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ACL: Charlie Musselwhite
You can — pun definitely intended — rave all you want about blogs, DIY, My Space and WiFi, but for those of us old coots who wish they made cellphones with little bitty rotary dials, there is something reassuring about Charlie Musselwhite performing against the backdrop of the so-cutting-edge-it’s-bleeding ACL Festival.
Take it from me, there ain’t a new jack bone in the man’s body. From the vintage cobra-headed microphone he uses to broadcast his clean, soaring, supple blues lines to the battered Halliburton briefcase in which he keeps his arsenal of harmonicas, the 63year old Musselwhite has been there and back, playing in Mississippi jukejoints with the likes of fellow harp greats Little Walter and Sonny Boy Williamson, and later, Tracy Nelson and Luther Tucker.
Leading his own ensemble, as he did at the WaMu Stage Sunday afternoon, Musselwhite gave every appearance of being a man having a ball, happy in his element. His set drew largely from his award-winning latest album, “Delta Hardware,” including the light-hearted kiss-off tune “Gone Too Long” and “Black Water,” in which Musselwhite’s searing harp echoed the wails of Hurricane Katrina’s dispossessed.
But the performance also ranged far afield from the new release, featuring a tune from his 1966 debut as well as a rousing version of Eddie Taylor’s “Bad Boy.” He even pulled out a big chromatic harp to essay some back alley samba-flavored blues he discovered in Brazil.
When Musselwhite wasn’t playing or singing, guitarist Chris Anderson (who originally hails from Denmark, go figure) carried a lot of musical water, to considerable acclaim. Chicago and Delta blues on a sultry Southern Sunday afternoon — it’s a recipe Charlie Musselwhite served up to perfection.
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Permalink | Comments (3) | Categories: ACL Festival
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By Steve Mueller
September 17, 2007 11:45 AM | Link to this
FWIW, that cobra-headed mike is a Shure 520, better known as the “Green Bullet,” THE classic harp mike. For people wanting to see a true classic, Charlie beat Bob Dylan to pieces and I’ve loved Dylan since I was 10 and stumbled across Highway 61 Revisited when it first came out. So much fun to see a player having so much fun and so obviously loving his band and his audience.
By murph the serf
September 18, 2007 12:33 PM | Link to this
Best show I caught at the fest, and a good review — but a couple of factual erros. Chris “Kid” Andersen (spelled “en,” right on his Gibson’s pickguard) is from Norway, not Denmark. And Musselwhite was born in Mississippi, but grew up in Memphis (learning blues first-hand from people like Furry Lewis), then migrated to Chicago, which is where he crossed paths with Little Walter, Sonny Boy, and the rest, and recorded his classic debut album, ‘Stand Back! Here Comes Charlie Musselwhite’s South Side Band’ — as in South Side of Chicago. About 40 years ago he moved to Northern California, where he still lives today.
By pinballio
September 18, 2007 5:49 PM | Link to this
Charlie turned me on.