The late Big Joe Williams once said, “Charlie Musselwhite is one of the greatest living harp players of country blues. He is right up there with Sonny Boy Williams.” A bold statement from an even bolder man never rang truer. The legendary Charlie Musselwhite is as blue as blues can get. Armed with road tested vocals and killer harp licks, Musselwhite is one of the most celebrated artists to ever count off a shuffle. The past year has been no exception as the blues man took home three W.C. Handy Awards – Contemporary Blues Album of the Year for his 2004 release Sanctuary Contemporary Blues Artist of the Year; and Best Instrumentalist (Harmonica) – bringing his total up to 18 with surely more to follow.
Born in the hills of Mississippi, Charlie Musselwhite seems to have been born with the blues imbedded in his soul, “I don’t really remember a first time for hearing the blues. It was just part of my environment growing up. It sounded like how I felt so I was drawn to it over all the rest of the music that was also in my environment,” said Musselwhite, “One of my earliest memories though, is sitting on the bank of Cypress Creek and hearing a guy singing while he worked in a nearby field. He was singing blues, and it was a comforting sound. I’m not sure why that particular day stands out in my memory. It wasn’t something I hadn’t heard before.”
After relocating in Memphis, Charlie’s father gave his 13-year-old son a guitar. However, it was the harmonica that young Charlie had already fallen in love with, “I had been messing with harmonicas for several years already. My dad had played them too. I liked the sound of the harp. It is very voice-like. You can make it moan and cry, and you can make it sound happy and full of life too. It just has a real human quality about it,” explained Charlie.
After high school, Musselwhite migrated North to Chicago where he found a booming blues scene. Musselwhite soon befriended some of the now legendary blues artists. The likes of Little Walter, Shakey Horton, Big John Wrencher and even Sonny Boy Williamson became Musselwhite’s mentors and friends, “When I discovered all the blues clubs and started hanging out in them, I never told anybody I played. I was never promoting myself as a musician and really had no desire to sit in. I just liked listening, but the word leaked out and they started insisting I sit in, and that was really something for me – a really big thrill. When I realized they liked how I played and kept insisting on me sitting in more – well, I hardly knew what to think. I was happy as hell,” says Musselwhite.
It has been 38 years since Charlie’s landmark debut, Stand Back! Here Comes Charley Musselwhite’s Southside Band, yet with each subsequent record has shown considerable growth on all accounts. Perhaps most notably is Musselwhite’s ability to look outside the blues box and incorporate other genres, “I just like to play what feels good. I’m not trying to prove anything. I’m just being true to myself and I hope that people that hear what I do will like it the same way I do,” explains Charlie.
On the 2004 Grammy Nominated album, Sanctuary, Musselwhite again flexes his creative muscle and delivers a diverse and well-rounded record. The disc includes some interesting covers including, Randy Newman’s “Let’s Burn Down the Corn Field,” Savoy Brown’s Chris Youlder’s “Train To Nowhere” and Townes Van Zandt’s “Snake Song.” “I like to take a tune that is not a typical blues tune and “blues-it-up.” I like any music that is played from the heart and has feeling. I think it shows the beauty of blues in how it can fit into any situation and often make it better,” said Musselwhite.
Sanctuary is almost a summit meeting between Charlie Musselwhite and famed guitarist Charlie Sexton, “He and I and Tom Waits have a mutual friend that got in trouble once and needed money for his lawyers. Tom put together a couple of shows and had Charlie and I on them. That is where I first met and played with Charlie. One of the producers of Sanctuary, Chris Goldsmith, heard us that night and made up his mind right then that he was going to get us in the studio together because of the way we clicked together so naturally and easily,” said Musselwhite.
The new record also features some well-tailored guest appearances from The Blind Boys of Alabama, Ben Harper and Sonny Landreth. Said Musselwhite, “It is always interesting to see what happens when you put musicians of quality together and see what happens. Ben and Sonny both love blues and understand blues and know what blues are about. It keeps things fresh and alive and happening to always be open and to experiment.”
Keeping with the same post 9/11 mindset found on One Night in America, Musselwhite and company construct a thinking man’s blues record which is, at times, intense and edgy,
“Sanctuary is a dark album. That doesn’t mean depressing. It is dark because we are in dark times and I would hope that the listener would find listening to Sanctuary a place to rest in these dark times,” said Charlie.
After four decades in the business, Charlie Musselwhite remains at the top of his game with more relevance than ever, “I think keeping open to new ideas is a good approach to doing ANYTHING. I’m always open to new ideas. I like to think of myself as a life long learner,”
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