Otis Spann | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | (1924-03-21)March 21, 1924 or 1930 Belzoni orJackson, Mississippi, U.S. |
| Died | (1970-04-24)April 24, 1970 (aged 40 or 46) Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
| Genres | Chicago blues[1] |
| Occupation | Musician |
| Instruments | Piano, vocals |
| Years active | 1944–1970 |
| Labels | Decca,Chess,Storyville,Testament,Bluesway,Vanguard,CBS/Blue Horizon |
Otis Spann (March 21, 1924, or 1930 – April 24, 1970) was an Americanblues musician many consider the leading postwarChicago blues pianist.[1][2]
Sources differ over Spann's early years. Some state that he was born inJackson, Mississippi, in 1930,[3][4] but researchers Bob Eagle and Eric LeBlanc concluded, based on census records and other official information, that he was born in 1924 inBelzoni, Mississippi.[5]
Spann's father was, according to some sources, a pianist called Friday Ford. His mother, Josephine Erby, was a guitarist who had worked withMemphis Minnie andBessie Smith, and his stepfather, Frank Houston Spann, was a preacher and musician. One of five children, Spann began playing the piano at seven, with some instruction from Friday Ford, Frank Spann, andLittle Brother Montgomery.[6]
By age 14, he was playing in bands in the Jackson area. He moved to Chicago in 1946, whereBig Maceo Merriweather mentored him. Spann performed solo with the guitaristMorris Pejoe, working a regular spot at the Tic Toc Lounge. Spann was known for his distinctive piano style. He becameMuddy Waters' piano player in late 1952 and participated in his first recording session with the band on September 24, 1953.[7] He played on many of Muddy Waters' most famous songs, including theblues standards "Hoochie Coochie Man," "I'm Ready," and "Got My Mojo Working."[7] During his tenure with the group, he continued to record as a solo artist and session player with other musicians, includingBo Diddley andHowlin' Wolf. He stayed with Muddy Waters until 1968.[8]
Spann's work forChess Records includes the 1954single "It Must Have Been the Devil," backed with "Five Spot," withB.B. King andJody Williams on guitars. Sometimes, he is credited for playing piano on a couple ofChuck Berry songs, including "You Can't Catch Me" (1956),[9][10] but others indicate that it could have been Berry's regular pianistJohnnie Johnson.[11] In 1956, he recorded two unreleased tracks withBig Walter Horton and Robert Lockwood.[12] He recorded a session with the guitaristRobert Lockwood, Jr. and vocalistSt. Louis Jimmy in New York on August 23, 1960, which was issued on the albumsOtis Spann Is the Blues andWalking the Blues. A 1963 session,Good Morning Mr. Blues, forStoryville Records was recorded inCopenhagen. He worked with Muddy Waters andEric Clapton on recordings forDecca[13] and withJames Cotton for Prestige in 1964.
The Blues Is Where It's At, Spann's 1966 album for ABC-Bluesway, includes contributions fromGeorge "Harmonica" Smith, Muddy Waters, andSammy Lawhorn.The Bottom of the Blues (1967), featuring Spann's wife,Lucille Spann (June 23, 1938 – August 2, 1994), was released by Bluesway. He worked on albums withBuddy Guy,Big Mama Thornton,Peter Green, andFleetwood Mac in the late 1960s. In 2012, Silk City Records released Someday, featuring live and studio performances from 1967 produced by the blues guitaristSon Lewis.
DVD recordings of Spann include his performances at theNewport Jazz Festival (1960), theAmerican Folk Blues Festival (1963), the Blues Masters (1966), and theCopenhagen Jazz Festival (1968).
Spann died ofliver cancer in Chicago in 1970. He was buried inBurr Oak Cemetery inAlsip, Illinois. His grave was unmarked for almost 30 years until Steve Salter (president of the Killer Blues Headstone Project) wrote a letter toBlues Revue magazine, saying, "This piano great is lying in an unmarked grave. Let's do something about this deplorable situation". Blues enthusiasts from around the world sent donations to purchase a headstone. On June 6, 1999, the marker was unveiled in a private ceremony. The stone is inscribed, "Otis played the deepest blues we ever heard – He'll play forever in our hearts".
In 1972, theAnn Arbor Blues and Jazz Festival site was named "Otis Spann Memorial Field."[14] That same year,Village Voice criticRobert Christgau called Spann "the greatest modern blues pianist."[15] He later included Spann's 1972Barnaby compilationWalking the Blues in "A Basic Record Library" of 1950s and 1960s music, published inChristgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies (1981).[16]
Spann was posthumously elected to theBlues Hall of Fame in 1980. On November 13, 2012, Spann (along with cousin and fellow pianist Little Johnnie Jones) received a Mississippi Blues Trail Marker plaque, erected at 547 South Roach Street in Jackson, Mississippi, where the family lived in the 1930s and 1940s.[17]
Otis Spann 1930
