Eric Clapton & Jimmy Page meet Otis Spann & Muddy Waters

Born March 21, 1930, Otis Spann had made his recorded debut in 1953 as a member of Muddy Waters’ band.

He released a lone single under his own name a year later, but recording opportunities were scarce for the pianist after that.

He cut another single in 1956, but it went unreleased.

It wasn’t until 1960 that he cut an LP under his own name, and not for Chess; he had only been doing session work behind all of their biggest stars, including Muddy Waters, Little Walter, Howlin’ Wolf and Jimmy Rogers, as well as Bo Diddley and Chuck Berry, for the past seven years; it was for the newly formed Candid label, a subsidiary of the New York City based jazz label, Cadence.

Three years later, he toured Europe with Muddy Waters as a member of the American Folk Blues Festival 1963. (Waters and Spann had done a ten date tour of England back in 1958, with Chris Barber’s trad jazz band backing them)

Before returning home, he cut a solo LP in Copenhagen, Denmark for the Storyville label, “Good Morning Blues – Portraits in Blues Vol. 3”. 

He returned to Europe in the Spring of the following year, once again as a member of Muddy Waters’ band, for the 1964 edition of the American Folk Blues Festival. 

While in England, Decca producer Mike Vernon brought Spann into the studio to cut an LP with Spann fronting the band, including Waters on guitar; (for contractual reasons, Waters was billed as “Brother” on the original LP. 

Supplementing the band on three tracks were two young British musicians: twenty year old Jimmy Page, at the time a full-time session musician, and Eric Clapton (nineteen) rapidly making a name for himself as the lead guitarist for The Yardbirds (The Yardbirds debut single had been released days before the session).

Vernon put nineteen tracks into the can during the one day session; neither of the two featuring Clapton was among the twelve that made up the LP “The Blues of Otis Spann”.  One, ‘Stirs me Up’ would become the A-side of a Decca single, with ‘Keep You Hand Out of My Pocket’ (with Page overdubbing guitar & bass) utilized as the single’s B-side; the version featuring Muddy Waters was released on the album.    

Clapton’s other track, a cover of Eugene Church’s ‘Pretty Girls Everywhere’ and three other Spann recordings with only the Americans would see release three years later on the Ace of Spades compilation, “Raw Blues”.

Otis Spann

Otis Spann: vocal & piano / Eric Clapton: guitar / 

Brother (Muddy Waters): rhythm guitar / Ransom Knowling: bass /

Willie Smith: drums / Little Jimmy Page: harmonica

Recorded May 04, 1964 – Decca Studios No. 2,  West Hampstead, London

Released as the A-side of Decca 45, September 04, 1964

Otis Spann – Stirs Me Up

‘Stirs Me Up’ – for decades, this was considered amongst the rarest of Clapton recordings as the track had only been released on 45 and was never anthologized (understandably, as Clapton’s guitar is buried far in the mix and Page’s harmonica dominates).

The number is not even that strong an example of Spann’s work. 

Decca Records might have done better releasing the other track that Clapton guested on as the single, and saved this number for the “Raw Blues” anthology that came out three years later.

Otis Spann

Otis Spann: vocal & piano / Eric Clapton: guitar / 

Brother (Muddy Waters): rhythm guitar /

Ransom Knowling: bass / Willie Smith: drums

Recorded May 04, 1964 – Decca Studios No. 2,  West Hampstead, London

Released on “Raw Blues” (Ace of Spades 1967)

Otis Spann w/ Eric Clapton – Pretty Girls Everywhere –

Clapton would remember the session fondly, saying of Waters and Spann, “…it was great, actually…they were both very friendly, you know, very encouraging…I didn’t know how to behave around these guys.  They had these beautiful baggy silk suits on and were so sharp.  And they were men.  And here I was, a skinny young white boy.  But it was fine.”

The original was an R & B song from 1958 by Eugene Church.  It was a modest hit, reaching Number 6 on the R & B charts and Number 36 on the Pop Charts in the U.S. 

It would be interesting to know whose idea it was for Spann to cut this.  Did he bring the number to the session, or was it Mike Vernon’s idea?

The number was released in 1958 and 1959 in multiple territories world wide including as an EP in France, but never in the U.K.

In January of 1965, Philips U.K. released a cover of the song as the A-side of The Walker Brothers debut single and the number did well for them.

Unlike on the previous number, Clapton takes the lead and makes the most of it, gliding atop of drummer Willie Smith’s clattering forward push.  One could easily imagine The Yardbirds covering the number with a similar arrangement.

Otis Spann

Otis Spann: vocal & piano / Jimmy Page: guitar & bass / 

Willie Smith: drums

Recorded May 04, 1964 – Decca Studios No. 2,  West Hampstead, London

Released as the B-side of Decca 45, September 04, 1964

Otis Spann – Keep Your Hand Out of My Pocket –

This was one of Spann’s signature numbers and his bandmates all knew the song very well.

Page is in session player mode here, not drawing attention to himself, simply doing his job, supporting the lead artist.  Where his harmonica dominated ‘Stirs Me Up’, this number belongs to Spann, the focus on his vocal and piano.