injured when his tour bus crashed and, most punishingly, lose three of his children to sickle cell anaemia. Add to this a new manager with a vision of how to take Rush forward and he entered his 80s doing better business than ever. Rush describes his show (or “revue”) as “Black vaudeville” – song, dance, storytelling, often bawdy humour – and these elements provided the key to his breakthrough: The Road to Memphis, the 2003 documentary that was easily the strongest effort in Martin Scorsese’s The Blues series, and followed Rush as he worked, his personality and performances winning over new listeners. “I encourage people to wear a smile, not a frown.” “People love my show cos I emphasise good times,” he says. Instead, his growing audience is due purely to his skill as an entertainer. Unlike John Lee Hooker and Johnny Cash, who were both successfully repositioned in their twilight years, Rush never enjoyed early fame. Considering he started performing aged 13 and released his first record in 1964, what’s most remarkable is a work ethic that has seen him win wider acclaim and audiences in recent years – picking up Grammys in 20, appearing in the Eddie Murphy movie Dolemite Is My Name and joining Queens of the Stone Age on stage – than ever before. Thank you for helping to make all of our events efficient, enjoyable and safe for all.Rush’s 2021 autobiography I Aint Studdin’ Ya details this and many other scrapes in an epic American life. We are not responsible for any personal property that is lost, stolen, or damaged. Please leave large bags at home or in your car. Plan to arrive 30 minutes before you want to be in your seat to allow time to go through our security check. The use of vape pens inside the venues are prohibited as well. Weapons, laser pens, signs, banners, electronic smoking devices (vapes, Juuls, etc.), oversized bags, backpacks, outside food and beverages including water, cans, bottles, alcohol, illegal substances, iPads/tablets, selfie sticks, laptops, professional audio recording devices (unless approved by artist), and any professional photography equipment. THE FOLLOWING ITEMS ARE PROHIBITED AND ARE NOT ALLOWED INTO ANY OF THE VENUES. To efficiently create a positive and safe experience for all patrons, only small purses (13″W x 4″D x 9″H and smaller) are allowed into the theater and all are subject to search.Īll other bags including backpacks and oversized purses are strictly prohibited and bag storage is NOT available at The Pabst, The Riverside, Turner Hall Ballroom or The Back Room Colectivo.
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