Charlie Musselwhite | |
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 Musselwhite performing on the New York City Blues Cruise, 2003 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Charles Douglas Musselwhite |
| Also known as | Memphis Charlie |
| Born | (1944-01-31)January 31, 1944 (age 81) Kosciusko, Mississippi, U.S. |
| Origin | Memphis, Tennessee, U.S. |
| Genres | Blues |
| Occupations |
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| Instruments |
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| Years active | 1966–present |
| Labels |
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| Website | charliemusselwhite |
Charles Douglas Musselwhite (born January 31, 1944) is an Americanblues harmonica player and bandleader[1] who came to prominence, along withMike Bloomfield,Paul Butterfield, andElvin Bishop, as a pivotal figure in helping to revive theChicago Blues movement of the 1960s. He has often been identified as a "white bluesman".[2][3]
Musselwhite was reportedly the inspiration for Elwood Blues, the character played byDan Aykroyd in the 1980 film,The Blues Brothers.[4]
Musselwhite, whose father and paternal grandfather were also named Charlie Musselwhite (making him Charlie Musselwhite III),[5] was born inKosciusko, Mississippi to white parents.[6] Originally claiming to be of partlyChoctaw descent, in a 2005 interview he said his mother had told him he was of distantCherokee descent.[7] His family considered it natural to play music. His father played guitar and harmonica, his mother played piano, and another relative was aone-man band.[6]
At the age of three, Musselwhite moved toMemphis, Tennessee.[6] When he was a teenager, Memphis experienced the period whenrockabilly,western swing, andelectric blues were combining to give birth torock and roll. That period featuredElvis Presley,Jerry Lee Lewis,Johnny Cash, and lesser-known musicians such asGus Cannon,Furry Lewis,Will Shade, andJohnny Burnette.[6] Musselwhite supported himself by digging ditches, laying concrete, and runningmoonshine in a1950 Lincoln automobile. This environment was a school for music as well as life for Musselwhite, who eventually acquired the nickname Memphis Charlie.[8]
Musselwhite then took off in search of the rumored "big-paying factory jobs" up the "Hillbilly Highway",Highway 51 to Chicago, where he continued his education on theSouth Side, making the acquaintance of blues musiciansLew Soloff,Muddy Waters,Junior Wells,Sonny Boy Williamson,Buddy Guy,Howlin' Wolf,Little Walter, andBig Walter Horton. Musselwhite immersed himself completely in the musical life, living in the basement of and occasionally working at Jazz Record Mart (the record store operated byDelmark Records founderBob Koester) withBig Joe Williams and working as a driver for an exterminator, which allowed him to observe what was happening around the city's clubs and bars.[6] He spent his time hanging out at the Jazz Record Mart, at the corner of State and Grand, and a nearby bar, Mr. Joe's, with the city's blues musicians, and sitting in with Williams and others in the clubs, playing for tips. There he forged a lifelong friendship withJohn Lee Hooker. Though Hooker lived inDetroit, Michigan, the two often visited each other, and Hooker served as best man at Musselwhite's third marriage to Henrietta Musselwhite. Gradually, Musselwhite became well known around town.[6]
In 1965, when working at the Jazz Record Mart, Charlie metVanguard Records producer/writerSam Charters, who included him in the blockbuster blues trilogy,Chicago/The Blues/Today! (Volume 3 / VRS 9218), in which he played with blues harp legendBig Walter Horton's Blues Harp Band. At this time Charters signed him to another contract which led to Musselwhite's first solo outing in 1966,Stand Back! Here Comes Charley Musselwhite's South Side Band (VSD 79232).
Musslewhite played all harmonica on the 1965Vanguard Records albumSo Many Roads byJohn Hammond.
In time, Musselwhite led his own blues band, and afterElektra Records' success withPaul Butterfield, he released the albumStand Back! Here Comes Charley Musselwhite's Southside Band in 1966 onVanguard Records to immediate success.[3][9] He took advantage of the clout this album gave him to move to San Francisco, where, instead of being one of many competing blues acts, he held court as the king of the blues in the exploding countercultural music scene, an exotic and gritty figure to the flower children. Musselwhite convinced Hooker to move to California.[6]
Since then, Musselwhite has released over 20 albums and has been a guest performer on albums by many other musicians, such asBonnie Raitt'sLonging in Their Hearts and theBlind Boys of Alabama'sSpirit of the Century, both winners ofGrammy Awards. He also performed onTom Waits'sMule Variations andINXS'sSuicide Blonde. He has won 14Blues Music Awards, has been nominated for six Grammy Awards, receivedLifetime Achievement Awards from the Monterey Blues Festival and the San Javier Jazz Festival, in San Javier, Spain, and received the Mississippi Governor's Award for Excellence in the Arts.
In 1979, Musselwhite recordedThe Harmonica According to Charlie Musselwhite in London forKicking Mule Records, intended to accompany an instructional book; the album became so popular that it was released on CD.[6] In June 2008, Blind Pig Records reissued the album on 180-gram vinyl with new cover art.[10]
In 1990 Musselwhite signed withAlligator Records, a step that led to a resurgence of his career.[11]
In 1998, Musselwhite appeared in the filmBlues Brothers 2000. He played the harmonica in theLouisiana Gator Boys, which featured many other blues and R&B musicians, such asB.B. King,Bo Diddley,Eric Clapton,Koko Taylor,Jimmie Vaughan,Dr. John, andJack DeJohnette.
Over the years, Musselwhite has branched out in style. His 1999 recording,Continental Drifter, is accompanied byCuarteto Patria, from Cuba's Santiago region, the Cuban music counterpart of theMississippi Delta.[6] Because of political differences between Cuba and the United States, the album was recorded in Bergen, Norway, with Musselwhite's wife handling the details.
Musselwhite believes the key to his musical success was finding a style in which he could express himself. He said, "I only know one tune, and I play it faster or slower, or I change the key, but it's just the one tune I've ever played in my life. It's all I know."[12]
His two albums,Sanctuary (which saw a guest appearance by Hooker)[11] andDelta Hardware, were released byReal World Records.
Musselwhite played onTom Waits' 1999 albumMule Variations. He can be heard at the beginning of the song "Chocolate Jesus" saying "I love it". Waits has mentioned that this is his favorite part of the song.[13]
In 2002, he was featured on theBo Diddley tribute albumHey Bo Diddley: A Tribute!, performing the song "Hey Bo Diddley".
Musselwhite lost both of his elderly parents in December 2005, in separate incidents. His mother, Ruth Maxine Musselwhite, was murdered.[14]
Musselwhite joined the judging panel of the 10th annual Independent Music Awards, to assist independent musicians' careers.[15][16][17] He was also a judge for the 7th and 9th Independent Music Awards.[18]
Musselwhite was inducted into theBlues Hall of Fame in 2010. The same year, he appeared on theJW-Jones recording "Midnight Memphis Sun", along withHubert Sumlin. Also in 2010, he released the albumThe Well. In the title song he creditsJessica McClure's ordeal as a child trapped in a well for over 58 hours in 1987 for inspiring him to quit drinking, stating,
She was trapped in there with a broken arm in the dark, in a life-and-death situation she was singing nursery rhymes to herself and being brave... It made my problems seem tiny. So as a prayer to her and myself, I decided I wasn't going to drink till she got out of that well. It was like I was tricking myself, telling myself that I wasn't going to quit for good, just until she got out. It took three days to get her out, and I haven't had a drink since.[19]
For the first half of 2011, Musselwhite toured with the acoustic-electric blues bandHot Tuna.[6] In the latter half of 2011, he went on tour withCyndi Lauper, having played harmonica on her hit albumMemphis Blues.[6] While on this tour, he appeared with Lauper onJools Holland's television programHootenanny on New Year's Eve 2011, performing a modified arrangement of Lauper's signature song, "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun".
In 2012, Musselewhite released the live albumJuke Joint Chapel (recorded at the Shack Up Inn in Clarksdale, Mississippi)[20] which was nominated for a Grammy for Best Traditional Blues Album. Musselwhite also teamed withBen Harper to record the albumGet Up!, which was released in January 2013. In January 2014, it won aGrammy Award forBest Blues Album.
In 2014 and 2015, he won aBlues Music Award in the category Best Instrumentalist – Harmonicist.[21][22] At the 40thBlues Music Awards ceremony in 2019, Musselwhite's joint composition withBen Harper, "No Mercy In This Land", was named as 'Song of the Year'.[23] In 2023, Musselwhite won another Blues Music Award with the 'Acoustic Album of the Year' title for his LP,Mississippi Son.[24]
Musselwhite portrays Alvin Reynolds in the 2023Martin Scorsese filmKillers of the Flower Moon.[25]
The seminalStand Back! Here Comes Charlie Musselwhite's Southside Blues Band was a thrilling album and successfully ushered him into the blues fold.
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