Posted on Mar 9, 2022
In 'I Ain't Studdin' Ya,' Blues Legend Bobby Rush Reflects On Over 7 Decades Of Making Music
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The Grammy-winning musician shares stories about his life dating all the way back to the Jim Crow era. Rush has written over 400 songs and won his first Grammy at 83 years old for his album "Porcupine Meat."
In the book, one of his earliest memories he recounts is when he created a guitar from a broom with a wire in his mother’s house.
“I put a brick at the top [of the broom] and a ball at the bottom, so that was the blues man,” Rush says. “That’s where I started from.”
Rush made his career through large venues between Chicago and the Mississippi Delta — now known as the Chitlin’ Circuit. He says he wanted to emigrate from the southern states due to the racial tensions at the time.
In the book, one of his earliest memories he recounts is when he created a guitar from a broom with a wire in his mother’s house.
“I put a brick at the top [of the broom] and a ball at the bottom, so that was the blues man,” Rush says. “That’s where I started from.”
Rush made his career through large venues between Chicago and the Mississippi Delta — now known as the Chitlin’ Circuit. He says he wanted to emigrate from the southern states due to the racial tensions at the time.
In 'I Ain't Studdin' Ya,' Blues Legend Bobby Rush Reflects On Over 7 Decades Of Making Music
Posted from wbur.org
R&B
Blues music
Racism
Chicago
Memphis
Posted >1 y ago
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
..."He first wanted to start his career in Chicago but only had enough money to travel to Memphis, Tennessee, where he started to play with B.B. King on Beale Street, he says. After making $2 to $3 a day in the band, Rush says he traveled to East St. Louis before settling in Chicago where he met Little Walter, Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf.
“So now I’m king of the Chitlin’ Circuit and I am not ashamed of it. I am who I am,” he says. “And I love what I’m doing and I display my soul into what I do.”
Despite having a successful career, it took Rush a long time before he achieved his first hit song — “Chicken Heads.” He says the record was first cut in 1968 but it wasn’t until the early 1970s that the song reached No. 1.
“I didn’t have contact,” Rush says. “It takes a lot of politics — it wasn’t who you know, it’s who knows you.
Even though he was close with music legends such as Muddy Waters and B.B King, Rush says they weren’t doing anything to help advance his career. They were interested in talking about women, parties and drugs, he says.
Now at age 87, Rush’s motivation to write this book wasn’t to gain popularity.
“I want to write the book because I want people to know if I can make it, you can too,” he says.
Rush faced many challenges throughout his lifetime. He nearly died in a gas explosion and a bus crash. He was also sent to prison on a drug charge.
“That was hard for me to keep going but every valley that I had, something or somebody came along to lift me out of my valleys,” he says.
And he experienced many personal tragedies as well: Rush says he was the only surviving member of his family after he endured the loss of his three sister-in-laws, his two daughters, his wife and his son. He eventually remarried and had another son who is now chief of police in Jackson, Mississippi.
“I picked my pieces up and licked my wounds,” Rush says. “I went on to do business as a blues singer and just keep singing and doing what I was doing because God with his work, I want to be obedient to what he sent me to do.”
While other people were cutting records and making music, Rush hustled to make money working at a hot dog stand and a barbecue joint. White people who owned record companies wanted him to be someone he wasn’t, he says.
“I didn’t want to be their N-word,” Rush says. “If I’m going to be the N-word, I’m going to be it for myself. I’m not going to kiss their butts on their terms.”
Throughout his career, Rush experienced many forms of racism. He says he was never signed to a record label because he was a Black man who can read and write.
“I haven’t been always popular because I kind of went against the grain,” he says. “I’m free because I did it my way.”
Before COVID-19 hit, Rush says he played 200 shows a year for the last 50 years. He says he had to work harder than other big bands to make the same amount of money a year to keep the band alive and food on the table.
“I did what I had to do and I am still doing it,” he says. “And I’m so glad to be back.”
..."He first wanted to start his career in Chicago but only had enough money to travel to Memphis, Tennessee, where he started to play with B.B. King on Beale Street, he says. After making $2 to $3 a day in the band, Rush says he traveled to East St. Louis before settling in Chicago where he met Little Walter, Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf.
“So now I’m king of the Chitlin’ Circuit and I am not ashamed of it. I am who I am,” he says. “And I love what I’m doing and I display my soul into what I do.”
Despite having a successful career, it took Rush a long time before he achieved his first hit song — “Chicken Heads.” He says the record was first cut in 1968 but it wasn’t until the early 1970s that the song reached No. 1.
“I didn’t have contact,” Rush says. “It takes a lot of politics — it wasn’t who you know, it’s who knows you.
Even though he was close with music legends such as Muddy Waters and B.B King, Rush says they weren’t doing anything to help advance his career. They were interested in talking about women, parties and drugs, he says.
Now at age 87, Rush’s motivation to write this book wasn’t to gain popularity.
“I want to write the book because I want people to know if I can make it, you can too,” he says.
Rush faced many challenges throughout his lifetime. He nearly died in a gas explosion and a bus crash. He was also sent to prison on a drug charge.
“That was hard for me to keep going but every valley that I had, something or somebody came along to lift me out of my valleys,” he says.
And he experienced many personal tragedies as well: Rush says he was the only surviving member of his family after he endured the loss of his three sister-in-laws, his two daughters, his wife and his son. He eventually remarried and had another son who is now chief of police in Jackson, Mississippi.
“I picked my pieces up and licked my wounds,” Rush says. “I went on to do business as a blues singer and just keep singing and doing what I was doing because God with his work, I want to be obedient to what he sent me to do.”
While other people were cutting records and making music, Rush hustled to make money working at a hot dog stand and a barbecue joint. White people who owned record companies wanted him to be someone he wasn’t, he says.
“I didn’t want to be their N-word,” Rush says. “If I’m going to be the N-word, I’m going to be it for myself. I’m not going to kiss their butts on their terms.”
Throughout his career, Rush experienced many forms of racism. He says he was never signed to a record label because he was a Black man who can read and write.
“I haven’t been always popular because I kind of went against the grain,” he says. “I’m free because I did it my way.”
Before COVID-19 hit, Rush says he played 200 shows a year for the last 50 years. He says he had to work harder than other big bands to make the same amount of money a year to keep the band alive and food on the table.
“I did what I had to do and I am still doing it,” he says. “And I’m so glad to be back.”
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