Photo by Cheryl Gerber
The legendary Soul Blues singer, Bobby Rush, played Ogden After Hours on Thursday, April 23. Born the son of a preacher man in Homer, Louisiana,1940, Bobby Rush moved to Chicago at an early age. In the 50s, he played in Chicago bands with Freddie King, Earl Hooker, and Luther Allison. Trips to visit family in Arkansas found him on stage with the great Elemore James.
In 1971, Rush had a hit with the Galaxy single "Chicken Heads," and he spent the next decade travelling the "chitlin' circuit" from west Texas to Florida to Chicago, and back. In the 80s, he settled down in Jackson, Mississippi, signed to a number of labels, settling into Malaco Records.
Photo by Cheryl Gerber
In 2003, Bobby Rush fulfilled his dream of owning his own label, Deep Rush. After more than fifty years on the stage, he shows no signs of slowing down. He has found new enthusiastic audiences in New York, Europe and Asia, and still plays to working class audiences in packed juke joints on the chitlin' circuit. Thanks to the Ponderosa Stomp Foundation for bringing Bobby Rush to the Ogden Museum.
