Capitol Records made a brief attempt to mine the late 1960s/early ’70s blues revival market, releasing albums by James Cotton, Fred McDowell, Guitar Jr. (Lonnie Brooks) and Stu Ramsay & Chicago Slim, none of which made much a sales splash. If the Capitol bean counters figured an Otis Rush LP wouldn’t do any better, maybe that’s why the company didn’t even bother to release his 1971 Right Place, Wrong Time session, produced by Rush and Nick Gravenites. But it was the sparkling gem mined from Capitol’s blues exploration, finally released in 1976 on Bullfrog, an independent label formed especially for the occasion by record dealer/producer Frank Scott after writer/producer Dick Shurman heard Rush’s test pressing and helped negotiate a deal with Capitol. Recorded in San Francisco with a California crew, the album captured Rush singing and playing in top form and remains one of his best — his only post-1950s recording to earn Blues Hall of Fame status, in fact. Rush funneled the bad luck and troubles of his life into the deep blues of the title track and hit the mark on his covers of records by Ike Turner, Bobby Bland, Little Milton, Albert King, and even Nat ‘King’ Cole, whose 1958 hit, the Brook Benton-penned ‘Looking Back,’ was retitled ‘Take a Look Behind’ here.
Released on LP as Bullfrog 301 in 1976 and as Hightone 8007 in 1987; on CD as Hightone 8007 in 1990.
Tracks: Tore Up/Right Place, Wrong Time/Easy Go/Three Times a Fool/ Night in Georgia/Natural Ball/I Wonder Why/Your Turn to Cry/Lonely Man/Take a Look Behind