Titles by: CHARLIE MUSSELWHITE
CHARLIE MUSSELWHITE
Charles Douglas Musselwhite III, the white Southerner considered by many to be the most consistently exciting and imaginative blues harmonica player alive, is in the unique position of being viewed as a peer by legendary blues figures three and four decades his senior and as a legend by his fans and members of the rock and jazz community. Musselwhite has been playing professionally for over 25 years and has been listed as a major influence by art artists as widespread as songstress Phoebe Snow, harmonica wizards Kim Wilson and Norton Buffalo, and guitar hero Carlos Santana. Charlie was born in Mississippi in 1944. At an early age, he moved to Memphis with his family, all their possessions loaded in a borrowed dump truck. Growing up in Memphis, Char Lie was surrounded by music. Neighbor Jimmy Griffin went on to found pop group BREAD, and across the road lived rockabilly legends Johnny Burnette and Slim Rhodes. Charlie went to school with Tommy Cash, Johnny's brother, and traveling gospel groups would regularly set up tents in a nearby field. Charlie loved all the music he heard around him, but his favorite was blues. During this period, he befriended Furry Lewis, Will Shade, and the still-living members of the Memphis Jug Band. At age 18, Charlie moved on to Chicago. Within weeks he became a familiar figure in the South Side clubs, playing regularly with such greats as Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters, Sonny Boy Williamson, Little Walter, Otis Spann, Shakey Horton, and Big Joe Williams. As Charlie himself puts it, "Every night I'd be down there listening to artists I'd admired most of my life. When they found out I could play, they let me sit in. When they liked what they heard, they offered me gigs." Charlie worked all over Chicago, in clubs and on the streets.