Charley Musselwhite
LaserWolf
Portland Oregon 11,517 Posts
I'm going through this collection I just got and it's got this. 
This is the same band as Barry Goldberg Blowing Your Mind Blues Band (Harvey Mandel, Goldberg, plus Fred Bellow and Bob Anderson). The Goldberg lp, for some reason is goes for about $75.00.This one doesn't seem to go for much.Has Cristo Redemptor which is nice and a few good cuts. On some cuts Musselwhite is horrible out of tune.Any who, of those cats, I think Mandel was the only one to make really good records. Not sure what my point is, just wanted to do a music thread I guess. I'll post up about Howard Hanger Trio as soon as the pics are uploaded.
This is the same band as Barry Goldberg Blowing Your Mind Blues Band (Harvey Mandel, Goldberg, plus Fred Bellow and Bob Anderson). The Goldberg lp, for some reason is goes for about $75.00.This one doesn't seem to go for much.Has Cristo Redemptor which is nice and a few good cuts. On some cuts Musselwhite is horrible out of tune.Any who, of those cats, I think Mandel was the only one to make really good records. Not sure what my point is, just wanted to do a music thread I guess. I'll post up about Howard Hanger Trio as soon as the pics are uploaded.
Comments
I believe Vanguard continuously kept Musselwhite's album in print, which may be why it is not as valuable, $$$-wise, as the Goldberg, which was on Epic. (However, I see Barry Goldberg's Buddah elpees all over the place for $5...)
Not bad, but I like the stretched-out version of "Cristo Redentor" that appeared on Tennessee Woman, a later Vanguard elpee.
I've always been iffy about Musselwhite, but I think his best albums were actually made in the last 10-12 years! Seriously, that Delta Hardware CD he did fairly recently is insanely good. As far as Mandel, I'm just familiar with two of his Janus albums, which I have on one CD. Really good blues-rock with a funk edge, but I haven't tried anything else by him.
Mandel played on The Stones' "Black and Blue" long-player.
Same thing with John Hammond. He started recording in the sixties and was never very consistent, but I have a couple of recent discs that totally FADE his 1960's records that everybody thinks is so classic.
I'll defend Stone Blues. Boogie, harmonica, bracing lyrics -- chicago style sped up (speeded up?). Good ish.
His singing sucks on the Stand Up one.
Trying really hard to be Jr Wells. He's Not.
I don't know who the technically better harp player is, but Paul Butterfield (as a band leader) stretched way beyond the boogie blues that Musselwhite mines. If you have not heard the 2 Better Days lps pick them up stat.
I heard a guy drilling Geoff Mualdar about the Better Days. He didn't want to say anything about Butterfield. You could tell he didn't love the man. Finally he said that Butterfield was the best band leader he had ever worked with and that every one played on time or were out.
That's the one thing that always struck me about Musselwhite. Out of all the white folks from the 1960's blues revival, he may have been the purest. He never went "rock," and when his contemporaries were still under contract to major labels, he was recording for Arhoolie (LONG before all the white blues mob turned up on indies). Hell, here he was playing for the hippies in San Francisco and never even let his hair grow!
Matter of fact, I don't remember him really stretching beyond the blues until maybe ten years ago, when he flirted with traditional Mexican music on his Continental Drifter CD (on Virgin).
This was my regular poker night's official soundtrack. Love this record.
Interesting point. Musselwhite keeping it real.
Now I'm gonna be trying to think of others.
Siegle Schwall? I never listen to those guys so I don't know.
I'm thinking of second wave guys, more 70s, like Bob Margolin.
Definitely not. Corky Siegel is a brilliant harmonica player, but Siegel-Schwall always seemed a little too hippy-dippy and corny for me. Even WITH Sam Lay.
I don't even know if he counts, since he played behind Muddy Waters in the seventies and the Legendary Blues Band after that. He didn't really go solo until the late eighties, by which time white musicians were more likely to stick with the blues exclusively.