Harmonica icon Charlie Musselwhite’s resume reads like a validating passport for blues authenticity. Born to a blue-collar family in Mississippi and raised in Memphis, Musslewhite endured a hardscrabble youth before migrating to the south side of Chicago, where he rubbed shoulders with urban blues legends Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, Junior Wells, Buddy Guy, John Lee Hooker and many others on his way to a career as a seminal harpist.
His 50-year, 30-album career has garnered 14 W.C. Handy Awards and six Grammy nominations, as well as induction into the Blues Hall of Fame. The host of his own radio show, Musslewhite spoke with us from his home in California.
Q: What attracted you to a career as a blues musician?
A: Blues music was supportive, an attitude about how to get through life. I decided to play music for my own enjoyment, but I couldn’t get the hang of playing anything but blues. Blues seemed so logical. It came to me effortlessly. Purely by accident it became a career. When I first started playing there were no blues societies or cruises or magazines or festivals. You might find a little chapter about blues in a book on jazz. Today there’s tons of information on how to play. Books and DVDs, CDs and videos on computers. It’s spread all over the world. People hear the blues and they recognize the feeling. It’s an international thing. I don’t know of any country that doesn’t have blues bands.
Q: Was it hard for you, as a young white man, trying to learn the blues, a black man’s music, on the south side of Chicago?
A: No, not really. I had a few problems along the way. I lived in the heart of a big gang called the Blackstone Rangers. They were dangerous guys. But after they realized that I wasn’t going to back down they accepted me. The clubs could be dangerous places, too. But once they realized that I played and was friends with the guys in the band it was OK. People at first didn’t know if I was a cop or I was crazy. At that time I was pretty wild and crazy myself. I just wasn’t afraid of the situation.
Q: Did you really run moonshine as a youth in a 1950 Lincoln?
A: Oh, yes. It was in Memphis. The Lincoln had a big trunk and I would leave it at someone’s house in the country where they would take it and when it came back it would be full of moonshine. Then somebody in town would take it and when it came back it would be empty. And they would bottle it up and sell it at drive-in hamburger places.
Q: Who were your influences as a harmonica player?
A: There were other harmonica players around Memphis. Will Shade was the most important. He taught Big Walter Horton. And later in Chicago Walter Horton was a big influence. I learned from everyone, not just harp players. Playing with Big Joe Williams improved my playing even though he was playing a ninestring guitar. Little Walter {Jenkins} was a friend, he looked out for me. He would come up to me and hand me the mike and tell me to play while he went to the bar.
Q: Your album Continental Drifter (Virgin) had a Cuban influence. Were there people that weren’t comfortable with that?
A: Most people seem to think it was at least interesting. I can’t recall anybody upset about it. The way I look at it, it just shows the beauty of blues. You can put it in any situation and gussie it up and make it better. Blues is just so adaptable. You can’t hurt blues. The Cuban players said there was a black American soldier during the Spanish-American war named Smokey. He played harmonica. He must have played blues. He started a trend of playing harmonica with the local musicians. As far as I know he was never recorded. I’d love to go to Cuba and research that.
Q: You have been quoted as saying: “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.” Are you giving yourself enough credit?
A: A comparison would be B.B. King. From the first note, you know it’s B.B. King. A lot of people will hear something on the radio and say, “That’s Charlie.” Yeah, that’s the only song I know. That’s what I’m playing, that’s me.
Q: You wrote all the songs on your new CD, The Well. What was your inspiration?
A: I wrote all the songs on In Your Darkest Hour (Henrietta), a solo album. The Well is a full band album. I had a lot of the songs la ying around. The producer and I started going through them to see which ones we could use. I had to work on finishing some of it.
Q: Tell me about the title tune.
A: I was moved by the situation when the little girl {Jessica McClure} fell in the well {in October 1987}. I know it was life or death. She was so brave. It made my situation seem like a hill of beans. I had quite a career with alcohol. I never went on stage sober. I would have a drink every minute I was awake. Alcohol made performing on stage OK. But I didn’t enjoy it any more. I was cutting back. Getting on stage sober was my last hurdle. I decided not to drink until they got her out of the well. It took three days. By that time I was out, too. Quitting was easier than thinking about it. Your brain gets in your way.
Q: What’s the future of the blues?
A: Blues isn’t a fad. It’s food for the heart. In tough times it’s your comforter and in good times it’s your buddy. It’s always going to be here.
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Where the harp is: Harmonica player extraordinaire Charlie Musselwhite will be in Utica as well.
