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.
Strange Woman Blues
Otis Spann Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Strange woman, strange woman, I know you're in love with someone else
But I must say that I like you for myself
Strange woman, you dress good and you look so nice and fine
Strange woman, you dress good and you look so nice and fine
And I hope someday woman, strange woman you will be mine
I like the way you dress, I like the way you wear your hair
Strange woman, I believe that love is really there
Strange woman I would like to, woman make a date with you
Strange woman I would like to, baby make a date with you
I could feel satisfied, then I got believe that love is true
In Otis Spann's "Strange Woman Blues," the singer grapples with his attraction to a woman who he knows loves someone else. He admits right from the start that he is aware of her infatuation with another man, but cannot help but like her for himself. There is an undeniable magnetism that draws him towards her, and he tries to justify his desire for her by praising her appearance and dressing sense. With lines like "you dress good and you look so nice and fine" and "I like the way you dress and the way you wear your hair," the singer acknowledges the physical attraction he feels towards her.
Despite knowing that she is already involved with someone else, the singer still holds out hope that she might someday be his. He believes in the power of love and thinks that she might eventually reciprocate his feelings. He even goes as far as to ask her out on a date, hoping that their time together might convince her that his love is true.
Overall, "Strange Woman Blues" is a song that perfectly captures the visceral, almost irrational nature of desire. The singer is torn between his knowledge of the woman's existing relationship and his own attraction towards her, and he cannot resist the urge to express his feelings in song. The lyrics hinge on that classic human conflict between the head and the heart, and the ultimate triumph of raw passion over logic.
Line by Line Meaning
Strange woman, strange woman, I know you're in love with someone else
The singer is aware that the woman he is referring to is in love with another person.
But I must say that I like you for myself
Despite the woman's attachment to another person, the singer expresses his desire for her.
Strange woman, you dress good and you look so nice and fine
The singer admires the woman's physical appearance and fashion sense.
And I hope someday woman, strange woman you will be mine
The artist hopes to win the woman over and have her in his possession.
I like the way you dress and the way you wear your hair
The artist reiterates his attraction to the woman's physical appearance and style.
Strange woman, I believe that love is really there
Despite the woman's current attachment, the singer believes that there is potential for a genuine romantic connection between them.
Strange woman I would like to, woman make a date with you
The singer expresses his desire to go out on a date with the woman.
I could feel satisfied, then I got believe that love is true
The artist believes that if he were to have a chance with the woman, he would be content and believe in the existence of true love.
Writer(s): James Burke Oden
Contributed by Nathaniel W. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Stefan Wirz
rec. August 23, 1960 in New York, NY; St. Louis Jimmy, voc; Otis Spann, p; Robert Lockwood, g