Charlie Musselwhite – I Ain’t Lyin’
Format: CD / Label: Musselwhite Music BMI
Releasedatum: mei 2015
Door: Iain Patience
Harp players often have that annoying habit of being either too overpowering or too underpowered. Charlie Musselwhite, on the other hand, has been steering a smooth course through these potential pitfalls with total confidence and apparent ease for many decades now. With ‘I Ain’t Lyin” he again produces the goods, gliding along with complete mastery of both music and harp to deliver an eleven track release that allows his voice to take centre stage and his backing band, with Matt Stubbs on guitar, June Core on skins and Steve Froberg on bass, bags of space to rip it up with emotion, passion and power.
‘I Ain’t Lyin” is a live recording with the action captured over two gigs at Valley of the Moon Vintage Festival in CA and Clarksdale Soundstage, MS, respectively, towards the close of 2014. Musselwhite wrote most of the material here, save for a few tracks that include one of his personal favorites from Elmore James, Done Somebody Wrong.
Blues blowers are often saddled and hampered by their illustrious predecessors – Sonny Boy, Little Walter etc – and struggle to make the music their own. Musselwhite, however, simply shrugs off these ever-present, old-time shackles and serves up his own slippery, satisfying take with an astonishing, explosive energy and style that never wanes, stumbles or falters. This guy is easily one of the USA’s finest blues masters and this offering shows why he has been riding high for so, so long, following his blues immersion playing with legendary names like Howlin’ Wolf, John Lee Hooker, Muddy Waters and Little Walter over the years. Pure quality.
Tracks:
1. Good Blues Tonight
2. Done Somebody Wrong
3. Long Lean Lanky Mama
4. Always Been Your Friend
5. If I Should Have Bad Luck
6. My Kinda Gal
7. Blues, Why Do You Worry Me?
8. 300 Miles To Go
9. Long Leg Woman
10. Cristo Redentor
11. Good Blues Tonight
Website Charlie Musselwhite
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