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] 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 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 work with other Chess artists like Howlin' Wolf and Bo Diddley.
Spann's own Chess Records output was limited to a 1954 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 in New York on August 23, 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 – August 2, 1994[5]), helping out on vocals.
In the late 1960s, he appeared on albums with Buddy Guy, Big Mama Thornton, 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).
Following his death from liver cancer in Chicago in 1970, at the age of 40, he was interred in the Burr Oak Cemetery, Alsip, Illinois. Spann's grave laid unmarked for almost thirty years, until Steve Salter (president of the Killer Blues Headstone Project) wrote a letter to Blues Revue magazine to say "This piano great is lying in an unmarked grave. Let's do something about this deplorable situation". This lit a spark in the blues community on a world wide level. Blues enthusiasts from Alaska to Venezuela, from Surrey to England, and Singapore sent donations to purchase Spann a headstone. On June 6, 1999 the marker was unveiled during a private ceremony. The stone reads "Otis played the deepest blues we ever heard - He'll play forever in our hearts".
He was posthumously elected to the Blues Hall of Fame in 1980.
Good Morning Mr. Blues
Otis Spann Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Good morning Mr. Blues
Blues, oh, blues, how do you do?
Now I feel so alrigth now
But I come home to worry you
You know I feel so lone
You know I feel so lone
Tell I don't know what to do
You know I'm so glad you came home
You know I'm in love with you
You know I got nobody love
To tell my trouble to
You know I got nobody love
Have mercy, to tell my trouble to
You know my mother let me
Oh poor, and broke my heart
Otis Spann's song "Good Morning Mr. Blues" presents itself as a conversation between the singer and the blues. The song is a melancholic reflection on the singer's feelings of loneliness, as he yearns for someone to share his troubles with. The opening lines of the song, "Good morning Mr. Blues, Blues, how do you do?" suggest that the singer is familiar with the blues and sees it as a constant presence in his life. He seeks solace in the blues and hopes that his emotional pain will resonate with it.
As the song progresses, the singer reveals his feelings of loneliness and helplessness, admitting that he doesn't know what to do with himself. He also confesses that he loves the blues, perhaps suggesting that he has found comfort in listening to the genre. The line "You know I'm so glad you came home, You know I'm in love with you", further emphasizes the singer's admiration for the blues. He sees it almost as a companion he can turn to in times of need.
The final lines of the song suggest that the singer has been let down in the past, possibly by his mother. The line "You know my mother let me, Oh poor, and broke my heart." suggests that the singer has experienced a great deal of emotional pain and is seeking refuge in the blues. Overall, the song is a powerful lament on the human condition, as we all experience feelings of loneliness and need a companion to turn to in times of desperation.
Line by Line Meaning
Good morning Mr. Blues
The singer greets their sadness and depression, referred to as Mr. Blues
Blues, how do you do?
Asking their sadness how it's doing
Now I feel so alrigth now
But I come home to worry you
Despite feeling better, the singer knows that their sadness will return
You know I feel so lone
Tell I don't know what to do
The singer is overwhelmed by their loneliness and doesn't know how to handle it
You know I'm so glad you came home
You know I'm in love with you
The singer finds comfort in their sadness, as it is the only thing that is always with them
You know I got nobody love
To tell my trouble to
The singer doesn't have anyone they can confide in about their problems
Have mercy, to tell my trouble to
You know my mother let me
Oh poor, and broke my heart
The singer refers to their mother as the one who caused their pain by not providing enough support, causing them to be poor and sad
Contributed by Abigail V. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Danny Konarski
Sweet Jesus, this man was brilliant! Gave me goosebumps! Mr. Spann really knew how to speak to the soul. I'm sure he is entertaining the good Lord with his incredible talent. God bless.
Go Shu
Jesus-Christ, not Jesus.
If you only use Jesus- you are talking only to the material, but not to the Spiritual.
delora cantrell
Oh my goodness, Mr Spann where have you been all my life? That gentle touch on the piano just makes me want to dance and I love your blues. Hope you're happy, where ever you are.
gmgroucho77
He blended a blues shouter style with incredible warmth, feel and sensitive harmony in his singing. No mean feat. To my mind he's up there with Muddy as a singer. Loved him from the first time I heard him, mid eighties.
jamesthorn
One of the best bluesman. That voice....🎶
José Alberto
Otis Spann o musico genuíno e mestre no piano grande Senhor dos Blues a não esquecer. Obrigado
Pádraig Aoibheann
Glad to see that others enjoyed and still do the magic of Otis Spann.
A. David Moore
He has a real light touch with the bass. Great piano solo too.
Teucer Wilson
this is possibly the best blues track ever to my mind, and I know that's a really stooped thing to say. This whole session is amazing, just pure Otis, I prefer this to his 'band' his silky voice and beautiful right hand............
Trevor Morris
++Teucer Wilso
A tremendously plaintive blues number is Mamie's Blues by Jelly Roll Morton, simple quite different from his usual jazz band-based playing. There're are also two hugely emotion-charged blues piano solos by Jimmy Yancey, How Long Blues (slow take and without his wife singing) and Mournful Blues. Not the technical virtuosity of Spann, but so beautiful nevertheless. Give them a whirl. As a Blues fan, I'm sure you'd appreciate them as well.