Tier 3 · vertical & regional
Tom Rush
Person · male · United States · Portsmouth · born 1941 · recording since 1964
American singer
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Also known as Rush, Tom · Thomas Walker Rush · 汤姆·拉什
Timeline
16 events▣ Album 14◦ Birth 1★ Debut release 1
1940s
1960s
· Debut release
Debut release: Got a Mind to Ramble
First documented Album in the MusicBrainz discography.
source: musicbrainz
1970s
2000s
2010s
2020s
Biography
English biography566 words · 2 sectionssource: wikipedia-en · licence CC BY-SA 4.0 · revision 1355104857
Biography
Tom Rush (born February 8, 1941) is an American folk and blues singer, guitarist, and songwriter whose success helped launch the careers of other singer-songwriters in the 1960s and who has continued his own singing career for 60 years.
Life and career
Rush was born in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, the adopted son of a teacher at St. Paul's School, in Concord, New Hampshire. He began performing in 1961 while studying at Harvard University, after having graduated from the Groton School. He majored in English literature. His early recordings include Southern and Appalachian folk and old-time country songs, Woody Guthrie ballads and acoustic-guitar blues such as Jesse Fuller's San Francisco Bay Blues which appeared on his first two LPs. 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. In the 1970s, he lived in Deering, New Hampshire. As of 2025, Rush lives in Southern Maine, not far from his New Hampshire birthplace.
Rolling Stone magazine credits him with ushering in the era of the singer-songwriter. In addition to performing his own compositions, he sang songs by Joni Mitchell, Jackson Browne, James Taylor, Murray McLauchlan, David Wiffen and William Hawkins, helping them gain recognition early in their careers.
His 1968 composition "No Regrets" is now a standard, with numerous cover versions having been recorded. (Rush did two radically different versions himself.) These include covers by The Walker Brothers, which gave Rush Top Ten credit as the songwriter on the UK Singles Chart and whose success Rush credits with putting his two children through college; Emmylou Harris, who included the song on her 1988 album Bluebird; and Midge Ure, whose cover also made the UK Top Ten.
Ten years after it was posted, a YouTube video of him performing Steven Walters' "The Remember Song" has received over seven 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 for an artist by a record company, from 1968, can be found at his website. It was used by Elektra Records to promote his signature song, "No Regrets" for his The Circle Game album.
Over the years, Rush has used a number of guitars on stage. His current primary one is a handcrafted acoustic guitar made by Don Musser. In February 2012, he appeared on stage in Colorado with a new instrument, a cedar-top Dreadnought with an inlay of a snake wrapped around a reclining nude woman. The guitar, crafted by McKenzie & Marr Guitars, is a "re-incarnation" of one of Rush's earliest acoustics.
On December 28, 2012, Rush appeared at Boston's Symphony Hall to celebrate fifty years in the music business. He had first performed there in 1958 and for many years performed there regularly, often in December.
As of late 2023, Rush continues to perform regularly and to tour regionally.
Rush's latest albums are Voices
VoicesSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracks1Elder Green3:572Come See about Me2:513My Best Girl2:544Life is Fine3:405Cold River3:226Far Away3:137Heaven Knows2:388Corina, Corina3:279If I Never Get Back to Hackensack1:5610Going Down to Nashville2:2111How Can She Dance Like That?3:1612Voices3:22, released in 2018, and Gardens Old, Flowers New
Gardens Old, Flowers NewSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 14 tracks1Sailing3:402Glory Road2:243Gimme Some of It (Before You Give It All Away)3:194Nothin’ But A Man3:155If You Will Love Me3:076Lullaby in E2:297Toy Boat Song2:588One More Time Around the Sun3:119It All Comes Down to Love3:2510Siena’s Song4:1411The Harbor3:2812To See My Baby Smile4:4213Won’t Be Back at All3:2714I Quit2:35 (March 1, 2024). In recent years, he has frequently toured the United States, often accompanied on piano by Berklee graduate Matt Nakoa.
Discography & profile
Normalised profile
Percentiles are computed over every artist in the database, so a tier-3 artist can still sit in the 95th percentile on a single axis.
| Metric | Value | Percentile |
|---|---|---|
| Wikipedia language versions | 10 | 58.3th |
| Spotify monthly listeners | — | no data |
| Release groups in DB | 23 | 88.2th |
| Studio albums | 14 | 94th |
| Awards recorded | 0 | 0th |
| Timeline events | 16 | 91.8th |
| Recording span (years) | 60 | 97.7th |
| Genres | 2 | 74th |
Percentiles are computed at render time; missing values mean the artist has no data on that axis.
Discography (23 release groups · 14 studio albums)
Albums · 14
1964 · studio album
Search SpotifySearch YouTube Music
Tracklist · 13 tracks · 42:11
A1Duncan & Brady3:41A2I Don't Want Your Millions Mister2:07A3San Francisco Bay Blues3:28A4Mole's Moan2:57A5Orphan's Blues4:00A6Rye Whiskey2:08A7Big Fat Woman2:49B1Nine Pound Hammer2:40B2Diamond Joe3:04B3Just a Closer Walk With Thee4:38B4Mobile-Texas Line3:13B5Joe Turner4:38B6Every Day in the Week2:481965 · studio album
Search SpotifySearch YouTube Music
Tracklist · 13 tracks · 44:53
1Long John4:012If Your Man Gets Busted3:313Do-Re-Mi2:394Milk Cow Blues3:155The Cuckoo3:256Black Mountain Blues2:447Poor Man3:318Solid Gone3:029When She Wants Good Lovin'2:4510I'd Like to Know2:1811Jelly Roll Baker3:0212Windy Bill2:1613The Panama Limited8:241965 · studio album
Search SpotifySearch YouTube Music
Tracklist · 12 tracks · 42:10
A1Alabama Bound3:10A2More Pretty Girls1:40A3Sister Kate3:05A4Original Talking Blues4:10A5Pallet on the Floor3:55A6Drop Down Mama4:05B1Rag Mama2:30B2Barb'Ry Allen6:40B3Cocaine3:10B4Come Back Baby2:20B5Stackerlee4:35B6Baby Please Don't Go2:501966 · studio album
Search SpotifySearch YouTube Music
Tracklist · 11 tracks · 35:49
1You Can't Tell a Book by the Cover3:392Who Do You Love3:253Love's Made a Fool of You2:144Too Much Monkey Business2:205Money Honey2:516On the Road Again3:347Joshua Gone Barbados4:138Statesboro Blues2:259Turn Your Money Green3:5010Sugar Babe1:5811Galveston Flood5:201968 · studio album
Search SpotifySearch YouTube Music
Tracklist · 10 tracks · 38:37
A1Tin Angel3:27A2Something in the Way She Moves3:32A3Urge for Going5:52A4Sunshine Sunshine3:00A5The Glory of Love2:27B1Shadow Dream Song3:28B2The Circle Game5:17B3So Long3:05B4Rockport Sunday4:37B5No Regrets3:521970 · studio album
Search SpotifySearch YouTube Music
Tracklist · 10 tracks · 34:38
A1Driving Wheel5:23A2Rainy Day Man3:07A3Drop Down Mama2:33A4Old Man's Song3:22A5Lullaby3:45B1These Days2:41B2Wild Child3:14B3Colors of the Sun3:51B4Livin' in the Country2:32B5Child's Song4:101970 · studio album
Search SpotifySearch YouTube Music
Tracklist · 10 tracks · 37:43
1Wrong End of the Rainbow2:522Biloxi4:433Merrimack County2:534Riding on a Railroad5:485Paddy West / Came to See Me Yesterday in the Marry Month of May2:296Starlight4:407Sweet Baby James3:238Rotunda3:249Jazzman2:3710Gnostic Serenade4:541972 · studio album
Search SpotifySearch YouTube Music
Tracklist · 10 tracks · 34:31
1Kids These Days4:142Mink Julep2:293Mother Earth2:354Jamaica Say You Will4:165Merrimack County II2:506Gypsy Boy3:267Wind on the Water3:378Roll Away the Grey3:009Seems the Songs3:4210Gone Down River4:221974 · studio album
Search SpotifySearch YouTube Music
Tracklist · 10 tracks · 35:30
A1Ladies Love Outlaws2:28A2Hobo's Mandolin3:12A3Indian Woman From Wichita4:19A4Maggie3:32A5Desperados Waiting for the Train3:30B1Claim on Me4:08B2Jenny Lynn2:59B3Black Magic Gun3:26B4No Regrets5:41B5One Day I Walk2:152006 · studio album
Search SpotifySearch YouTube Music
Tracklist · 17 tracks · 59:58
1Makin’ the Best of a Bad Situation3:592Moving to Wyoming1:323Shooting Coyotes2:514A Cowboy’s Paean3:255Getting Married in Italy1:556If I Had a Boat3:027Songs You Can’t Do Any More2:348Let’s Talk Dirty in Hawaiian1:509Busted by the Boston Globe1:5210Cell Phones and Beepers0:5511Remember?3:1612Talking Western3:5713Little Dogs2:1214State of Arkansas7:3315Old Blevins4:5416New Hampshire Neighbors4:1217Duncan & Brady9:592009 · studio album
Search SpotifySearch YouTube Music
Tracklist · 15 tracks · 50:08
1Hot Tonight1:492East of Eden3:303River Song3:354Too Many Memories3:455What I Know2:476All a Man Can Do4:257Fall Into the Night3:578Casey Jones3:059You’re Not Here With Me3:2210What an Old Lover Knows3:2011Silly Little Diddle2:4612Lonely3:3813No One Else but You3:3114One Good Man2:5815Drift Away3:402013 · studio album
Search SpotifySearch YouTube Music
Tracklist · 13 tracks · 1:07:31
1Hot Tonight2:412What I Know3:403Lancelot's Tune (Guinevere)5:394Drop Down Mama5:465Urge for Going5:536Statesboro Blues6:177Your Baby Ain't Sweet Like Mine4:498Child's Song4:329Drivin' Wheel6:4210Get Together4:2311No Regrets / Rockport Sunday7:4812Who Do You Love4:0113Wasn't That a Mighty Storm5:202018 · studio album
Search SpotifySearch YouTube Music
Tracklist · 12 tracks · 36:57
1Elder Green3:572Come See about Me2:513My Best Girl2:544Life is Fine3:405Cold River3:226Far Away3:137Heaven Knows2:388Corina, Corina3:279If I Never Get Back to Hackensack1:5610Going Down to Nashville2:2111How Can She Dance Like That?3:1612Voices3:222024 · studio album
Search SpotifySearch YouTube Music
Tracklist · 14 tracks · 46:14
1Sailing3:402Glory Road2:243Gimme Some of It (Before You Give It All Away)3:194Nothin’ But A Man3:155If You Will Love Me3:076Lullaby in E2:297Toy Boat Song2:588One More Time Around the Sun3:119It All Comes Down to Love3:2510Siena’s Song4:1411The Harbor3:2812To See My Baby Smile4:4213Won’t Be Back at All3:2714I Quit2:35
Album · 9
| Cover | Year | Title | Notes | First release |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1972 | Tom RushSearch SpotifySearch YouTube MusicTracklist · 25 tracksDisc 1 A1Duncan and Brady A2I Don't Want Your Millions Mister A3San Francisco Bay Blues A4Mole's Moan A5Orphan's Blues A6Rye Whiskey A7Big Fat Woman B1Nine Pound Hammer B2Diamond Joe B3Just a Closer Walk With Thee B4Mobile-Texas Line B5Joe Turner B6Every Day in the Week Disc 2C1Alabama Bound C2More Pretty Girls C3Sister Kate C4Original Talking Blues C5Pallet on the Floor C6Drop Down Mama D1Rag Mama D2Barb'Ry Allen D3Cocaine D4Come Back Baby D5Stackerlee D6Baby Please Don't Go | Compilation | 1972 | |
| 1982 | New YearSearch SpotifySearch YouTube MusicTracklist · 10 tracks · 48:351Anna5:09 2Louisiana Eyes3:22 3Merrimack County3:11 4Gold on the River4:15 5The Dreamer6:55 6Joshua Gone Barbados4:38 7Kind, Kind Lovin'3:32 8Drivin' Wheel6:16 9Wasn't That a Mighty Storm4:32 10Urge for Going6:45 | Live | 1982 | |
| 1989 | Blues, Songs and BalladsSearch SpotifySearch YouTube MusicTracklist · 23 tracks · 1:16:581Duncan and Brady3:41 2I Don’t Want Your Millions Mister2:07 3San Francisco Bay Blues3:28 4Mole’s Moan2:57 5Rye Whiskey2:08 6Big Fat Woman2:49 7Nine Pound Hammer2:40 8Diamond Joe3:04 9Mobile-Texas Line3:13 10Joe Turner4:38 11Every Day in the Week2:48 12Alabama Bound3:16 13More Pretty Girls1:49 14Sister Kate3:12 15Original Talking Blues4:18 16Pallet on the Floor4:02 17Drop Down Mama4:10 18Rag Mama2:35 19Barb’ry Allen6:43 20Cocaine3:14 21Come Back Baby2:31 22Stackerlee4:44 23Baby Please Don’t Go2:51 | Compilation | 1989 | |
| 1997 | Tom Rush / Wrong End of the RainbowSearch SpotifySearch YouTube MusicTracklist · 20 tracks · 1:12:481Driving Wheel5:24 2Rainy Day Man3:11 3Drop Down Mama2:34 4Old Man Song3:24 5Lullaby3:49 6These Days2:42 7Wild Child (World of Trouble)3:15 8Colors of the Sun3:52 9Livin' in the Country2:34 10Child's Song4:13 11Wrong End of the Rainbow2:53 12Biloxi4:43 13Merrimac County2:53 14Riding on a Railroad5:49 15Came to See Me Yesterday in the Merry Month Of2:31 16Starlight4:40 17Sweet Baby James3:23 18Rotunda3:25 19Jazzman2:37 20Gnostic Serenade4:56 | Compilation | 1997 | |
| 1999 | The Very Best of Tom Rush: No RegretsSearch SpotifySearch YouTube MusicTracklist · 17 tracks · 1:16:561San Francisco Bay Blues3:25 2Mobile-Texas Line3:10 3Panama Limited8:30 4On the Road Again3:36 5Galveston Flood5:21 6Joshua Gone Barbados4:13 7Urge for Going5:49 8No Regrets5:41 9Lost My Drivin' Wheel5:23 10Child's Song4:11 11Merrimac County2:53 12Kids These Days4:12 13Mother Earth2:36 14Ladies Love Outlaws2:32 15The Dreamer6:56 16Jamaica, Say You Will4:32 17River Song3:56 | Compilation | 5 October 1999 | |
| 2000 | Merrimack County / Ladies Love OutlawsSearch SpotifySearch YouTube MusicTracklist · 20 tracks · 1:10:281Kids These Days4:14 2Mink Julep2:29 3Mother Earth2:35 4Jamaica Say You Will4:16 5Merrimack County II2:50 6Gypsy Boy3:26 7Wind on the Water3:37 8Roll Away the Grey3:00 9Seems the Songs3:42 10Gone Down River4:22 11Ladies Love Outlaws2:34 12Hobo's Mandolin3:14 13Indian Woman From Wichita4:22 14Maggie3:35 15Desperados Waiting for the Train3:33 16Claim on Me4:11 17Jenny Lynn3:01 18Black Magic Gun3:28 19No Regrets5:43 20One Day I Walk2:16 | Compilation | 2000 | |
| 2001 | Live at Symphony Hall, BostonSearch SpotifySearch YouTube MusicTracklist · 14 tracks · 1:01:381Merrimack County3:25 2On the Road Again2:38 3Joshua Gone Barbados4:39 4Kind, Kind Lovin'3:37 5Louisiana Eyes3:28 6Jazzman / Johah6:05 7The Dreamer6:52 8Jamaica Say You Will4:33 9Wasn't That a Mighty Storm4:12 10Late Night Radio2:53 11Anna5:09 12Blow Whistle Blow3:53 13Urge for Going6:39 14Beam Me Up Scotty3:35 | Compilation | 2001 | |
| 2001 | Tom Rush & Take a Little Walk With MeSearch SpotifySearch YouTube MusicTracklist · 24 tracks · 1:20:42Disc 1 1Long John4:01 2If Your Man Gets Busted3:31 3Do‐Re‐Mi2:39 4Milk Cow Blues3:15 5The Cuckoo3:25 6Black Mountain Blues2:44 7Poor Man3:31 8Solid Gone3:02 9When She Wants Good Lovin’2:45 10I’d Like to Know2:18 11Jelly Roll Baker3:02 12Windy Bill2:16 13The Panama Limited8:24 Disc 21You Can’t Tell a Book by the Cover3:39 2Who Do You Love3:25 3Love’s Made a Fool of You2:14 4Too Much Monkey Business2:20 5Money Honey2:51 6On the Road Again3:34 7Joshua Gone Barbados4:13 8Statesboro Blues2:25 9Turn Your Money Green3:50 10Sugar Babe1:58 11Galveston Flood5:20 | Compilation | 29 October 2001 | |
| 2009 | Classic RushSearch SpotifySearch YouTube MusicTracklist · 11 tracks · 48:181On the Road Again3:32 2The Cuckoo3:25 3Who Do You Love?3:25 4Joshua Gone Barbados4:11 5Shadow Dream Song3:25 6Urge for Going5:47 7Galveston Flood5:19 8Love's Made a Fool of You2:14 9No Regrets/Rockport Sunday8:23 10Something in the Way She Moves3:27 11The Circle Game5:10 | Compilation | 17 March 2009 |
Stats & PK
Percentile within all 23,672 published artists.Put Tom Rush head-to-head →
| Metric | Value | Percentile |
|---|---|---|
| Wikipedia language versions | 10 | 58.3th |
| Spotify monthly listeners | — | no data |
| Release groups in DB | 23 | 88.2th |
| Studio albums | 14 | 94th |
| Awards recorded | 0 | 0th |
| Timeline events | 16 | 91.8th |
| Recording span (years) | 60 | 97.7th |
| Genres | 2 | 74th |
Awards & honours
Where this record comes from
portrait—Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 2.0 · retrieved 11 October 2026
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tom_Rush_at_the_Firehouse_Newburyport_crop.jpgaliases/urls—musicbrainz · CC0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://musicbrainz.org/artist/7a64f2ab-0605-466b-92ce-ddeb7bef5d42discography—musicbrainz · CC0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://musicbrainz.org/artist/7a64f2ab-0605-466b-92ce-ddeb7bef5d42core—wikidata · CC0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q723710genre—wikidata · CC0 · retrieved 11 October 2026
https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q723710seed-list—wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Rushbiography—wikipedia-en · CC BY-SA 4.0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Rush
Why this artist is in the database
- List of folk musicians
- List of singer-songwriters
Tier rule: curated genre/region list
Image: John Eckman from Newburyport, MA, United States · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Wikidata: Q723710 · MusicBrainz: 7a64f2ab-0605-466b-92ce-ddeb7bef5d42
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