Charlie Musselwhite

Charlie Musselwhite - Tell Me Where Have All the Good Times Gone? - 1984 - Blue Rockit

Drummer/label head Pat Ford reunited with Charlie and brought along brother Robben on guitar, producing this return to form. Charlie is up to the task in all departments -- singing, playing (great tone), and especially songwriting (the title tune and "Seemed Like the Whole World Was Crying," and inspired by Muddy Waters's death) -- but it had been a while since Robben had played lowdown blues (touring with Joni Mitchell, putting in countless hours in L.A. studios). Pianist Clay Cotten is in fine form, and it may have been wiser to give the guitar chair to Tim Kaihatsu, who by this time had seniority (in terms of hours on the bandstand with Musselwhite) over any of Charlie's alumni. The to-be-expected-by-now deviations this time out: Don & Dewey's "Stretchin' Out," an impressive chromatic harp rendering of "Exodus," and Charlie's solo guitar outing, "Baby-O." Easily Charlie's best-engineered album (nice job, Greg Goodwin). © Dan Forte © 2010 Rovi Corporation. All Rights Reserved http://www.allmusic.com/album/tell-me-where-have-all-the-good-times-gone-r89293

Throughout his long and varied career Charlie Musselwhite has released albums ranging from traditional blues to music with elements of jazz, gospel, Tex-Mex, Cuban and other world music. He is oneof the best-known and best-loved blues musicians in the world. DownBeat called him “the undisputed champion of the blues harmonica.” He demonstrates that to great effect on this album which is a great traditional blues album with a dash of real Mississippi soul. The incredible Robben Ford helps out on guitar. N.B: The original 1984 release was entitled "Tell Me Where Have All the Good Times Gone?" From 1992 other releases were titled "Where Have All the Good Times Gone?" and featured the extra track "I'll Get a Break Someday", included here. Charlie's "Takin' My Time" and "Delta Hardware" are brilliant albums and his superb "Stand Back! Here Comes Charley Musselwhite's Southside Band" album is well worth buying. His "Rough Dried: Live At The Triple Door" album can be found @ http://rapidshare.com/files/212302270/Charlie_Musselwhite_-_Live_at_the_Triple_Door.rar For music in the same genre listen to Paul Butterfield's "East-West" album

TRACKS / COMPOSERS

SIDE A

1 Hello Stranger - J.L. Williamson (3:09)
2 Seemed Like The Whole World Was Crying - Charlie Musselwhite (5:15)
3 Baby-O - Charlie Musselwhite (3:27) *
4 Still A Stranger - Charlie Musselwhite (3:48)
5 Exodus - Ernest Gold (1:54)
*N.B: Maybe my ears are playing tricks, but there seems to be a fault on Track 3. I've tested the track with professional audio equipment and nothing shows up. There are some unusual vocal and chord changes on this song, so maybe it's just me. If anybody else hears anything "unusual" on the track, please let me know - A.O.O.F.C
SIDE B

1 Stretching Out - Charlie Musselwhite (3:45)
2 Going Away Baby - J. Rogers (4:20)
3 Where Have All The Good Times Gone - Charlie Musselwhite (7:24)
4 Kid Man Blues - Big Maceo Merriweather (3:12)

EXTRA TRACK

10 I'll Get a Break Someday - Trad. 2:45 [Bonus Track on 1992 release]

MUSICIANS

Charlie Musselwhite - guitar on "Baby-O", harmonica, harp, vocals
Robben Ford - guitar
Steve Ehrman - bass
Clay Cotton - piano
Patrick Ford - drums

BIO

Harmonica wizard Norton Buffalo can recollect a leaner time when his record collection had been whittled down to only the bare essentials: The Paul Butterfield Blues Band and Stand Back! Here Comes Charley Musselwhite's South Side Band. Butterfield and Musselwhite will probably be forever linked as the two most interesting, and arguably the most important, products of the "white blues movement" of the mid- to late '60s -- not only because they were near the forefront chronologically, but because they both stand out as being especially faithful to the style. Each certainly earned the respect of his legendary mentors. No less than the late Big Joe Williams said, "Charlie Musselwhite is one of the greatest living harp players of country blues. He is right up there with Sonny Boy Williamson, and he's been my harp player ever since Sonny Boy got killed." It's interesting that Williams specifies "country" blues, because, even though he made his mark leading electric bands in Chicago and San Francisco, Musselwhite began playing blues with people he'd read about in Samuel Charters' Country Blues -- Memphis greats like Furry Lewis, Will Shade, and Gus Cannon. It was these rural roots that set him apart from Butterfield, and decades later Musselwhite began incorporating his first instrument, guitar. Musselwhite was born in Kosciusko, MS in 1944, and his family moved north to Memphis, where he went to high school. Musselwhite migrated north in search of the near-mythical $3.00-an-hour job (the same lure that set innumerable youngsters on the same route), and became a familiar face at blues haunts like Pepper's, Turner's, and Theresa's, sitting in with and sometimes playing alongside harmonica lords such as Little Walter, Shakey Horton, Good Rockin' Charles, Carey Bell, Big John Wrencher, and even Sonny Boy Williamson. Before recording his first album, Musselwhite appeared on LPs by Tracy Nelson and John Hammond and duetted (as Memphis Charlie) with Shakey Horton on Vanguard's Chicago/The Blues/Today series. When his aforementioned debut LP became a standard on San Francisco's underground radio, Musselwhite played the Fillmore Auditorium and never returned to the Windy City. Leading bands that featured greats like guitarists Harvey Mandel, Freddie Roulette, Luther Tucker, Louis Myers, Robben Ford, Fenton Robinson, and Junior Watson, Musselwhite played steadily in Bay Area bars and mounted somewhat low-profile national tours. It wasn't until the late '80s, when he conquered a career-long drinking problem, that Musselwhite began touring worldwide to rave notices. He became busier than ever and continued releasing records to critical acclaim. His two releases on Virgin, Rough News in 1997 and Continental Drifter in 2000, found Musselwhite mixing elements of jazz, gospel, Tex-Mex, and acoustic Delta blues. After signing with Telarc Blues in 2002, he continued exploring his musical roots by releasing One Night in America. The disc exposed Musselwhite's interest in country music with a cover version of the Johnny Cash classic "Big River," and featured guest appearances by Kelly Willis and Marty Stuart. Sanctuary, released in 2004, was Musselwhite's first record for Real World. After extensive touring globally, he returned to the studio for its follow-up, the back-to-basics Delta Hardware, recorded in Mississippi. The set was hard-edged and raw blues and featured one live track, the hip-shaking "Clarksdale Boogie," recorded in front of a small but enthusiastic audience at Red's Juke Joint in that very town. Musselwhite returned to Alligator in 2009 and got down to business and cut The Well in Chicago, an all-original program that featured a guest duet appearance from Mavis Staples on the track "Sad Beautiful World." The song references the murder of his 93-year old mother during a burglary in her home. © Dan Forte © 2010 Rovi Corporation. All Rights Reserved http://www.allmusic.com/artist/charlie-musselwhite-p472/biography