At 82 and change, Bobby Rush is one of the last great Chicago Blues singers around, and (believe it or not) because of living a clean life of no booze or drugs (are you SURE he’s a blues musician?!?) he’s lean, spry, and with not only a sharp wit, but also with a set of singing and harmonica chops that can STILL cut down anyone half his age, as he displayed in all the ribald blues glory on Saturday in Inglewood.
Filled with Southern charm and small town playfulness, Rush and his elastic yet air tight blues band shimmied through some neck nodding tunes like “Evil” while Rush played the part of street preacher on “Good for the Gander” and “Tell Nobody No Lies.” His harp playing on the ballad “I’m Crazy About You” was agonizingly penetrating, while during the shuffling blues and boogies as well as his composition “Hoochie Coochie Man” (“I’m sorry I gave that one to Muddy Waters,” he laughed) the blowing was wonderfully nasty. With an innocent twinkle in his eye, he still sounded ominous on “19 Years Old” and even during the bawdy moments on funky modern blues such as “What I’m Talkin’ About,” you could feel the playfulness and 7th grade locker room humor of it all. Nothing mean, misogynist or nasty, just good old blues, and it’s harder and harder to find in these days of blue eyed soul-lessness.
