His family considered it normal to play music, with his father playing guitar and harmonica, his mother playing piano, and a relative who was a one-man band. At the age of three, Musselwhite moved to Memphis, Tennessee. When he was a teenager, Memphis experienced the period when rockabilly, western swing, electric blues, and some forms of African American music were combining to give birth to rock and roll. The period featured legendary figures such as Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Johnny Cash, as well as minor legends such as Gus Cannon, Furry Lewis, Will Shade, Royal Bell, Memphis Willie B., Johnny Burnette, Red Roby, Abe McNeal, and Slim Rhodes. Musselwhite supported himself by digging ditches, laying concrete and running moonshine in a 1950 Lincoln. This environment was Musselwhite's school for music as well as life, and he acquired the nickname "Memphis Charlie."[citation needed]
In true bluesman fashion, Musselwhite then took off in search of the rumored "big-paying factory jobs" up the "Hillbilly Highway", legendary Highway 61 to Chicago, where he continued his education on the South Side, making the acquaintance of even more legends including Muddy Waters, Junior Wells, Sonny Boy Williamson, Buddy Guy, Howlin' Wolf, Little Walter, and Big Walter Horton. Musselwhite immersed himself completely in the musical life, living in the basement of, and occasionally working at Jazz Record Mart (the record store operated by Delmark Records founder Bob Koester) with Big Joe Williams and working as a driver for an exterminator, which allowed him to observe what was happening around the city's clubs and bars. He spent his time hanging out at the Jazz Record Mart at the corner of State and Grand and the nearby bar, Mr. Joe's, with the city's blues musicians, and sitting in with Big Joe Williams and others in the clubs, playing for tips. There he forged a lifelong friendship with John Lee Hooker; though Hooker lived in Detroit, Michigan, the two often visiting each other, and Hooker serving as best man at Musselwhite's wedding. Gradually Musselwhite became well known around town.
In time, Musselwhite led his own blues band, and, after Elektra Records' success with Paul Butterfield, he released the classic[citation needed] Stand Back! album in 1966 on Vanguard Records (as "Charley Musselwhite"), to immediate and great success. He took advantage of the clout this album gave him to move to San Francisco, where, instead of being one of many competing blues acts, he held court as the king of the blues in the exploding countercultural music scene, an exotic and gritty figure to the flower children. Musselwhite even convinced Hooker to move out to California.
Since then, Musselwhite has released over 20 albums, as well as guesting on albums by many other musicians, such as Bonnie Raitt's Longing in Their Hearts and The Blind Boys of Alabama's Spirit of the Century, both winners of Grammy awards. He also appeared on Tom Waits' Mule Variations and INXS' Suicide Blonde. He himself has won 14 W. C. Handy awards and six Grammy nominations, as well as Lifetime Achievement Awards from the Monterey Blues Festival and the San Javier Jazz Festival in San Javier, Spain, and the Mississippi Governor's Award for Excellence in the Arts.
In 1979, Musselwhite recorded The Harmonica According to Charlie Musselwhite in London for Kicking Mule Records, intended to go with an instructional book; the album itself became so popular that it has been released on CD.
Unfortunately, Musselwhite, as with many of his peers, fell victim to alcoholism; by his own admission[citation needed], he had never been on stage sober until after he stopped drinking entirely in 1987.
In 1990 Musselwhite signed with Alligator Records, a step led to a resurgence of his career.
Over the years, Musselwhite has branched out in style. His 1999 recording, Continental Drifter, is accompanied by Quarteto Patria, from Cuba's Santiago region, the Cuban music analog of the Mississippi Delta. Because of the political differences between Cuba and the United States, the album was recorded in Bergen, Norway, with Musselwhite's wife ironing out all the details.
Musselwhite believes the key to his musical success was finding a style where he could express himself. He has said, "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."[1]
His past two albums, Sanctuary and Delta Hardware have both been released on Real World Records.
Chan Chan
Charlie Musselwhite Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Llego a Cueto, voy para Mayarí
De Alto Cedro voy para Marcané
Llego a Cueto, voy para Mayarí
De Alto Cedro voy para Marcané
Llego a Cueto, voy para Mayarí
El cariño que te tengo
No te lo puedo negar
Se me sale la babita
Yo no lo puedo evitar
Cuando Juanica y Chan Chan
En el mar cernían arena
Como sacudía el jibe
A Chan Chan le daba pena
Limpia el camino de pajas
Que yo me quiero sentar
En aquél tronco que veo
Y así no puedo llegar
De alto Cedro voy para Marcané
Llegó a Cueto voy para Mayarí
De alto Cedro voy para Marcané
Llegó a Cueto voy para Mayarí
De alto Cedro voy para Marcané
Llegó a Cueto voy para Mayarí
The song "Chan Chan" by Charlie Musselwhite narrates the journey of the singer through different Cuban towns. The lines "De Alto Cedro voy para Marcané, Llegó a Cueto, voy para Mayarí" indicate the starting and ending points of the journey. The singer is traveling from Alto Cedro to Marcané and then to Cueto and Mayarí, describing the beauty of the towns along the way. The repetition of these lines creates a sense of the journey's cyclical nature, emphasizing the singer's connection to his homeland.
The singer then goes on to express his deep love for someone, singing "El cariño que te tengo, No te lo puedo negar." He cannot deny the love he has for this person, and even acknowledges that he cannot control his physical reactions to their presence, saying "Se me sale la babita, Yo no lo puedo evitar." This vivid description highlights the intensity of the singer's feelings, placing an emphasis on the deep and profound love he has for this person.
The last stanza speaks of the obstacles that the singer faces in reaching his destination, with the lines "Limpia el camino de pajas, Que yo me quiero sentar, En aquél tronco que veo, Y así no puedo llegar." The singer has spotted a log that he wants to sit on, but the path is blocked by straw. The log symbolizes the singer's destination or goal, and the straw highlights the obstacles he faces on the way. The repetition of the opening lines at the end ties the whole journey back to the starting point, emphasizing its cyclical nature.
Line by Line Meaning
De Alto Cedro voy para Marcané
I am heading to Marcané from Alto Cedro
Llego a Cueto, voy para Mayarí
I arrive in Cueto and then head to Mayarí
El cariño que te tengo
The love that I have for you
No te lo puedo negar
I cannot deny it
Se me sale la babita
I drool over you
Yo no lo puedo evitar
I cannot help it
Cuando Juanica y Chan Chan
When Juanica and Chan Chan
En el mar cernían arena
Sifted sand in the sea
Como sacudía el jibe
As they shook the sail
A Chan Chan le daba pena
It made Chan Chan sad
Limpia el camino de pajas
Clear the path of straw
Que yo me quiero sentar
So I can sit down
En aquél tronco que veo
On that log that I see
Y así no puedo llegar
And I cannot get there
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: MAXIMO FRANCISCO REPILADO MUNOZ
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind