Otis Spann (March 21, 1930 – April 24, 1970) was an American blues musician… Read Full Bio ↴Otis Spann (March 21, 1930 – April 24, 1970) was an American blues musician whom many consider to be the leading postwar Chicago blues pianist.

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.

You Said You
Otis Spann Lyrics

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You said tonight baby
You said you'd be on time
You said tonight
You told me you'd be on time
How'd you get to find out
Little girl you ain't mine oh mine

Remember what you told me

You said everything would be alright
Remember what you told me baby
You said everything would be alright
You had me waiting on you baby
Little girl you know I had fun at night

You used to upset me baby
Little girl I don't want to go home
You used to upset me baby
Little girl you know that don't work no more
But you know I found out something
I got a woman every place I go

You used to hear my crying
With the tears rolling down my cheek
You used to have me crying
Little girl with the tears rollin' down my cheeks
Well I got someone else

Bout time you gone let me be
Well I tried everything

Overall Meaning

The song You Said You by Otis Spann is a classic blues track that tells the story of a woman who promised to be on time, but failed to do so, causing the singer more trouble and agony than he expected. The song opens with the singer recalling the promise made by the woman to be on time tonight. He is frustrated as she did not follow through with her promise and is equally annoyed that she found out that he was not hers. This creates a sense of betrayal, and the singer knows that he cannot trust her anymore. He asks the girl to remember what she told him about everything being alright, but he was left waiting and never showed up. The woman's absence made the singer feel rejected and unwanted, and now he has found a new woman.

As the song continues, the singer reveals that the girl used to upset him, but he doesn't want to go home now. He has moved on, and his attitude has changed towards her. The singer then confesses that he has found a woman every place he goes, and he doesn't need her anymore. He is no longer affected by the girl's actions and starts to feel heartless towards her. He tells the girl that he used to cry with tears rolling down his cheeks when she upset him. But now that he has someone else, it is time for her to let him go.

This song touches on themes such as betrayal, unfulfilled promises, and heartbreak. Through the lyrics, Otis Spann expresses the pain that comes with unrequited love, the frustration of not being able to trust someone, and the triumph that comes with moving on from a heartbreak. The song is a perfect example of the simplicity, honesty, and straightforwardness of blues music.

Line by Line Meaning

You said tonight baby
You assured me, my dear, that you will be here tonight

You said you'd be on time
You promised that you will arrive at the appointed hour

You said tonight
You specifically mentioned this evening

You told me you'd be on time
You gave me your word that you will arrive punctually

How'd you get to find out
What caused you to realize this, I wonder

Little girl you ain't mine oh mine
My dear, you don't belong to me anymore

Remember what you told me
Recall what you said previously

You said everything would be alright
You assured me that all will be well

Remember what you told me baby
My dear, kindly recollect what you said earlier

You had me waiting on you baby
You kept me waiting for you for a long time, love

Little girl you know I had fun at night
My dear, I enjoyed myself while waiting for you