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.
Green Flowers
Otis Spann Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
You gotta keep them here for me
Cause he will steal your flowers and your wife with the weed
You want to grow beautiful flowers
Don't let your friend plant your seed
Cause he don't know beautiful flowers
Yeah how my baby used to hold me
Till I got picked with a thief
And now you let me stand there
Holding on
A you know what she told me
Once you were blind but now you see
Say you know your eyes open
You wind up with a woman be
Green Flowers is a blues song by Otis Spann which explores the themes of love, betrayal, and deception. The lyrics suggest that in a relationship, the lover is just like a flower that requires care, attention, and protection from external threats. The song begins with the singer, who is trying to keep his flowers safe from the person who might steal them. Here flowers are a metaphor for his wife, whom he wants to keep safe from an unscrupulous friend. The line "Cause he will steal your flowers and your wife with the weed" suggests that the friend is not only trying to steal his flowers but his wife as well. The use of the word "weed" suggests that the friend has ulterior motives and wants to take advantage of the singer's trust.
Moreover, the lyrics also imply that the friend is not capable of understanding beauty and hence can not be trusted with the flower's seeds. This metaphorically suggests that the friend is not capable of appreciating the beauty of the singer's wife and might trick him into losing her. The line "You'll be tricked with the weed" further emphasizes the fact that the singer needs to be careful about who he trusts with his wife. Later, the singer talks about his past love and how he got betrayed by a thief who stole his love, leaving him alone. The last few lines of the song suggest that the singer has learned from his past mistakes and is now cautious about who he trusts.
In the wider context of the song, Green Flowers talks about the fragility of relationships and the need for trust and attention to maintain them. The singer is trying to convey to the listener that love requires care, attention, and vigilance, much like a flower that needs to be protected from external threats. Betrayal and deception are lurking around, and one must be cautious to avoid getting tricked.
Line by Line Meaning
When the flower yard start blooming
When spring comes and flowers start to bloom in the yard
You gotta keep them here for me
You should protect the flowers in the yard from being stolen
Cause he will steal your flowers and your wife with the weed
Your friend who smokes weed will not only steal your flowers, but also your wife
You want to grow beautiful flowers
You aspire to cultivate a beautiful garden
Don't let your friend plant your seed
Don't let your friend contribute to growing your garden, as it may lead to undesirable outcomes
Cause he don't know beautiful flowers
Your friend is not knowledgeable about growing beautiful flowers
You'll be tricked with the weed
You may be deceived by your friend who smokes weed and ends up ruining your garden
Yeah how my baby used to hold me
The singer recalls how his lover used to hold him
Till I got picked with a thief
Until he was betrayed by someone who stole from him
And now you let me stand there
Nowadays, his lover leaves him standing alone
Holding on
Hoping to reconcile
A you know what she told me
She had some unusual advice for him
Once you were blind but now you see
Once you didn't understand what was going on, but now you do
Say you know your eyes open
He claims to have gained insight and understanding
You wind up with a woman be
You might end up with a woman who is abusive and violent towards you
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: MCKINLEY MORGANFIELD
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Michael Lynch
on Bloody Murder
SHEETS AND PILLOWS TORN TO PIECES,BLOOD STAINS ON THE WALL