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.
I Got A Feeling
Otis Spann Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I got my brand on you
I got my brand on you
I got my brand on you
There ain't nothin' you can do, honey
I got my brand on you
Well you may go away and leave me, girl
You gon' come runnin' back to me some lonesome day
I got my brand on you
I got my brand on you
There ain't nothin' you can do, darlin'
I got my brand on you
Oh I'm puttin' my brand you know baby on no certain part
But when I kiss you, I stab it in your heart
I got my brand on you
I got my brand on you
There ain't nothin' you can do, baby
I got my brand on you
Oh, I got you like a fish baby, you know, hangin' on my line
I can reel you in most any time
I got my brand on you
I got my brand on you
There ain't nothin' you can do, baby
I got my brand on you
The lyrics to Otis Spann’s “I Got A Feeling” appear to be about a feeling of uncertainty and anxiety, represented by the singer’s left eye jumping and flush crawling. The reference to a “mule kickin’ in my stall” suggests that there is competition or interference in some area of the singer’s life, and they are feeling unsure about how to proceed. The singer feels like their lover has some kind of hold over them, as though they have a “black cat bone” and can anticipate the singer’s movements. This obsession and uncertainty combined with the bluesy sound of the song creates a feeling of longing and melancholy, which is characteristic of blues music.
Throughout the song, the singer repeats the phrase “I don’t know which way to go,” emphasizing their feeling of being lost and unsure. The line “Look out I’m coming one way” could be interpreted as a warning to the singer’s lover that they are finally making a decision and sticking to it, even if they are not 100% confident in it. The song captures the essence of the blues, which is about expressing emotion and personal experience through music.
Line by Line Meaning
When my left eye go to jumpin'
When my left eye starts to twitch
Oh, I don't know which way to go
I'm uncertain about what to do
And my flush begun to crawl
I start to feel nervous and uneasy
'Cause I know it's some other mule Is kickin' in my stall
I suspect that someone or something is interfering with my plans
I got a strange, strange feeling
I have a strong sense of foreboding
Oh, I never felt like this before
This is a new and unsettling experience for me
Look out I'm coming one way
I'm determined to follow through with my intentions
You know I feel like my baby
I believe that my significant other
Has got a black cat bone
is using negative magic or energy against me
Cause everything I do now
No matter what action I take
She knows what's going on
She seems to be aware of my plans and motivations
Lyrics © Kanjian Music, BMG Rights Management
Written by: Willie Dixon
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Michael Lynch
on Bloody Murder
SHEETS AND PILLOWS TORN TO PIECES,BLOOD STAINS ON THE WALL