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.
Fell on My Knees
Charlie Musselwhite Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Well I fell on my knees I fell down by my baby's side
I cried goodbye baby, goodbye baby goodbye
Helped you when you was down there, and you could not help yourself
You know I helped you when you was down there, and you could not help yourself
Now that I'm down oh baby, you wanna help somebody else
You can treat me mean baby, do anything you wanna do
You can treat me mean baby, do anything you wanna do
'Cause someday you'll want me, and I won't want you. goodbye baby
Well I fall on my arms and, I slowly walk away
Well I fall on my arms and, I slowly walk away, walk away
Now that trouble you givin' me baby, comin' back on you someday
You know I felt so bad I, couldn't hardly walk down the street
You know I felt so bad I, like a drunk man walkin' down the street
You know my head was roaring, so bad I could hardly see, hardly see
The lyrics of Charlie Musselwhite's "Fell on My Knees" reveal a story of heartbreak and betrayal between two lovers. The song begins with the singer falling to his knees beside his lover, crying goodbye to her. He recounts how he had helped her when she was down and unable to help herself, but now that he's the one down on his knees, she is leaving him and seeking to help somebody else. The singer resigns himself to the fact that she can treat him mean and do anything she wants because he knows someday she will want him, but he won't want her.
The second verse of the song continues the theme of the singer falling and walking away from the situation. He notes how the trouble she has caused him will come back to haunt her someday. The singer then describes how he felt so bad he could hardly walk down the street, with his head roaring so loud he could barely see.
Overall, the lyrics of "Fell on My Knees" paint a vivid picture of a relationship that has gone sour, with one lover betraying the other after they helped her during her time of need. The singer is resigned to the fact that he can't change her or her actions, but he knows that someday she will regret what she did to him.
Line by Line Meaning
Well I fell on my knees I and fell down by my baby's side
I felt so powerless and helpless that I literally fell on the ground beside my significant other.
I cried goodbye baby, goodbye baby goodbye
I said goodbye to my lover with the realization that they no longer need me.
You know I helped you when you was down there, and you could not help yourself
I gave all the support I could to you when you were in need, but now that I'm in a bad place, you don't seem to care.
Now that I'm down oh baby, you wanna help somebody else
Now that I'm the one who needs help, you're not interested in helping me, instead, you'll rather help somebody else.
You can treat me mean baby, do anything you wanna do
You can treat me as badly as you want because I know that eventually you'll need me, but by that time, I won't want you anymore.
Well I fall on my arms and, I slowly walk away, walk away
I try to move away from my lover's life, and consequently, from their problems, even if it's a slow process.
Now that trouble you givin' me baby, comin' back on you someday
The problems you are causing me now will someday catch up to you.
You know I felt so bad I, like a drunk man walkin' down the street
I felt so emotionally defeated and disoriented that I was stumbling and walking like a drunkard.
You know my head was roaring, so bad I could hardly see, hardly see
I was so distraught that my thoughts were in disarray, and I could barely make sense of anything around me.
Contributed by Adalyn V. Suggest a correction in the comments below.