'Delta Hardware' review(s):
Delta HardwareShot through with attitude, the songs on DELTA HARDWARE feel rough-hewn and tough, just as they should for a guy "born in Mississippi [and] raised up in Tennessee." Charlie cuts loose a good time in Clarksdale, pipes up for the downtrodden, and gives a lover the ol' heave-ho. This is raw, passionate music from a howlin' blues legend who's still invigorated by a youthful spirit. It's Charlie's mix of wild country abandon seasoned by years of playing urban electric blues in Chicago that spurs the likes of Ben Harper, Tom Waits and Gov't Mule to welcome Musselwhite onto their stages and records. That same brash, blues/rock rebel vibe was Dan Aykroyd's inspiration for his Elwood Blues persona, and it's what has won Musselwhite a pile of blues awards and earned the admiration and respect of his own heroes: Howlin' Wolf, John Lee Hooker and Muddy Waters. John Lee was even the best man at Charlie's wedding. Pulled, like the albums of R.L. Burnside and the North Mississippi Allstars, out of the storied Mississippi Delta and Hill Country, DELTA HARDWARE is a mixture of songs written over the past few years and ideas fleshed out in the studio, and includes a new twist on the longtime live staple, Clarksdale Boogie. True to the blues as an expression of a range of honest emotions and stories, DELTA HARDWARE ranges from upbeat jewels like the party track Church Is Out to more socially conscious songs like Black Water and The Invisible Ones. With the latter two tracks, inspired by the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina, Charlie paints a stark, honest tribute to those suffering in and around New Orleans and in his home state: "Old black water lappin' at your back door/Hello America, better get ready for more/Trouble, trouble all around here/ just too tired to shed one tear/ Black Water/ It's a sign of our times." "Things just seem to be falling apart," Musselwhite says. "And I think people are waking up to that. I think people are starting to see that there's something really rotten going on." Admittedly, the political arena is an odd and uncomfortable arena for him to step into. "I don't want to be offensive to anybody. I respect everybody and their opinion, and I hope they respect mine." Backed by his touring band, Musselwhite, now based in Sonoma County, California, lends his guitar skills to one track on DELTA HARDWARE and otherwise just goes stompin, blowin' and shouting his way through the album's 10 tracks. The album walks the line between rock and electric country blues, sometimes playing it straight, sometimes taking new turns. On Clarksdale Boogie, he offers up a virtual mantra for his life behind his first-ever use of a drum and bass loop: "Meet me where they play good blues." The crowd noise in this track is sampled from a night at Red's juke joint in Clarksdale. Over the years, Musselwhite has released dozens of albums and has contributed to countless others including guesting on Bonnie Raitt's Grammy® award-winning Longing In Their Hearts, The Blind Boys of Alabama's Grammy-winning SPIRIT OF THE CENTURY, Tom Waits' MULE VARIATIONS and even playing the driving harmonica on INXS' SUICIDE BLONDE. He was the longtime compadre and musical partner to his friend John Lee Hooker. His recent tour and recording sessions with Ben Harper have led to live and studio tracks featuring Charlie on the limited edition bonus disc of Ben's soon-to-be released BOTH SIDES OF THE GUN. Musical institutions have honored Musselwhite, too. With 18 W.C. Handy awards to his credit and 6 Grammy nominations, he is firmly entrenched in musical history. Musselwhite has also been honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award from The Monterey Blues Festival and the San Javier Jazz Festival in Spain and the Mississippi Governor's Award for Excellence in the Arts. Perhaps most meaningful to him personally, in 1987, he conquered a long-running battle with alcoholism. Musselwhite's version of the blues ventures far beyond conventional honky-tonk — though the Harley Davidsons lined up outside Musselwhite's gigs testify that Musselwhite has what it takes to rock the house. Musselwhite himself is simply interested in music with feeling — as he puts it, "music from the heart": "For me, it's about the feeling, and connecting with people. And blues, if it's real blues, is loaded with feeling. And it ain't about technique either, it's about truth, connecting to the truth and communicating with people." That connection has been particularly strong with his fans from the start. "I've had Vietnam vets tell me that my music was important to them while they were in Vietnam. I've had people who've had problems with alcohol talk to me about quitting, and tell me that I inspired them to quit, I've had couples tell me that they met at one of my shows and got married years after." With DELTA HARDWARE, Musselwhite says simply, "I'm keepin' it real. For the listener, I hope it's like a journey, I hope each tune takes 'em to another little place, and I hope at the end they're glad they went." source: http://www.charliemusselwhite.com/?page=music&disc=deltahardware |
While Charlie Musselwhite has always been an adventurous musician -- take into consideration his fine Cuban inflected Continental Drifter, the Americana drenched One Night In America, and the rollicking rock and soul on Sanctuary -- the Delta of his upbringing has never been left out of the mix entirely. Musselwhite may have had a reason to dig so deeply into the hard-edged roots of Delta by way of Chicago blues on this set: he lost both his parents in 2005. The CD booklet is filled with pictures of the sites of his life in Mississippi. Delta Hardware was recorded with Musselwhite's road band, and it has the feeling of motion along with its looking into the past. Guitarist Chris "Kid" Andersen, bassist Randy Bermudes, and drummer June Core hop into the heart of the electric trancelike blues that have been a part of Musselwhite's backbone his entire performing career. The question is, why didn't he record with these guys before? Delta Hardware is a raw, squalling album heavy on brittle guitars, trancelike rhythms, and of course, Musselwhite's harmonica filling the gaps where his world-weary voice shouts, hollers, and bellows. Musselwhite and band dig deep here. The set opens with the strolling minor-key rock & roll blues of "Church Is Out," where Musselwhite offers an autobiographical sketch with boasts worthy of Jay Z. This shimmy shaking electric blues is merely a portent of things to come. On the track that follows, "One of These Mornings," all hell breaks loose. A call and response between Musselwhite and Andersen shuffles like a train off the track to Core's triple-time drums. When he sings, it's more like a roar; unfettered, full of power and the grit necessary to wail above a band playing their asses off. His harp solo is just a scorcher, and it all happens in two-minutes-and-thirty-seconds. "Sundown" is a classic one-four-five shuffle, but with dueling slide guitars popping over the top of Musselwhite's voice. The blunt edge of the blade comes home to roost on "Black Water," where Musselwhite, his harp, and Andersen's guitars are a wandering band of prophets from the old testament warning of the perils of the present age; Musselwhite sounds sad but determined; he's unflinching in his terror-vision and it is bleak. The music is sad as well; it's trancelike, Junior Kimbrough-styled -- repetitive, percussive, snaky -- and when it's time for his brief harp solo, the instrument sounds like it's weeping. Little Walter's "Just a Feeling" is just plain slow and mean. It's a swampy moaner and Andersen's guitars are like fine forged steel with a serrated edge. When Musselwhite digs into his spoken word bag over the tough-assed blues as on the opener and "Invisible Ones," there's not a second that doesn't work. His jeremiad is pure working-class poetry. There is proof in the pudding too, where the crowd expresses its appreciation for the hip-shaking "Clarksdale Boogie," recorded at Red's Juke Joint in that very town. Delta Hardware is the kind of record only a veteran could make, full of backbone, spit and vinegar; it is an early candidate for blues record of the year. source: 16 May 2006 |
