The Very Best of Otis Spann (Otis Spann, Willie Dixon & S.P. Leary) (The Blues Masters, 1966)

The epitaph by Charlie Musselwhite on Otis Spann's (1930-1970) gravestone at Burr Oak Cemetery in Chicago reads: "Otis Played The Deepest Blues We Ever Heard. He’ll Play In Our Hearts Forever."
1. Blues Don't Like Nobody (00:00)
2. Ain't Nobody's Business If I Do (03:19)
Personnel: Otis Spann (piano, vocal), Willie Dixon (upright bass), S. P. Leary (drums)
From "Colin James presents The Blues Masters", originally recorded in 1966, two wonderful examples of Otis Spann's outstanding legacy.
In the early 1950s Otis Spann gained fame as the pianist for the Muddy Waters band and as house pianist for Chicago’s Chess records, the record label of Waters and other blues legends such as Willie Dixon, Howlin’ Wolf, Etta James, and Buddy Guy. Playing in a style rooted in boogie-woogie piano tradition, he developed a unique and formidable blues approach. Though a talented singer and soloist with many fine recordings to his credit, Spann’s career saw him primarily in the role of accompanist, recording with such bluesmen as Sonny Boy Williamson and Howlin’ Wolf, and rock ‘n’ roll pioneers Bo Diddley and Chuck Berry. His work with Muddy Waters contributed to one of the most celebrated ensembles in the history of the blues. By the 1960s Spann’s solo career brought audiences a refined barrelhouse sound unequaled among postwar blues pianists.
www.encycloped...
"The late Pete Welding provided the most fitting epitaph for Otis Spann (1930-1970): “A man’s life is measured not by the span of his years but by the use he makes of the time allotted him. Otis Spann never saw his fortieth year [out] yet he achieved much while he was among us - in the beauty, strength and integrity of his music - for his having been there.” Almost thirty years after Spann’s death, Blues Revue magazine in collaboration with the internet newsgroup blues-l launched a campaign to raise funds for a headstone for his grave. On Sunday June 6 1999, the stone was duly placed and dedicated at Burr Oak Cemetery in Chicago. The inscription, provided by Charlie Musselwhite, read: Otis Played The Deepest Blues We Ever Heard. He’ll Play In Our Hearts Forever. Otis Spann’s daughters, Brenda and Violet (Howard), attended the ceremony, as did drummer Francis Clay, once a colleague of Spann’s in the Muddy Waters band, but sadly neither Otis’s second wife, Lucille, nor his son by his first wife, lived to attend. The exact date when Spann’s son died isn’t known, but by a sad coincidence he too only lived to the age of 40. Lucille had passed away on August 2nd, 1994 in Vicksburg, Mississippi, where she had relocated shortly after Spann’s death."
earlyblues.org...
Willie Dixon (1915-1992) was an American blues musician who, as a record producer, bassist, and prolific songwriter, exerted a major influence on the post-World War II Chicago style. Dixon’s mother wrote religious poetry, and he sang in a gospel quartet before moving to Chicago in 1936. The following year he won the Illinois Golden Glove amateur heavyweight boxing championship. He began playing the double bass in 1939 and worked extensively with the Big Three Trio (1946-52). When that group dissolved, he began working full-time for Chess Records, serving as a house bassist and arranger on recording sessions. Dixon’s upbeat blues compositions, which he sold for as little as $30, helped usher in the Chicago blues sound of the 1950s. Among his best-known songs were “I’m Your Hoochie Coochie Man” and “I’m Ready,” written for Muddy Waters; “Little Red Rooster” and “Back Door Man,” for Howlin’ Wolf; “My Babe,” for Little Walter; “Bring It on Home,” for the second Sonny Boy Williamson (Alex “Rice” Miller); and “The Seventh Son” and “Wang Dang Doodle.” In the late 1950s he worked with the short-lived Cobra label. In the 1960s he toured Europe with the American Folk Blues Festival and formed the Chicago Blues All-Stars, which traveled widely throughout the United States and Europe; he also signed notable artists to the Chess label during this time, such as blues star Koko Taylor. Rock performers such as the Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, Elvis Presley, and Led Zeppelin recorded his songs.
www.britannica...
Blues drummer S. P. Leary (1930-1998) was born in Carthage, Texas on 6 June, 1930 and began playing drums age 14. He toured with Howlin’ Wolf, T Bone Walker and Jimmy Rogers. Famed for his vigorous backbeat, by 1966 he was regular drummer for Muddy Waters, a position he held until 1969. Mr Leary died of cancer in Chicago on 26 January 1998.
treasurechess....

[@senseblossomxxx5260]

One of the greats. Thank you, dear Andria

[@josephmtungwa4501]

Very march and more blues

[@smallbluecaramel9144]

Awesome !