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Biography
Refimprove|date=September 2009Infobox musical artist|name = Otis Spann|image =|background = solo_singer|birth_name =|Born = Birth date |1930|03|21|birth_place = Jackson, Mississippi |Died = death date and age |1970|04|24|1930|03|21||death_place = Chicago , Illinois |instrument = Vocals, piano|genre = Chicago blues cite book| first= Paul| last= Du Noyer| year= 2003| title= The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Music| edition= 1st| publisher= Flame Tree Publishing| location= Fulham, London| isbn= 1-904041-96-5| page= 181|occupation = Vocalist Musician|years_active = 1944–1970|associated_acts = Muddy Waters |label = Decca Records|Decca , Chess Records|Chess , Storyville Records|Storyville , Bluesway Records|Bluesway , Vanguard Records|Vanguard , Blue Horizon|CBS/Blue Horizon |website = Otis Spann (March 21, 1930 – April 24, 1970) http://users.efortress.com/doc-rock/1970.html Dead Rock Stars Club - accessed December 2007 was an United States|American blues musician, who many consider the leading postwar Chicago blues pianist.Allmusic|class=artist|id=p127190|pure_url=yes Allmusic bio
Career
Born in Jackson, Mississippi , United States , Spann became known for his distinct piano style.
Born to Frank Houston Spann and Josephine Erby. One of five children - three boys and two girls. His father played piano, non professionally, while his mother had played guitar with Memphis Minnie .Citation needed|date=August 2011 Spann began playing piano by age of eight, influenced by his local ivories stalwart, Friday Ford. At the age of 14, he was playing in bands around Jackson, finding more inspiration in the Gramophone record|78s of Big Maceo Merriweather , who took the young pianist under his wing once Spann migrated to Chicago in 1946. Other sources say that he moved to Chicago when his mother died in 1947 playing the Chicago club circuit and working as a plasterer. Spann gigged on his own, and with guitarist Morris Pejoe, working a regular spot at the Tic Toc Lounge before hooking up with Muddy Waters in 1952.
Although he recorded periodically as a solo artist, Spann was a full-time member of the Muddy Waters band from 1952 to 1968. In that period he also did session musician|session work with other Chess artists like Howlin' Wolf and Bo Diddley .cite book| first= Tony| last= Russell| year= 1997| title= The Blues - From Robert Johnson (musician)|Robert Johnson to Robert Cray | edition= | publisher=Carlton Books Limited | location= Dubai| pages= 168| isbn= 1-85868-255-X
Spann's own Chess Records output was limited to a 1954 single (music)|single , "It Must Have Been the Devil" / "Five Spot", which featured B.B. King and Jody Williams on guitars. He recorded a session with the guitarist Robert Lockwood, Jr. and vocalist St. Louis Jimmy Oden|St. Louis Jimmy in 1960, which was issued on Otis Spann Is The Blues and Walking The Blues . A largely solo outing for Storyville Records in 1963 was recorded in Copenhagen . A set for UK Decca Records the following year found him in the company of Muddy Waters and Eric Clapton , and a 1964 album for Prestige followed where Spann shared vocal duties with bandmate James Cotton .
''The Blues is Where It's At'', Spann's 1966 album for ABC-Bluesway, sounded like a live recording. It was a recording studio date, enlivened by enthusiastic onlookers that applauded every song (Muddy Waters, guitarist Sammy Lawhorn , and George "Harmonica" Smith were among the support crew). A Bluesway encore, The Bottom of the Blues followed in 1967 and featured Spann's wife, Lucille Jenkins Spann (June 23, 1938 & ndash; August 2, 1994 http://thedeadrockstarsclub.com/newentrees.html Thedeadrockstarsclub.com - accessed January 2009), helping out on vocals.
In the late 1960s, he appeared on albums with Buddy Guy , Big Mama Thornton , Peter Green (musician)|Peter Green and Fleetwood Mac .
Several films of his playing are available on DVD , including the Newport Folk Festival (1960), while his singing is also featured on the American Folk Blues Festival (1963) and The Blues Masters (1966).
Death
Following his death from Hepatocellular carcinoma|liver cancer in Chicago in 1970, at the age of 40, he was interred in the Burr Oak Cemetery and Restvale Cemetery|Burr Oak Cemetery , Alsip, Illinois .
He was posthumously elected to the Blues Hall of Fame in 1980.
Discography
Solo
Otis Spann is The Blues (1960)
Goodmorning Mr Blues (1963)
''The Blues is Where It's At (released 1963)
The Blues of Otis Spann (1964)
The Blues Never Die! (1964)
Chicago/The Blues/Today& #33; Vol.1 (1966)
The Bottom of the Blues (1968)
Cracked Spanner Head (1969)
The Biggest Thing Since Colossus (1969)
''Cryin' Time (recorded 1968, released 1970)
Walking The Blues (recorded 1960, released 1972)
Last Call: Live at Boston Tea Party (recorded 1970, released 2000)
Complete Blue Horizon Sessions (recorded 1969, released 2006)
Persondata | NAME = Spann, Otis | ALTERNATIVE NAMES = | SHORT DESCRIPTION = United States|American Chicago blues pianist | DATE OF BIRTH = March 21, 1930 | PLACE OF BIRTH = Jackson, Mississippi , United States | DATE OF DEATH = April 24, 1970 | PLACE OF DEATH = Chicago , Illinois , United States DEFAULTSORT:Spann, Otis Category:1930 births Category:1970 deaths Category:Cancer deaths in Illinois Category:Deaths from liver cancer Category:Blues revival musicians Category:Chicago blues musicians Category:American blues pianists Category:American blues singers Category:Blues Hall of Fame inductees Category:Blues musicians from Mississippi Category:People from Chicago, Illinois Category:People from Jackson, Mississippi Category:Vanguard Records artists
