A Conversation with Charlie Musselwhite: from Mississippi to Chicago
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- Опубликовано: 23 авг 2024
- Charlie Musselwhite, blues harmonica master, chats at length about his early days in Mississippi, Memphis, and Chicago. This Zoom conversation with Adam Gussow was recorded on 12/17/20. Musselwhite offers an intimate and detailed look at his musical growth process, his reception in the all-black world of Chicago's South Side blues clubs of the early 1960s, and his friendships and work relationships with Little Walter, Big Walter Horton, Big Joe Williams, Honeyboy Edwards, Will Shade, Furry Lewis, and many others.
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1:17 childhood in Kosciusko, Mississippi
3:15 street singers in Memphis
5:54 hearing the blues for the first time at Cypress Creek
7:12 Rufus Thomas and Sonny Terry
7:43 discovering the recordings of John Lee Williamson
8:44 Forest City Joe
12:14 "open ears": the jazz clubs of Old Town, Chicago (Brother Jack McDuff, Jimmy Smith)
14:05 hanging out in Memphis with Furry Lewis, Will Shade, and Willie B.
19:34 where Charlie's own blues come from: "Blues sounded like I felt"
23:36 explorations in blues literature: Langston Hughes's poems and Samuel Charters's "The Country Blues"
26:00 more on Furry Lewis and Will Shade
28:21 the importance of Elvis
29:30 how Charlie overcame the "bullshit" of racial segregation in Mississippi, Memphis, and Chicago
32:56 white northern prejudice against "poor white trash"
34:24 entering the all-black blues world on Chicago's South Side
35:23 being mistaken for "Paul" (Butterfield)
37:39 working the Maxwell Street market with Carey Bell
39:40 Astatic mics and other harmonica gear, back in the day
41:49 friendship with Little Walter
43:18 playing harp in unusual positions: Big Walter and Little Walter
47:39 partnerships with older bluesmen: what Charlie learned from Big Joe Williams. The Charley Patton connection
50:29 Charlie's current and recent recording projects with Elvin Bishop, Honeyboy Edwards, Big Head Todd, and Jimbo Mathis
Only scrachin the surface.. I could listen to Charlie for the rest of my life
Thank you for talking to Charlie and please do it again.
Charlie's my favourite harmonica player not just because he's a great player with a fascinating history but because he continues restlessly to use his instrument to make wonderful music which bears his own unmistakable stamp. Thank you Charlie!
"Blues isn't just another style of music, it has got something that really comes from the heart and soul when other music don't reach that deep". The interview was just great and that statement is a kind of absolute truth, even to an Englishman like me.. Thank you gentlemen.
Thank you Adam for talking to Charlie Musselwhite and thank you Charlie. That was awesome! I really hope there is a part two. It’s really Interesting to listen to old time Chicago and the south stories. The fact white southern weren’t accepted in Chicago blows my mind a bit.
My wife got us tickets for my birthday in the early 2000's to see Charley Musselwhite. It was an intimate setting at a high school auditorium in Kent, WA . What a show! What a performer! A real life traveling bluesman legend. Thank you, Charlie for a great show and a lifelong memory.
Kent, Washington??!!? Man, I wish I had been into the Blues harmonica back then, as much as I am now. I freaking live in Des Moines! Man, that would have been fun to go to.
What a lovely fella Charlie Musselwhite is. His line about the blues being deep and meaningful really hit the spot. How true it is that this music is like no other once you work with it. Areal coup getting Charlie Mr Adam its times like these that we need this music as a sort of comfort. Much passion to you Mr Adam.
People miss that kind of honesty and modesty on an interview . . .The real deal is on the screen ,right there and it s a blessing that we got the opportunity to watch this......Thank you Mr.Musselwhite ,thank you Adam !!!
What an insightful and relaxed conversation.Thoughtful questioning and a very engaging Charlie. There has to be a part 2! Maybe even a series of in depth coversations with other artists. Thanks for this Adam.
Thanks. We had fun.
sorry to be off topic but does any of you know of a tool to log back into an Instagram account??
I stupidly lost the login password. I love any assistance you can offer me
@Tatum Miller Instablaster =)
@Jeremiah Elon I really appreciate your reply. I found the site through google and Im waiting for the hacking stuff atm.
I see it takes a while so I will get back to you later when my account password hopefully is recovered.
@Jeremiah Elon It worked and I finally got access to my account again. Im so happy!
Thank you so much, you saved my account!
I went to hear Charlie play in the early 70's in as small club in Hermosa Beach Ca. I got there early to get a good seat but they weren't open yet so I went to a Bar down the street. I was sitting at the bar having a beer and talking to the bartender about how excited I was to see Charlie because I had never seen him before. There was another gentlemen setting at the bar but I didn't know until he came out on stage that it was Charlie. After the show I talked with him about his bullet mic and he gave me his address so I could write to him to find out where I could get one. Good memories.
Wow Professor! What an amazing discussion. Thanks to Charlie and you for doing it!
Thank you Charlie and Adam! Loved it...
What an amazingly natural interview. Oh to hear a man who has simply grown up with this stuff and developed his massive talent so beautifully. People here in the UK don’t generally understand musicians who mix across the race and colour boundaries without thinking about it or intellectualising. Some younger people here have been introduced to Charlie through his collaborations with Ben Harper. Adam - we’d love to hear Charlie talk about all that in episode 2. Can’t believe I just heard someone talk about being taken to the bus stop by Little Walter !!
Mr Adam I love this interview!
Thanks to Adam and Charlie for the wonderful interview. Charlie is essential in appreciating the Blues from the post war south, to the Chicago ghettos, to international popularity. Ed Stack
Thanks for this, Adam. Charlie is a national treasure!
My girlfriend just got me a harmonica for Christmas . Awesome video ! i really enjoy the soul from you both on the music. ✌
Thanks Adam and Charlie!
I saw Charlie in Madrid a couple of years ago and was lucky enough to meet him and his wife before and after the gig. He is a real gentleman and a great showman. What a fantastic show it was - some of the best first position harmonica you´ll hear :) Cheers from Spain!
PS I can’t wait for the next instalment. Thank you, gentlemen 😎🎶✌️
I hope there is a part 2! I’d love a story behind “Christo Redemptor”, which is essentially the most important song in Charlie’s catalog.
I love "Christo Redemptor."
I picked up the harmonica at age 52, but about 10 years earlier I started getting into Blues in the early 90’s thanks to the magazine Blues Revue. The magazine is out of print now and I sure do miss it.
Thanks. So nice to hear an interview of a great harmonica player by another great harmonica player - interesting and articulate questions and interesting and articulate answers.
i think that Tennessee Woman is one of Charlies best albums. he has never been rivaled as far as i'm concerned.
awesome!! thank you so much for this interview
Thanks for a great interview.
Thanks a lot guys!
That was great! Many thanks from germany!!
awesome stuff
Great interview Adam, very interesting!
Thank you Dr. Gussow for this excellent discussion, presentation and viewing experience. I had heard of Mr. Musselwhite on several occasions and now after hearing him first hand I want more interviews of successful harmonica players.
Great interview. Thanks for posting !
How cool is this!
I want to hear about what happened with Butterfield, Bloomfield, Bishop and Charlie musselwhite.
Thanks for this Adam and thanks Charlie
I absolutely loved this interview. Thank you Charlie and Adam.
Sooooooo _GREAT!_
Love Charlie and this interview. Growing up in the San Francisco bay area and staring to learn about blues and go to shows, it would be great to hear from Charlie what his experience was like moving to California. He was such a huge part of that scene. I would be interested in hearing his thoughts on West Coast players. Thanks so much Adam for sharing this interview. Wishing you and your family warm and happy holidays.
Yes, I'll definitely ask him about that next time.
Thankyou Adam wow how wonderful to hear that history of the great man, I was testing record within Astor they were also pressing for Verve & Vanguard I got a contract to work on the StandBack and that did it for me...in fact I was canned from that job for spending all my time listening and playing along with Charlie ..and Junior Wells.... Ha ha great memories ...brought back with your great interview.....please do more like this ....thanks again Charlie Adam
DaveB
Thailand
i swear that 1st little solo you played sounded just like nat...great interview-thanks
Great questions Adam and love the visual aids!
great interview - thanks
That’s one of the greatest things I’ve ever watched. Thank you so much Adam and Charlie. Please do another one soon. 🙏🏻
WOW!! I'm just starting sure glad I clicked on you...excellent interview.....enjoying your tutorial DVD cheers Michael
You’ve probably heard the story about the young tuba player that was similarly exiled to a remote seascape where he could play and practice without disturbing the peace, until the foggy day he inadvertently guided a lost and blinded ship to safe harbor.
Great interview! Yes, do more!
I saw Charlie at the Chicago Blues Festival in 2019. Made some great memories that weekend with my buddy Bill. My 2nd blues fest, and his first. Really hoping to make it to my 3rd next summer.
Thank you both for this interview! Looking forward to part 2 sometime! Side note: I'm a 1943 model, started trying to learn harmonica after the first Covid lockdown, by now it sounds a little like music sometimes. I appreciate all the help i can get!
Great interview Adam. What a precious, living link Charlie Musselwhite is with that legendary generation of blues players. Definitely do another one! If you do so, I'd love to hear his reflections on the diatonic v chromatic blues styles. Also - with reference to the challenging themes of your book - was he ever looked on with resentment by the black players as having less right to play the blues than them due to his colour? It doesn't like he was, from my impression of the first interview.
Those are great questions. Lots to discuss next time around.
if you do another interview please ask Charlie about Sonny Boy Williamson ll - he told a great story of Sonny Boy when I interviewed Charlie for my doc on Sonny Boy
Great interview!
Charlie Musselwhite 40:22: I don't remember anybody ever talking gear talk like they talk today. You know like, ”this kind of amp, that kind of mic, and bla bla bla”. Pretty much any old mic and any old amp would probably work for you.
Thanks, Hakan!
Back then any ol’ amp would work because they were all valve/tube amps. And any ol’ mic would work because they were mostly crystal element mics. I’m sure harp players spotted taxi drivers, or policemen ; )) using Shure Green Bullets, Astatic JT30s and thought, "They’re not too big I must get me one of those…"
Great stories. Big fan of both of you.
This is sooo great, thank you so much Adam! I've been looking for a documentary about Charlie Musselwhite a month ago, but I was shocked to not find any?!? How come no one ever did that? So this is extremely precious!
I actually have a VHS with a documentary about Charlie, produced by a man who used to teach at Rockland Community College. I once asked him about sharing it on YT and he was willing but wanted to wait. You're reminding me that I need to get back in touch with him.
Thanks to both of you that was excellent. Please do it again and don't leave it to long.
Deal!
Thank you Adam and Charlie Wow!!! That is great! Please do it again and Merry Christmas! Request ask Charlie about the Blind Boys of Alabama.
Great stuff, Adam. The way you listened & adapted questions as the interview progressed brought out gems of info from Charlie.
I'm glad you felt that way. I'm learning as I go; it was a great learning opportunity, in all respects.
What a great interview. Saw him a couple years ago at the Sunflower River Festival in Clarksdale. I collect books on the Blues, does Charlie have a book out on his life? I'd buy it in a minute.
I don't think he has an autobiography out. Sounds like he should!
Really interesting and down to earth conversation about a different time in recent history. Enjoyed to hear this from the perspective of someone who lived it. If/when you do another maybe Charlie might go into more detail about SonnyboyII. Thank you for the interview Adam and Charlie.
Hello Adam, in responce to you suggesting we suggest questions in the happy event of a return conversation with Charlie, I think many would like to know how he keep his harps in tune, i.e. dose he tinker with them himself how he might clean them, dose he have a guy that dose it for him or dose he just play what comes out of the box and make it sound great ?. Great talk by the way, he really felt like sharing and its real history in a very real sense , looking forward the the next one, Happy holidays one and all
Loved the interview guys!! I've been enjoying your CD with Elvin Charlie; some great original tunes there too. Adam, thanks for all you contribute to the harmonica community, including the Netflix super film, Satan & Adam. I've got Whose Blues and just have to start reading it now, lol. I'd just love to hear more stories from Charlie, maybe about more of the crazy, funny things he's experienced on the road, in the bars and performing. Things about what it's like to be be a true working, traveling musician.... Really looking forward to the next interview; it's been a real pleasure and honor for you Charlie to share yourself with all of us and thanks so much Adam for doing this.
Great questions! I'm taking notes for Round Two.
amazing!!!loved every minute of it need to make a movie on that experience thanks adam for putting that together but im sure we all agree need part 2
Absolutely! Charlie has agreed to do that.
Adam, you have to do a second part to it and ask Charlie about Paul Butterfield please!! Great interview! It feels like a good biography is a must!! Well done! Thank you!!
Most interesting 👍🏽
Hah Adam.. No big offense but last video I watched of yours the main thing I learned was to go out to the car to practice.. My wife don't like me practicing in the house either.. Now I head out to the van.. Thanks!
Yes, leave the house! Find another space. Benches in remote corners of parks can work.
Ya. The proverbial wood shed.. Can't say I blame her. To me the harmonica has the potential to be one of of the most beautiful sounding instruments and at the same time one of the most annoying.. Practicing ain't the same as performing.. Could get annoying to hear.. Great interview.. Love your videos.. Thanks