The Blues, Charlie Musselwhite and Me...

When I was living in Chicago. I'd been hanging out in blues clubs all over the South and West sides and all the musicians thought of me as this crazy, white kid that was a blues fan. I'd request tunes, but I never ever asked to sit in or even told anybody that I played. I was happy enough to be hanging out with my heroes and socializing. Having come from Memphis, I already knew how to drink liquor like the men in these clubs. The blues clubs were strictly adults and I was still a teenager, but being big for my age I passed for 21 and got in all the clubs. Anyhow, I'd gotten to know this waitress really well and I'd played for her in her apartment and didn't think anything of it, but one night I heard her tell Muddy (Waters), "You oughta hear Charlie play harmonica!" That changed everything. Muddy insisted I sit in and from then on, as long as I knew Muddy, if I came to a club he was playing, he always called me up to sit in. This was good because a lot of musicians heard me sitting in with Muddy and started offering me gigs around Chicago. So, that night when I first sat in with Muddy changed my life and I owe it to that waitress, Mary, because I don't think I ever would've asserted myself in that way. That was the beginning of my career in music.
Charlie Musselwhite

***Stand Back! Here Comes Charley Musselwhite’s South Side Band (1966) signed by Charlie***

When I was growin’ up, I would go around to any kind of junk stores, lookin’ for old blues 78s, but anything that looked interesting, I’d buy that, too. They were only a nickel or a dime apiece. So I had stacks and stacks of these 78s. Out of curiosity, I’d pick up stuff that just had weird titles or somethin’, and I discovered other kinds of music that had a feeling to it that reminded me of blues, like rebetiko from Greece, flamenco and more.
Charlie Musselwhite, early crate digger and music omnivore

***Stone Blues (1968) signed by Charlie***

It occurred to me that probably every culture has its music of lament, lost love, hard times. Everywhere you go, somebody's singing about 'My baby left me!'
Charlie Musselwhite

***Tennessee Woman (1969) signed by Charlie***

I feel real fortunate to have been so close to Big Joe (Williams). We roomed together and he'd take me all over Chicago with him, and introduced me to lots of people, not just musicians either... we'd sit up late nights and he'd tell me all kinds of stories about his life, and I was aware that he'd known Charley Patton and Robert Johnson and just about everybody. When we'd go into Pepper's Lounge, Muddy (Waters) would make a big fuss over Joe, because Joe was like a blues hero to Muddy. Muddy would tell the crowd about the man that wrote "Baby Please Don't Go", and he'd get Joe and I a booth and a set up and a bottle. Muddy called me "Good Time Charlie"... Muddy was always fun to be around.
Charlie Musselwhite

***Memphis, Tennessee (1970), original Paramount Records release signed by Charlie***

I think Muddy was in his forties when we met. He’d put on a show back then. He’d be running around onstage—I mean it was wild. I’ve seen him do shows for white audiences and they were really different from his usual show...Muddy would do things like, he’d been playing “I’m A Man” and Muddy would step back—James Cotton would come to the front of the stage taking a solo while Muddy would shake up a beer bottle, put it in his pants, then he’d come back singing “I’m A Man”—un-zip his pants, pull out the beer bottle—pop the cap off of it and foam would go all over the audience. Women would be swinging their purses sayin’ ‘Sing it Muddy1 Sing it!’ This isn’t the show you’d see at a folk festival.
Charlie Musselwhite

***Memphis; Tennessee (1970) 1984 reissue on CrossCut Records signed by Charlie***

Born in Mississippi in 1944 and raised in Memphis, Charlie Musselwhite Is one of the last real harmonica bluesman. A three time Grammy winner with thirteen nominations, Charlie has released more than thirty-five albums in his storied career. More importantly, Charlie hung out and sat in with blues royalty like Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf and Big Joe Williams while honing his craft, and he had a life long friendship with John Lee Hooker, with John Lee even serving as best man in 1981 at his third marriage to his current wife Henrietta.

Charlie grew up in a musical family, his father played guitar and harmonica, and his mother played piano, and he was surrounded by the rich, fertile music in his teen years that was being made in Memphis at Sun Studios - the music of Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash and others - an intoxicating stew of rockabilly, country and blues. This had a profound effect on his development, as Charlie later recalled, "Playing in Memphis was for my own gratification... there was something in me that needed to be satisfied. Those folks were tuned in and sensitive to things that mattered...about how you treat people and the quality of life on the ethereal level."

***Leave The Blues To Us (1975) signed by Charlie***

However, economics soon played an important factor as well. The "Hillbilly Highway" (Highway 51N) was beckoning with the promise of riches and ample work to the North. Charlie remembered, "“In the South, when you’re diggin’ dirt, it’s wet and all heavy, and you have to put it in a wheelbarrow and run it up a ramp, and the heat and the humidity…and you were only makin’ a dollar an hour. It’s gives you an attitude. Factory work sounded pretty good after that. I’d seen various friends of mine leave and come back to visit. They’d be drivin’ a brand new car – a red Oldsmobile or somethin’ – talkin’ about how great the jobs were. The pay would be good, the benefits. After a while, it seemed like I had to take that highway up North to take one of those big Yankee jobs. It was really a different world. There was so much work in Chicago, you could walk into a factory and go to work right then."

So Charlie left Memphis in 1962 for the promise of a better life and a factory job in Chicago. Charlie had just turned eighteen, and he brought along his harmonica. His first job was as a driver for an exterminator. Charlie explained, "It was perfect for me, because I learned how to get around the city right away. That’s when I saw posters and signs and things advertising Muddy Waters. I even remember seeing Elmore James’ name up on a place. I wanted to go see him, but he died before I got there.” Charlie immersed himself in the extensive blues scene that Chicago offered when giants - Howlin' Wolf, Sonny Boy Wiiliamson, Muddy Waters, and John Lee Hooker - walked the earth amongst the mere mortals.

After the success of Paul Butterfield (another white harmonica virtuoso) on Elektra Records, Charlie was given an opportunity to record in 1966 for Vanguard Records. Stand Back! Here Comes Charley Musselwhite's South Side Band proved to be an unlikely hit among nascent FM radio stations, especially on the West Coast. It didn't hurt that Charlie's band included the searing guitar of Harvey Mandel and tasteful keyboard shadings of Barry Goldberg. "Cristo Redentor" (written by jazz pianist Duke Pearson) became an anthem of sorts for Charlie (even though it was mistitled "Christo Redemptor" on Charlie's album), and the song remains a Musselwhite concert staple nearly fifty-five years later.

***The Harmonica According To Charlie Musselwhite (1979) signed by Charlie***

After five years jamming in Chicago, it was time to move west to San Francisco. Charlie expounded: "In August or September of '67, I was out in California doing my first gig, which was at the Fillmore and it was me, Butterfield and Cream. It was Cream’s first U.S. gig. That was my introduction to the West Coast. I thought I was gonna go out to California and do a few gigs and then come back to Chicago. When I got out to California, I found out all up and down the West coast were tons of great gigs that paid good money. I’d been working in these little blues bars for not much money and in California it was easy to see that you could make a living. Out here on the West Coast blues music was something exotic. They didn’t really know about the blues—it was something new to them. It was the underground radio that really did it because they weren’t playing me on the radio in Chicago. So that underground radio on the West Coast, and that first album gave me a career. That was my ticket out of the factory…I was twenty-two or twenty-three."

Charlie never looked back and he has continued to live in Northern California ever since. He has collaborated over the years with artists as diverse as the Blind Boys Of Alabama, Bonnie Raitt, Cyndi Lauper, INXS and the otherworldly talents of Tom Waits. In fact, Waits and Charlie live near each other in undisclosed Northern Cal locations, and get together for an occasional lunch. Charlie graced Waits' masterpiece Mule Variations (1998) on several tracks, and Waits said Charlie's intro on "Chocolate Jesus" was his favorite part of the song. Another unlikely inspiration was Dan Ackroyd's "Elwood Blues", half of the infamous Blues Brothers with faux sibling John Belushi. Ackroyd credits Charlie's stage demeanor - dressed in all black, hair slicked back, harmonica wailing - as the source for Elwood's character. While Charlie didn't appear in the original Blues Brothers (1980) movie, he does grace the sequel Blues Brothers 2000 with a riveting and raucous performance as part of the Louisiana Gator Boys, which includes BB King, Eric Clapton, Dr. John, Isaac Hayes et al.

***Curtain Call (1982) sgned by Charlie***

I saw Charlie perform February 26, 2020 at The Iridium in New York City. He had his usual trio with him - Matthew Stubbs on guitar, Randy Bermudes on bass and June Core on drums - all crack musicians who have been touring with Charlie for the past decade or more. They opened with "Wild, Wild Woman", a taut, upbeat blues track highlighting Charlie's expressive, flowing harmonica and Matthew Stubbs crunchy electric guitar. The backbeat was bolstered by Randy Bermudes sturdy bass lines and June Core's rock solid drums. Other show highlights were "West Helena Blues" written by James Cotton, which Charlie introduced, "This was written by my great friend James Cotton and there's a whole lotta stories we shared that I can never tell. This song was one of the first songs James ever recorded in Sun Studios in Memphis." It was a slow, smoldering blues which left ample time for each musician to showcase their talents with extended solos. Next came "Good Blues Tonight", a recent song that Charlie wrote with the lyric "I ain't no doctor, ain't no doctor's son, but I'll ease your pain until the doctor comes." Amen, brother Charlie, who knew you were also a gifted lyricist?! June Core provided a funky, latin rococo beat while Matthew Stubbs tossed off tasty guitar licks. "Help Me", written by Sonny Boy Williamson, which appears on Charlie's first album prompted this anecdote: "Sonny Boy was playing Curly's Twist (a fabled blues club in Chicago) and Otis Rush was on stage playing. He walked up to the mic, took it away and started playing. Now you know they used to call Sonny "The Hatchet Man" because he used to carry one under his coat. Finally, Willie Dixon (whose songs Led Zeppelin ripped off!) said,'You can't do nothin' with it,' and Willie went outside and put up a $5 bill on a pole. Believe it not, that was a lot of money back then. Anyhow, Sonny hit it perfect and took the $5. Yeah, no one wanted to mess with Sonny. After the show, I went over to say hello. He had all these drinks in front of him and he caught me staring at them. 'Don't worry,' he said, 'I'm going to drink all of them!' " Charlie lit into "Help Me" with all his power and vitality, and the rest of the band followed their leader. For the finale, Charlie played "Cristo Redentor", saying, "This is from my first album recorded in 1966. It never gets old." It doesn't, it will never will get old, and it was exquisitely played.

After the show, I visited with Charlie and he was gracious as he signed the albums, "Hey thanks, I can see you have great taste," he chortled. "This is the record that started it all," as he held Stand Back!, "I'm still playing these songs." 'And they sound great.' I added. He laughed when he saw Times Gettin' Tougher Than Tough, "You know, this picture was taken in front of the Hell's Angels headquarters in Oakland. Heh, I'm not sure why." I guess that was befitting the album title which comes from a muscular Jimmy Witherspoon song. I couldn't resist asking him about Tom Waits, "Oh, he's a great musician, I really enjoy recording with him. We don't live that far apart, and we see each other from time to time." 'You are a very lucky man,' I said and I thanked him for his music and generosity.

***Time’s Gettin’ Toughet Than Tough (1978) signed by Charlie***

Charlie Musselwhite, a brilliant musician, performer, songwriter and engaging raconteur. He once said, "The harp is very voice like, and bending the notes is very human sounding. To me, it feels like singing without words." He sings those notes beautifully, long may he bend!

Choice Charlie Musselwhite Cuts (per BKs request)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UDJSy2zyz0

"Christo Redemptor" Stand Back! Here Comes... (1966)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBWYydS9nQU

"Bag Gloom Brews" Stone Blues (1968)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Maduhxyluj4

"Good Blues Tonight" I Ain't Lyin' (2015)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5kHx1itU8c

"Chocolate Jesus" Charlie wailing with Tom Waits Mule Variations (1998)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7yuTR8r6QM

"Get Behind The Mule" More Charlie wailing with Waits Mule Variations (1998)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ma4TOv2f_WY