Otis Spann was an amiable, soft-spoken man who enjoyed a good drink, a good joke, and a good story. At the keyboard he was one of the giants of the blues. He will always be remembered as a driving force in the Muddy Waters band, the go-to session piano player for Chess Records, and a top-flight headliner as player, singer, and songwriter. And all this before his death at forty.
Here he is in his prime, making the superlative look easy. This clip is from Toronto, 1966, and the sidemen are Willie Dixon on acoustic bass and S.P. (Samuel Paul) Leary on drums. All three men are long gone now, and we’re lucky to have this.
