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KPLU All Blues host John Kessler has expanded "The Blues Time Machine," which has been a popular segment on his weekend blues shows. The weekly series tracks one great blues song through history - from its earliest recording to its latest and sometimes, with some surprising interpretations. "The Blues Time Machine" airs on KPLU on Fridays at 12:10 p.m. during the "Blue Plate Special," and on All Blues Saturdays and Sundays at 8 and 11 p.m.

"All Your Love" tracked through time

Otis Rush brought such passion and emotion to his singing and guitar playing that his music has been called “frighteningly intense”. Rush never achieved the commercial success that he might have, but along with Buddy Guy and Magic Sam, he is acknowledged to be one of the architects of the Chicago blues sound of the 1950’s and 1960’s.

Playing guitar left-handed and upside-down gave him a unique sound, and his vocal commitment was obvious, but beyond that, Otis Rush wrote and recorded songs that would be huge influences on future blues guitarists Peter Green, Gary Moore and Michael Bloomfield. Otis Rush often played in minor keys, and his 1958 recording “All Your Love (I Miss Loving)” also had a Latin-influenced rhythm section. Peter Green admitted that his best-known composition “Black Magic Woman has the exact same musical form as “All Your Love (I Miss Loving)”.

Another British blues player who has repeatedly cited Otis Rush as his main influence is John Mayall, one of the originators of the British blues movement of the 1960’s. His various versions of the Bluesbreakers would feature guitarists Peter Green, Mick Taylor and Eric Clapton. Mayall’s 1966 release Bluesbreakers with Eric Clapton was the record that established Clapton as a legitimate guitar hero, and featured “All Your Love (I Miss Loving)”.

Here’s a great live recording of Otis Rush with Eric Clapton performing the song:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XN71NPAXCkc&feature=related

It would have been hard to predict that a blues artist would have commercial success in the same decade as Disco, Punk and New Wave music. But the talent and musicianship of Stevie Ray Vaughan were an undeniable phenomenon, and during the 1980’s his albums regularly went gold. An ardent Otis Rush fan, Vaughan named his band Double Trouble after the Otis Rush composition. The live recording featured here is from 1980.

Here are the complete versions of “All Your Love (I Miss Loving)” tracked through time:

Otis Rush “All Your Love (I Miss Loving)” 1958

http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kplu/local-kplu-1010810.mp3

John Mayall “All Your Love (I Miss Loving)” 1966

http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kplu/local-kplu-1010809.mp3

Stevie Ray Vaughan “All Your Love (I Miss Loving)” 1980

http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kplu/local-kplu-1010808.mp3

John has worked as a professional bassist for 20 years, including a 15 year stint as Musical Director of the Mountain Stage radio program. John has been at KNKX since 1999 where he hosts “All Blues”, is producer of the BirdNote radio program, and co-hosts “Record Bin Roulette”. John is also the recording engineer for KNKX “In-Studio Performances”. Not surprisingly, John's main musical interests are jazz and blues, and he is still performing around Seattle.