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Charlie Musselwhite

Charlie Musselwhite - harmonica, vocalist

Charlie Musselwhite seemed destined to be a bluesman. Born in Mississippi, the cradle of the blues, in 1944, Charlie moved to Memphis at an early age and became immersed in the city's diverse musical culture. While Charlie soaked up the music of Memphis with the enthusiasm of a true devotee, it was the blues that caught his soul. In his teens, he befriended several of Memphis' legendary traditional bluesmen, including guitarist Furry Lewis, Will Shade and the surviving members of the Memphis Jug Band. It wasn't long before Charlie began sitting in with his more experienced friends, and establishing a name for himself.

When Charlie was 18, he had an awakening. Music wasn't paying the rent, so for $50 a trip, Charlie would run moonshine whiskey from remote country stills into downtown Memphis, and his bosses would distribute it to dozens of drive-in burger joints around town. When the state police followed him home one day, Charlie decided it was time for a change of profession. The next day, he packed up and headed north on Highway 51 to try his luck in Chicago.

With the intent on finding a factory job in the Windy City, he instead found urban blues in all of its soulful glory. He hung out in the smoky blues clubs on the city's South and West sides and frequently sat in with legends like Little Walter, Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf. He also worked as a band member with Big Joe Williams, J.B. Hutto, Big Walter Horton, Johnny Young, Robert Nighthawk and Floyd Jones. "Coming to Chicago was like walking into Fat City," says Charlie. "These guys inspired me. They gave me an incentive to find my own sound."

Charlie remembers all of those rough and tumble years that, he says, "toughened me up", performing at South Side clubs for a dollar or two. "My feet would be wet from walking in the snow," he recalls. "I had great big holes in my shoes and I remember that really well...once you've been there you don't forget."

Charlie's sound was firmly rooted in Memphis and Chicago-style blues, but it was also inspired by the high energy of rock 'n' roll. In the mid-sixties, Charlie and Paul Butterfield tapped a whole new audience of young rock fans who were drawn to their high-energy style of blues harp. In 1966, Charlie's crossover popularity was rewarded. Charlie signed with Vanguard and recorded the classic album “Stand Back.” It was one of the first blues albums marketed to the rock audience and, along with his subsequent albums in the late '60s and early '70s, established Charlie as a worldwide touring talent. As one critic wrote at the time, "Charlie Musselwhite is the natural born heir to carry the torch for the big city blues tradition."

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20
Album Review

Various artists: Alligator Records: 50 Years of Genuine Houserockin’ Music

Read "Alligator Records: 50 Years of Genuine Houserockin’ Music" reviewed by Jim Trageser


Maybe this half-century commemoration of the jny: Chicago-based, blues-focused label should have been titled, “The Last of the Independents." Almost alone of the mid-major labels that formerly thrived in the 1980s and '90s by specializing in non-mainstream styles of music, Alligator has managed to navigate stunning changes in the music business--from the vinyl of LPs and 45s to cassettes and CDs, and then, most recently, the virtual collapse of the retail record business and wholesale pivot to online ...

2
Album Review

New Moon Jelly Roll Freedom Rockers: Vol. 2

Read "Vol. 2" reviewed by Doug Collette


The New Moon Jelly Roll Freedom Rockers Volume 2 is replete with the same instinctual camaraderie and musicianly savvy as its predecessor. Likewise culled from sessions recorded in 2007, this sequel is decidedly not comprised of mere leftovers or otherwise sub-par tracks originally left unreleased. On the contrary, the alternately upbeat and reflective atmosphere reaffirms the realism and presence of Kevin Houston's recording of these eleven cuts at the Zebra Ranch studios that were subsequently produced to authentic effect by ...

4
Multiple Reviews

Blues Masters: Elvin Bishop & Charlie Musselwhite and New Moon Jelly Roll Freedom Rockers

Read "Blues Masters: Elvin Bishop & Charlie Musselwhite and New Moon Jelly Roll Freedom Rockers" reviewed by Doug Collette


The tradition of the blues remains tried but true over generations of musicians and fans, the devotion of the latter mirroring and complementing the loyalty of the former. And the twisting, turning geography of the music's evolution, from Africa to the Southern delta (and its adjacent hill country) up the Mississippi River to Chicago, is itself a reflection of that longstanding relationship. Likewise, the career paths of Elvin Bishop and Charlie Musselwhite long ran parallel before intersecting at the understated ...

193
Album Review

Charlie Musselwhite: Best of the Vanguard Years

Read "Best of the Vanguard Years" reviewed by Ed Kopp


When 18-year-old Charlie Musselwhite left Memphis for Chicago in 1962, he wasn't even aware that the Windy City was the center of the blues universe. His only objective was to land a decent factory job. But Musselwhite would soon discover how vital the blues scene was in his new hometown. He would also notice that there were fewer harmonica players than guitarists working the blues clubs there. Since Musselwhite could play both instruments, he decided to focus on the harp ...

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13

Performance / Tour

Harmonica Master Charlie Musselwhite to Perform in New Hope

Harmonica Master Charlie Musselwhite to Perform in New Hope

Source: Chris M. Slawecki

Harmonicist/vocalist/songwriter/guitarist Charlie Musselwhite, touring in support of his Grammy-nominated Alligator Records CD, The Well, will perform live at The New Hope Winery in New Hope on Friday, May 4, 2012. The Well is an authentic slice of Charlie's deep blues roots with musical flavors from Mississippi to Chicago to California, including help on one song from legendary vocalist and friend Mavis Staples. Amazon included The Well in its Top Ten Blues CDs of 2010, and Musselwhite won two 2011 Blues ...

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Performance / Tour

Charlie Musselwhite Celebrates New Release with Performances in Wilmington & Sellersville

Charlie Musselwhite Celebrates New Release with Performances in Wilmington & Sellersville

Source: Chris M. Slawecki

Harmonicist/vocalist/songwriter/guitarist Charlie Musselwhite will give live performances at The Grand Opera House in Wilmington on Sunday, February 13 and at the Sellersville Theatre in Sellersville on Tuesday, February 15, 2011, playing as part of “Hot Tuna Blues on Tour" featuring Musselwhite along with Hot Tuna (Jorma Kaukonen, Jack Casady and Jim Lauderdale. Musselwhite will be performing songs from his new Alligator CD, The Well, and also accompanying the other members of the tour. Musselwhite is also currently celebrating his return ...

119

Performance / Tour

Harmonica Master Charlie Musselwhite Celebrates New Release with a Performance in Philadelphia

Harmonica Master Charlie Musselwhite Celebrates New Release with a Performance in Philadelphia

Source: Chris M. Slawecki

Harmonicist/vocalist/songwriter/guitarist Charlie Musselwhite celebrates his return to Alligator Records with his new CD, The Well, and a live performance at the World Music Cafe on Wednesday, September 15, 2010. The album is an authentic slice of Charlie's deep blues roots with musical flavors from Mississippi to Chicago to California, including help on one song from legendary vocalist and friend Mavis Staples. Concert information is as follows: Date: Wednesday, September 15 Venue: World Music Cafe, 3025 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA Phone: ...

149

Recording

Charlie Musselwhite Returns to "The Well" on August 24

Charlie Musselwhite Returns to "The Well" on August 24

Source: Chris M. Slawecki

Charlie Musselwhite will release his new CD, The Well (Alligator Records) on August 24.

A groundbreaking recording artist since the 1960s, Musselwhite continues to create trailblazing music while remaining firmly rooted in the blues. His worldly-wise vocals, rich, melodic harmonica playing and deep country blues guitar work flawlessly accompany his often autobiographical and always memorable original songs

Musselwhite is the only musician who can boast knowing Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash, befriending and playing with ever major bluesman including Muddy ...

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Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Alligator Records: 50...

Alligator Records
2022

buy

Vol. 2

Stony Plain Records
2021

buy

100 Years Of Blues

Alligator Records
2020

buy

I Don't Believe A...

Stax Records
2013

buy

Best of the Vanguard...

Vanguard Records
2000

buy

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