CHARLIE MUSSELWHITE

I Ain’t Lyin’

Henrietta Records    

By Pierre Lacocque

1. Good Blues Tonight, 4:03; 2. Done Somebody Wrong, 4:16; 3. Long, Lean, Lanky Mama, 4:50; 4. Always Been Your Friend, 3:29; 5. If I Should Have Bad Luck, 5:59; 6. My Kinda Gal, 7:38; 7. Blues, Why Do You Worry Me? 4:57; 8. 300 Miles To Go, 4:48; 9. Long Leg Woman, 6:17;  10. Cristo Redentor, 5:54; 11. Good Blues Tonight (unedited), 5:32.

Total Time: 59:00

Unless otherwise noted below, all personal communication quotes came to the reviewer via e-mail on November 2^nd and 3^rd, 2015.

          With more than 20 albums to his credit and numerous guest appearances with scores of world stars like John Lee Hooker, Ben Harper, The Blind Boys of Alabama, Bonnie Raitt, Tom Waits, Dan Aykroyd (Charlie was Elwood Blues’ model in the Blues Brothers 2000), Mavis Staples, among so many others, Musselwhite is a living legend. The real deal.

          The awards bestowed on him are numerous. Besides being a 2014 Grammy Award winner with Ben Harper for their Get Up! CD (Stax, 2013), Charlie was also inducted in the Blues Hall of Fame in 2010. He is a Grammy Nominee (11 times); a Blues Music Award Winner (27 times!); and a Living Blues Award Winner (8 times). He is also a Beale Street Brass Note Walk of Fame Honoree (2008). His marker can be found outside B.B. King’s nightclub in Memphis, TN.

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES

          Born on January 31^st, 1944 in Kosciusko, MS, Musselwhite moved from his birthplace to Memphis, Tennessee. He was three years old. His father played guitar and mandolin, as well as the harmonica, his mother played the piano, and he had a relative who had his own one-man-band. He said that he was not influenced or taught by any of them. He began learning to play the harmonica on his own at age 13. “My father thought it was frivolous for me to learn an instrument like the harmonica” (personal communication).  Charlie is also an accomplished guitar player (check the JAZZ AND BLUES and/or the YOUTUBE channels, for instance).

          In 1962, at age 18, he moved up from Memphis to Chicago so he could earn a better living. $3.00 an hour in Chicago was then a big lure to move up the Hillbilly Highway (Highway 51) to the Windy City. He stayed in Chicago for five years, and moved to the Bay Area in 1967. He has been living in the Bay area ever since.

          While in Chicago, he recorded his seminal 1966 work Stand Back! Here Comes Charley Musselwhite Southside Band (Vanguard, and produced by Sam Charters. “Charley” here is the correct spelling for the LP, not “Charlie”). Among other guest spots of note during that time, is his wonderful support work on “Rockin’ My Boogie”, a harmonica duet with Big Walter Horton. That song, written by Horton, is a true classic. Both master and pupil deliver stellar performances, still as vibrant today as it was in 1966 (Vanguard, Chicago/The Blues/Today, vol.3).

          In the 1960s Musselwhite was with Paul Butterfield, Elvin Bishop and Michael Bloomfield, among a handful of others, the first white musicians to work and record with Afro-American blues musicians. Their impact on blues fans and musicians world-wide has been (and continues to be) phenomenal. 

ABOUT THIS RECORDING

          This live CD was recorded on September 28^th, 2014 at the Valley Of the Moon Vintage Festival (Sonoma, CA).  Portions of the CD also were recorded at the Clarksdale Soundstage (Clarksdale, MS) on December 12^th. Charlie tells me that he had to redo his harp work as “someone in the recording crew messed up my sound only” (personal communication). No one else did overdubs.

          The Sonoma performance was recorded by engineer Piper Payne, and co-produced by Musselwhite’s wife Henrietta (“Henri” for short) and Gary Vincent. As with his previous Grammy-nominated Juke Joint Chapel (Henrietta, 2012), it was mixed and mastered by Gary Vincent.

          Following his Grammy award nominated Juke Joint Chapel (Henrietta, 2012), I Ain’t Lyin’ continues with a similar live format. The set of 11 songs flows effortlessly. The range of songs varies from rumbas to vintage Chicago blues. Musselwhite’s lyrics are clever, filled with blues stories, and with sexual innuendos. “Good Blues Tonight”, “Long, Lean Lanky Mama”, and “Long Leg Mama” are but a few examples here.       

          On I Ain’t Lyin’ we find Charlie in superb form. His vocals are as strong as ever, and there are plenty of fresh and passionate harp leads. Musselwhite comes across like he is enjoying himself.

          Musselwhite is known to say “I Ain’t Lyin’” when talking from the stage, which is where the CD’s title comes from. You will indeed hear him make that “trademark” comment a few times on this enjoyable recording. “It’s just a saying of mine. I never even thought about it and didn’t even realize I was saying it until people mentioned it to me. Since this was a live recording, I used this saying like I usually do, and somebody thought it would be a good album title” (personal communication). It is indeed a perfect CD title.

          Also of note here, the CD’s picture on the back cover shows the famed (old) highways 61 and 49 crossroads where Robert Johnson allegedly sold his soul to the Devil. It was taken by Charlie’s wife, Henrietta from her cellular phone: “the photo of the crossroads shows where it was in Johnson's day. Today 61 and 49 cross at a different place.” (personal communication).

THE BAND

          With the exception of Steve Froberg now on bass, replacing Mike Phillips, the band is the same quartet as on Juke Joint Chapel. The overall band-feel here is warm, wonderfully in tune (yes!), and is as stellar a quartet as were Little Charlie and The Nightcats, or the Four Aces, when Little Walter was part of the band. It was recorded live-as-it-happens, with no band overdubs.

          Besides listening to a delightful rhythm section, we can hear Matt Stubbs’ admirable guitar playing. He plays as if he were two guitar players on stage, weaving in and out effortlessly from vintage Chicago Blues support work to original solo leads. Lots of blue notes. Stubbs’ work is nothing but masterful. His guitar tone is also pleasing to the ear. Charlie has often said in interviews that he prizes melody over technical prowess. Well, this guitar player has both the melodic gift and the guitar technique!

A MAESTRO AT WORK

          All of the 11 songs were written by Musselwhite, except for two: Elmore James’ “Done Somebody Wrong” (track 2), and Duke Pearson’s “Cristo Redentor” (track 9). Portuguese for “Christ the Redeemer”, it is the name for the statue overlooking Rio de Janeiro. Charlie has brought this lovely song to worldwide attention since his 1966 landmark Stand Back! He was initially influenced by trumpeter Donald Byrd’s 1963 version of the song, but he quickly made it his own.

          He was 22 years old at the time and recorded the full album in one three-hour session (on July 11^th, 1966)! In fact, fifty years later, the album is still in print and he performs Cristo Redentor every night at his shows! That song (aka “Christo Redemptor” on his earlier recordings) also appears on Tennessee Woman (Vanguard, 1994) or Juke Joint Chapel (Henrietta, 2012) for instance. It is an unfailing fan request. As he said in a recent  interview: “I don’t know of another song like it. I just start playing the first few notes, and it’s like the spirit of the song shows up and takes me where it wants to go. …  For a while there, I was thinking, ‘People must be getting bored with this. I’m going to quit playing it.’ Then they’d come up at the end of the night, angry, saying, ‘I waited to hear Cristo Redentor and you didn’t play it.’ That happened enough that I knew people really did want to keep hearing it. So every night I end with Cristo – and it always seems different every time I play it.” (www.teamrock.com, August 24, 2015)

          Throughout the set, the 71-year-young Musselwhite’s singing and harp playing is stellar, with wonderful tones and phrasings. Each of the songs, whether they be vintage Chicago blues, rumba or funky tunes, start with instrumental harp verses before the vocals appear. In a true 1950s Chicago fashion, Musselwhite also shares the stage and leads with his guitarist Matt Stubbs.

          After the successful Juke Joint Chapel, Charlie Musselwhite does it admirably well again. While listening to I Ain’t Lyin’, you hear a Mississippian’s warmth, charm and honesty. You can detect a charismatic entertainer, as well as one of the last harp Maestros at work.

A delightful outing.

5 STARS * * * * *

For info or to buy the CD, visit: www.charliemusselwhite.com