Tom Rush
Encyclopedia
Tom Rush is an American folk
and blues singer, songwriter, musician and recording artist.
. His father was a teacher at St. Paul's School
, in Concord, New Hampshire
. Tom began performing in 1961 while studying at Harvard University
after graduating from the Groton School
. He majored in English literature. Many of his early recordings are versions of Lowland Scots
and Appalachia
n folk songs. He regularly performed at the Club 47 coffeehouse (now called Club Passim) in Cambridge, the Unicorn in Boston and The Main Point
in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania.
Rush is credited by Rolling Stone magazine with ushering in the era of the singer/songwriter. In addition to performing his own compositions, he covered songs by Joni Mitchell
, Jackson Browne
, James Taylor
, Murray McLauchlan
, David Wiffen
and William Hawkins
, helping them to gain recognition early in their careers.
Bob Dylan
is reputed to be the "Roosevelt Gook" credited as playing piano on the 1966 Elektra album Take A Little Walk With Me, though many believe it was Al Kooper
under another name to collect a second musician's fee.
His 1968 composition "No Regrets
" has become an acknowledged standard, with numerous cover versions having been recorded (Rush did two radically different versions himself). These include The Walker Brothers
, who gave Tom Rush a belated Top Ten
exposure as a songwriter on the UK singles chart
, and Emmylou Harris
, who included the song on her 1988 album Bluebird
.
A video of his performance of Steven Walters' "The Remember Song" was placed on YouTube
and to date (March 2010) it has received over 4 million plays. Writing on his website, Rush said "I've been waiting 45 years to be an overnight sensation, and it's finally happened! A video clip of my performance of "The Remember Song" has 'gone viral.' I felt terrible at first, thinking I was being accused of being a musical equivalent of Ebola
, but my children explained to me that this was a good thing." One of the earliest music videos produced (1968) for an artist by a record company, Elektra, can be found at his website, www.tomrush.com. It was used to promote his signature song, "No Regrets" for "The Circle Game" album. A number or recent videos from a 2010 concert performed in Old Saybrook, CT can be found on the video website Vimeo under a search for Tom Rush.
Tom Rush is married to the author Renée Askins and used to be married to Beverly Rush.
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
and blues singer, songwriter, musician and recording artist.
Life and career
Rush was born in Portsmouth, New HampshirePortsmouth, New Hampshire
Portsmouth is a city in Rockingham County, New Hampshire in the United States. It is the largest city but only the fourth-largest community in the county, with a population of 21,233 at the 2010 census...
. His father was a teacher at St. Paul's School
St. Paul's School (Concord, New Hampshire)
St. Paul's School is a highly selective college-preparatory, coeducational boarding school in Concord, New Hampshire affiliated with the Episcopal Church. The school is one of only six remaining 100% residential boarding schools in the U.S. The New Hampshire campus currently serves 533 students,...
, in Concord, New Hampshire
Concord, New Hampshire
The city of Concord is the capital of the state of New Hampshire in the United States. It is also the county seat of Merrimack County. As of the 2010 census, its population was 42,695....
. Tom began performing in 1961 while studying at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
after graduating from the Groton School
Groton School
Groton School is a private, Episcopal, college preparatory boarding school located in Groton, Massachusetts, U.S. It enrolls approximately 375 boys and girls, from the eighth through twelfth grades...
. He majored in English literature. Many of his early recordings are versions of Lowland Scots
Lowland Scots
Lowland Scots can refer to:* people of Lowland Scotland* Scots language...
and Appalachia
Appalachia
Appalachia is a term used to describe a cultural region in the eastern United States that stretches from the Southern Tier of New York state to northern Alabama, Mississippi, and Georgia. While the Appalachian Mountains stretch from Belle Isle in Canada to Cheaha Mountain in the U.S...
n folk songs. He regularly performed at the Club 47 coffeehouse (now called Club Passim) in Cambridge, the Unicorn in Boston and The Main Point
The Main Point
The Main Point was a small coffeehouse venue on Lancaster Ave. in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. The club was famous for its small intimate atmosphere and inexpensive ticket prices...
in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania.
Rush is credited by Rolling Stone magazine with ushering in the era of the singer/songwriter. In addition to performing his own compositions, he covered songs by Joni Mitchell
Joni Mitchell
Joni Mitchell, CC is a Canadian musician, singer songwriter, and painter. Mitchell began singing in small nightclubs in her native Saskatchewan and Western Canada and then busking in the streets and dives of Toronto...
, Jackson Browne
Jackson Browne
Jackson Browne is an American singer-songwriter and musician who has sold over 17 million albums in the United States alone....
, James Taylor
James Taylor
James Vernon Taylor is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. A five-time Grammy Award winner, Taylor was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2000....
, Murray McLauchlan
Murray McLauchlan
Murray McLauchlan, CM is a Canadian singer, songwriter, guitarist, pianist, and harmonica player.-Biography:Born in Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland, he emigrated to Canada with his family when he was five years old...
, David Wiffen
David Wiffen
David Wiffen is a Canadian folk music singer-songwriter. Two of his songs, "Driving Wheel" and "More Often Than Not", have become cover standards.- Career :...
and William Hawkins
William Hawkins (songwriter and poet)
William Alfred Hawkins is a songwriter, poet, musician and journalist, most notable for his contributions in the 1960s to Canadian folk rock music and to Canadian poetry...
, helping them to gain recognition early in their careers.
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
is reputed to be the "Roosevelt Gook" credited as playing piano on the 1966 Elektra album Take A Little Walk With Me, though many believe it was Al Kooper
Al Kooper
Al Kooper is an American songwriter, record producer and musician, known for organizing Blood, Sweat & Tears , providing studio support for Bob Dylan when he went electric in 1965, and also bringing together guitarists Mike Bloomfield and Stephen Stills to...
under another name to collect a second musician's fee.
His 1968 composition "No Regrets
No Regrets (Tom Rush song)
"No Regrets" is a song by folk and blues singer/songwriter Tom Rush. It is the final song on his 1968 album The Circle Game.His 1968 composition has become an acknowledged standard, with numerous cover versions having been recorded...
" has become an acknowledged standard, with numerous cover versions having been recorded (Rush did two radically different versions himself). These include The Walker Brothers
The Walker Brothers
The Walker Brothers were an American 1960s and 1970s pop group, comprising Scott Engel , John Walker , and Gary Leeds...
, who gave Tom Rush a belated Top Ten
Record chart
A record chart is a ranking of recorded music according to popularity during a given period of time. Examples of music charts are the Hit parade, Hot 100 or Top 40....
exposure as a songwriter on the UK singles chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
, and Emmylou Harris
Emmylou Harris
Emmylou Harris is an American singer-songwriter and musician. In addition to her work as a solo artist and bandleader, both as an interpreter of other composers' works and as a singer-songwriter, she is a sought-after backing vocalist and duet partner, working with numerous other artists including...
, who included the song on her 1988 album Bluebird
Bluebird (Emmylou Harris album)
Bluebird was an Emmylou Harris album from 1989, which merged a number of eclectic songs with polished, country-music production. It included her most recent top-ten country-charting single, "Heartbreak Hill"...
.
A video of his performance of Steven Walters' "The Remember Song" was placed on YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
and to date (March 2010) it has received over 4 million plays. Writing on his website, Rush said "I've been waiting 45 years to be an overnight sensation, and it's finally happened! A video clip of my performance of "The Remember Song" has 'gone viral.' I felt terrible at first, thinking I was being accused of being a musical equivalent of Ebola
Ebola
Ebola virus disease is the name for the human disease which may be caused by any of the four known ebolaviruses. These four viruses are: Bundibugyo virus , Ebola virus , Sudan virus , and Taï Forest virus...
, but my children explained to me that this was a good thing." One of the earliest music videos produced (1968) for an artist by a record company, Elektra, can be found at his website, www.tomrush.com. It was used to promote his signature song, "No Regrets" for "The Circle Game" album. A number or recent videos from a 2010 concert performed in Old Saybrook, CT can be found on the video website Vimeo under a search for Tom Rush.
Tom Rush is married to the author Renée Askins and used to be married to Beverly Rush.
Discography
- 1962 – Tom Rush at the Unicorn
- 1963 – Got a Mind to Ramble
- 1963 – Blues, Songs & Ballads
- 1965 – Tom Rush (Elektra)
- 1966 – Take a Little Walk with Me
- 1968 – The Circle GameThe Circle GameThe Circle Game is the 1968 album from folk rock musician Tom Rush. He covers three songs from fellow singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell, as well as songs by Jackson Browne and James Taylor...
- 1970 – Tom RushTom Rush (1970 album)Tom Rush is the 1970 album from pioneer Folk rock musician Tom Rush. He covers songs from fellow folkies Jackson Browne, Murray McLauchlan, James Taylor and David Wiffen; with the standout tracks being "Driving Wheel", "Drop Down Mama" and "Child's Song"...
(Columbia) - 1970 – Wrong End of the RainbowWrong End of the RainbowWrong End of the Rainbow is the 1970 album from pioneer Folk rock musician Tom Rush. The music on this album, his second in 1970, tends to lean more torward the Country rock style.-Track listing:...
- 1972 – Merrimack CountyMerrimack County (album)Merrimack County is the 1972 album from pioneer Folk rock musician Tom Rush. The standout tracks are "Mink Julip", "Mother Earth", "Jamaica, Say You Will", "Wind on the Water" and "Roll Away the Grey".-Track listing:...
- 1974 – Ladies Love OutlawsLadies Love Outlaws (Tom Rush album)Ladies Love Outlaws is the 1974 Country rock album from pioneer Folk rock musician Tom Rush. The standout tracks are "Hobo's Mandolin", "Indian Woman from Wichita", "Black Magic Gun" and "One Day I Walk".-Track listing:...
- 1975 – The Best of Tom Rush (Columbia)
- 1982 – Tom Rush: New Year
- 1982 – Tom Rush: Late Night Radio
- 1991 – Blues, Songs and Ballads [Compilation]
- 1999 – No Regrets: The Very Best Of Tom Rush
- 1999 – Wrong End of the Rainbow (Import, Original recording remastered)
- 2001 – Tom Rush/Take a Little Walk With Me (Import, Original recording remastered)
- 2001 – Live at Symphony Hall, Boston (Live)
- 2002 – Merrimack County/Ladies Love Outlaws (Import)
- 2002 – Take a Little Walk with Me
- 2003 – Trolling for Owls
- 2009 – What I Know
- Unknown – Fish Song