Bobby Rush’s ‘Chicken Heads’ box set wins Blues Music Award in Memphis

by | May 16, 2017 | Uncategorized | 0 comments


BOBBY RUSH’S CHICKEN HEADS
BOX SET ON OMNIVORE
TAKES HOME “BEST HISTORICAL ALBUM” HONOR
IN BLUES MUSIC AWARDS 
Grammy Award-winning blues
legend’s career compilation
spans 50 years and more than 20 labels

MEMPHIS, Tenn.
— Chicken Heads: A 50-Year History of Bobby Rush box set,
on Omnivore Recordings, won Best Historical Album at the Blues Foundation’s
Blues Music Awards (BMAs), held at the Cook Convention Center in Memphis on
May 11. The BMAs are recognized as the highest honor given to blues
musicians, and are awarded by the vote of Blues Foundation members.
Nominated in
multiple BMA categories for his new music throughout the night, Bobby Rush
earlier this year also took home the Best Traditional Blues
Grammy® for his latest release, Porcupine Meat. His
lengthy career was the subject of the BMA-winning Chicken Heads,
Omnivore’s four-CD, decades-spanning overview project. 
The set contains
over five hours of music culled from more than 20 labels including
Rush’s Checker, Galaxy, and Jewel sides, through Philadelphia
International, Malaco/Waldoxy, LaJam, and Urgent cuts, as well as material
from his own Deep Rush label. Chicken Heads tells the
story of Bobby Rush: unfiltered, unedited and unbelievable. 

Bobby Rush, 1951
The 32-page,
full-color booklet is filled with photos, ephemera, liner notes from Bill
Dahl and testimonials from friends and fans including Mavis Staples, Keb’
Mo’, Elvin Bishop, Denise LaSalle, Leon Huff, Al Bell, and many more. 
Produced by Rush
himself along with Omnivore’s co-founder and Grammy®-winning producer
Cheryl Pawelski; Jeff DeLia, Rush’s manager; and long-time publicist Cary
Baker, Chicken Heads traces the bluesman’s career, from
1964’s “Someday” to the title track, from 1979 collaborations with Gamble
& Huff to tracks from 2004’s FolkFunk. With mastering and
restoration handled by Grammy® winner Michael Graves, Bobby’s vintage
recordings have never sounded better.
According to
Omnivore’s Pawelski, “When you’ve played with Elmore James, Howlin’ Wolf,
Muddy Waters, and Jimmy Reed, you must be on to something. When you’ve had
a multi-generational career in music, spanning blues, soul and funk, that’s
something else.”  
# # #
  

Chicken Heads co-produders Jeff DeLia, Cheryl
Pawelski, Bobby Rush
and Cary Baker

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