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By now Willie Dixon was back working for Chess, and took Otis there in 1960 to record another
classic - ‘So Many Roads’, that again went nowhere. I guess there is no accounting for taste!

In 1962 Otis signed a two year deal with Duke Records, producing just the one single, and yes,
another classic, in the shape of ‘Homework’, which once again did not trouble the charts. It is
hardly surprising he had begun to feel despondent that his career was going nowhere, in spite of

all his talent, when contemporaries were receiving renown that was denied to him by record
labels which either did not invest time or effort in promoting the few records they released.
He still remained a very popular attraction
on the club circuit, but was only
occasionally able to perform out of town,
most notably on dates with T-Bone Walker,
and even Little Richard.

New recordings from Rush were a rarity
in the middle 1960s, apart from
participation in the Vanguard label three
album series entitled “Chicago - The Blues
Today”, which is a glorious celebration of
the blues of the Windy City, also featuring
Junior Wells, James Cotton, Homesick
James, Otis Spann, J. B. Hutto, Walter
Horton and Johnny Young. These are
amongst my all time favourite albums, and
if you are not familiar with them, you are
in for a treat!

In the same year he joined the Lippmann
Rau Folk Blues Tour to the UK and Europe,
which brought him to the attention of a
much wider, and very appreciative audience, although this was not backed up by any further
individual bookings, especially in this country, as we were seeing from Howlin’ Wolf, Muddy
Waters, Freddy King, and many others. His inclusion in the festival may have had something to
do with John Mayall, who was a big fan, and had recorded ‘All Your Love’ and ‘Double Trouble’
on the “Bluesbreakers” album, ‘So Many Roads’ as a single, and covered ‘I Can’t Quit You Baby’on
his “Crusade” album.

In early 1969, due largely to the endeavours of Mike Bloomfield and Nick Gravenites, Otis was in
the Fame Recording Studios at Muscle Shoals, with the great studio rhythm section, plus Jerry
Jemmott on bass and Duane Allman on guitar, to record the album “Mourning In The Mourning”.
Strangely, there appear to be differing opinions on the album, but I think it is a very fine effort,
and a tribute to all concerned. Otis sounds confident, and is not overshadowed by the ‘heavy’
backing musicians. The album didn’t really create any waves, so his career once again remained
pretty much rooted in Chicago.

In 1971 he cut “Right Place, Wrong Time” for Capitol Records, which for some reason was deemed
unworthy of release, in spite of it being a fine recording. Once again it was Rush fan Nick Gravenites
who organised it, with another mainly white backing band. Eventually, it was released (in 1976)
by Bullfrog Records, and then again in 1987 by Edsel/Demon Records. Otis had to push very hard
to obtain the release, but it is well worth it.

By the 1970s, in addition to appearances at the Ann Arbor Blues Festival, Otis was at last touring
the world on a fairly regular basis, but his live appearances were not being backed up by regular