Born Emmet Ellis, Jr., the son of a preacher, and partially raised near the North Louisiana town of Homer, not far from the Arkansas line (or from Percy Mayfield’s hometown of Minden, LA), he took up harmonica and guitar early in life. In 1948, when he was 12, his family moved to Pine Bluff, Arkansas; and by the early 1950s the teenager was already singing and performing in roadhouses, influenced and inspired by cats such as Louis Jordan, Muddy Waters, and Fats Domino.
The legendary Elmore James even played in his band for a short stint back then. By 1956, Ellis had changed is name to Bobby Rush, so as not to have his father’s sanctified name sullied by the devil’s music, and moved to Chicago. There he formed a band that both Freddie King and Luther Allison passed through early on. By the 1960s, Rush was a regularly working live performer, cutting a few obscure tunes along the way.
His records did not sell until he did “Sock Boogaloo” b/w “Much Too Much” for Checker in 1967. The former song did well enough locally that he got two more great boogaloo sides, “Gotta Have Money” b/w “Camel Walk” onto a 1968 ABC single, and then had a few more James Brown-influenced releases on Salem the next year; but none of those went anywhere. His luck changed in 1971 with his classic, “Chicken Heads” b/w “Mary Jane”, cut with producer Calvin Carter in Chicago and released on Galaxy.
7 Comments (since 28 Jun 2014)
music_xplosion
Born Emmet Ellis, Jr., the son of a preacher, and partially raised near the North Louisiana town of Homer, not far from the Arkansas line (or from Percy Mayfield’s hometown of Minden, LA), he took up harmonica and guitar early in life. In 1948, when he was 12, his family moved to Pine Bluff, Arkansas; and by the early 1950s the teenager was already singing and performing in roadhouses, influenced and inspired by cats such as Louis Jordan, Muddy Waters, and Fats Domino.
music_xplosion
The legendary Elmore James even played in his band for a short stint back then. By 1956, Ellis had changed is name to Bobby Rush, so as not to have his father’s sanctified name sullied by the devil’s music, and moved to Chicago. There he formed a band that both Freddie King and Luther Allison passed through early on. By the 1960s, Rush was a regularly working live performer, cutting a few obscure tunes along the way.
music_xplosion
His records did not sell until he did “Sock Boogaloo” b/w “Much Too Much” for Checker in 1967. The former song did well enough locally that he got two more great boogaloo sides, “Gotta Have Money” b/w “Camel Walk” onto a 1968 ABC single, and then had a few more James Brown-influenced releases on Salem the next year; but none of those went anywhere. His luck changed in 1971 with his classic, “Chicken Heads” b/w “Mary Jane”, cut with producer Calvin Carter in Chicago and released on Galaxy.
music_xplosion
From : http://homeofthegroove.blogspot.fr/2006/10/another-way-to-spell-it.html
debutch
OH! I remember this! First time I've heard it for MANY years! Love all your info too...
music_xplosion
@decarter You're welcome! Glad you enjoyed hearing it again :)
Matan
Glad to have been of Camel service. A small repayment for hundreds of great grooves you expose me to all the time.