Stand Back! Here Comes Charley Musselwhite's Southside Band
Encyclopedia
Stand Back! Here Comes Charley Musselwhite's Southside Band is the 1966 or 1967 debut album of American blues-harp
musician Charlie Musselwhite
, leading Charlie Musselwhite's Southside Band. The Vanguard Records
release brought Musselwhite to notability among blues
musicians and also helped bridge the gap between blues and rock and roll
, musically and in marketing. With rough vocals and notable performances on harmonica
, guitar
and bass guitar
, the album was critically well received. It introduced Musselwhite's signature song, his cover of Duke Pearson
's "Cristo Redemptor".
, was a combination of blues rhythm section—with Fred Below
and Bob Anderson—and rock-influenced musicians Barry Goldberg
and Harvey Mandel
. Among the first blues albums targeted also to fans of rock and roll, it was influential in bridging the gap between blues and rock. The album's success allowed Musselwhite to launch a career as a full-time musician, relocating from Chicago to California, and also secured his reputation as a harmonica
player whose collaborations have included Muddy Waters
, Howlin' Wolf
, Tom Waits
, Ben Harper
and INXS
. The album is among Musselwhite's most successful.
player Bob Anderson, who later played with Howlin' Wolf, has been singled out for a noteworthy rendition of the classic root-3rd-4th progression in the song "Help Me".
or stereo
VSD-79232, the album has been subsequently re-released several times on LP and CD by Vanguard and Ace
.
Blues-harp
There are numerous techniques available for harmonica. A few are described here. For details of how to do such techniques, visit the Harmonica wikibook.- Bending and other techniques :...
musician Charlie Musselwhite
Charlie Musselwhite
Charlie Musselwhite is an American electric blues harmonica player and bandleader, one of the non-black bluesmen who came to prominence in the early 1960s, along with Mike Bloomfield and Paul Butterfield. Though he has often been identified as a "white bluesman", he claims Native American heritage...
, leading Charlie Musselwhite's Southside Band. The Vanguard Records
Vanguard Records
Vanguard Records is a record label set up in 1950 by brothers Maynard and Seymour Solomon in New York. It started as a classical label, but is perhaps best known for its catalogue of recordings by a number of pivotal folk and blues artists from the 1960s; the Bach Guild was a subsidiary...
release brought Musselwhite to notability among blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
musicians and also helped bridge the gap between blues and rock and roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
, musically and in marketing. With rough vocals and notable performances on harmonica
Harmonica
The harmonica, also called harp, French harp, blues harp, and mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used primarily in blues and American folk music, jazz, country, and rock and roll. It is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes or multiple holes...
, guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
and bass guitar
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, the album was critically well received. It introduced Musselwhite's signature song, his cover of Duke Pearson
Duke Pearson
Duke Pearson was an American jazz pianist and composer. Allmusic notes him as being a "big part in shaping the Blue Note label's hard bop direction in the 1960s as a producer."-History:...
's "Cristo Redemptor".
Critical reception and influence
The album has been critically well-received, variously described as "legendary", "seminal", and "one of the classic blues albums of the decade." Its success established Musselwhite in the field of blues music, but it had impact on the rock and roll music world as well. The Southside Band, named for Chicago's South SideSouth Side (Chicago)
The South Side is a major part of the City of Chicago, which is located in Cook County, Illinois, United States. Much of it has evolved from the city's incorporation of independent townships, such as Hyde Park Township which voted along with several other townships to be annexed in the June 29,...
, was a combination of blues rhythm section—with Fred Below
Fred Below
Fred Below was a leading blues drummer, best known for his innovative work with Little Walter and Chess Records in the 1950s. Nobody laid more of the Chicago blues rhythmic foundations, particularly its archetypal backbeat, than Fred Below.-Career:He was born in Chicago, and started playing drums...
and Bob Anderson—and rock-influenced musicians Barry Goldberg
Barry Goldberg
Barry Goldberg is a blues and rock keyboardist, songwriter and record producer.-Career:As a teenager in Chicago, Goldberg sat in with Muddy Waters, Otis Rush, and Howlin' Wolf. He played keyboards in the band supporting Bob Dylan during his 1965 'electrified' appearance at the Newport Folk Festival...
and Harvey Mandel
Harvey Mandel
Harvey Mandel is an American guitarist known for his innovative approach to electric guitar playing. A professional at twenty, he played with Charlie Musselwhite, Canned Heat, The Rolling Stones, and John Mayall before starting a solo career...
. Among the first blues albums targeted also to fans of rock and roll, it was influential in bridging the gap between blues and rock. The album's success allowed Musselwhite to launch a career as a full-time musician, relocating from Chicago to California, and also secured his reputation as a harmonica
Harmonica
The harmonica, also called harp, French harp, blues harp, and mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used primarily in blues and American folk music, jazz, country, and rock and roll. It is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes or multiple holes...
player whose collaborations have included Muddy Waters
Muddy Waters
McKinley Morganfield , known as Muddy Waters, was an American blues musician, generally considered the "father of modern Chicago blues"...
, Howlin' Wolf
Howlin' Wolf
Chester Arthur Burnett , known as Howlin' Wolf, was an influential American blues singer, guitarist and harmonica player....
, Tom Waits
Tom Waits
Thomas Alan "Tom" Waits is an American singer-songwriter, composer, and actor. Waits has a distinctive voice, described by critic Daniel Durchholz as sounding "like it was soaked in a vat of bourbon, left hanging in the smokehouse for a few months, and then taken outside and run over with a car."...
, Ben Harper
Ben Harper
Benjamin Chase "Ben" Harper is an American singer-songwriter and musician. Harper plays an eclectic mix of blues, folk, soul, reggae and rock music and is known for his guitar-playing skills, vocals, live performances and activism. Harper's fan base spans several continents...
and INXS
INXS
INXS are an Australian rock band, formed as The Farriss Brothers in 1977 in Sydney, New South Wales. Mainstays are Garry Gary Beers on bass guitar, Andrew Farriss on guitar/keyboards, Jon Farriss on drums, Tim Farriss on lead guitar and Kirk Pengilly on guitar/sax...
. The album is among Musselwhite's most successful.
Music
Among the album's tracks, "Cristo Redemptor" has remained particularly important in Musselwhite's repertoire, standing as his signature song, although subsequent versions of the Duke Pearson cover have been longer. Musselwhite's music here is characterized by smooth harmonica a "harsh, almost strained voice" that Allmusic indicates is "considerably more affected than...later [vocals] (clearer, more relaxed)". Mandel's guitar work, influential, features what Legends of Rock Guitar describes as "relentless fuzztone, feedback-edged solos, and unusual syncopated phrasing." Allmusic highlights the guitarist's "snakey stuttering style", particularly on track "Chicken Shack" in which it "truly makes you think your record is skipping." BassBass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
player Bob Anderson, who later played with Howlin' Wolf, has been singled out for a noteworthy rendition of the classic root-3rd-4th progression in the song "Help Me".
Release history
First released in 1966 or 1967 on Vanguard Records, catalog number VRS-9232 monauralMonaural
Monaural or monophonic sound reproduction is single-channel. Typically there is only one microphone, one loudspeaker, or channels are fed from a common signal path...
or stereo
Stereophonic sound
The term Stereophonic, commonly called stereo, sound refers to any method of sound reproduction in which an attempt is made to create an illusion of directionality and audible perspective...
VSD-79232, the album has been subsequently re-released several times on LP and CD by Vanguard and Ace
Ace Records (US)
Ace Records was a record label that was started in August 1955 in Jackson, Mississippi by Johnny Vincent, with Teem Records as its budget subsidiary. Ace also had the Vin label. Its records were distributed independently until 1962 when a distribution arrangement was set up with Vee-Jay Records....
.
Track listing
Unless otherwise indicated, composer uncredited.- "Baby Will You Please Help Me" (Charlie MusselwhiteCharlie MusselwhiteCharlie Musselwhite is an American electric blues harmonica player and bandleader, one of the non-black bluesmen who came to prominence in the early 1960s, along with Mike Bloomfield and Paul Butterfield. Though he has often been identified as a "white bluesman", he claims Native American heritage...
) – 3:20 - "No More Lonely Nights" – 5:14
- "Cha Cha the Blues" – 3:13
- "Christo Redemptor" (Duke PearsonDuke PearsonDuke Pearson was an American jazz pianist and composer. Allmusic notes him as being a "big part in shaping the Blue Note label's hard bop direction in the 1960s as a producer."-History:...
) – 3:21 - "Help MeHelp Me (song)"Help Me" is a blues standard first recorded by Sonny Boy Williamson II in 1963. The song, a mid-tempo twelve-bar blues, is credited to Williamson, Willie Dixon, and Ralph Bass and is based on the 1962 instrumental hit "Green Onions" by Booker T. and the MGs. "Help Me" became a hit in 1963 and...
" (Carreras, Farver, Ed WardEdward Ward (composer)Edward Ward was a film composer and music director who was nominated for seven Academy Awards during a career that spanned thirty-seven years and included more than 150 projects.-Academy Award nominations:...
) – 3:29 - "Chicken Shack" – 4:17
- "Strange Land" (Musselwhite) – 3:04
- "39th and Indiana" (Musselwhite) – 4:12
- "My Baby" – 2:46
- "Early in the MorningEarly in the Morning (Sonny Boy Williamson I song)"Early in the Morning" is a blues song that was recorded by John Lee "Sonny Boy" Williamson in 1937. Identified as a blues standard, it was inspired by earlier blues songs...
" – 4:31 - "4 P.M." (Harvey MandelHarvey MandelHarvey Mandel is an American guitarist known for his innovative approach to electric guitar playing. A professional at twenty, he played with Charlie Musselwhite, Canned Heat, The Rolling Stones, and John Mayall before starting a solo career...
) – 3:17 - "Sad Day" (Barry GoldbergBarry GoldbergBarry Goldberg is a blues and rock keyboardist, songwriter and record producer.-Career:As a teenager in Chicago, Goldberg sat in with Muddy Waters, Otis Rush, and Howlin' Wolf. He played keyboards in the band supporting Bob Dylan during his 1965 'electrified' appearance at the Newport Folk Festival...
) – 5:04
Personnel
- Bob Anderson – bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
- Fred BelowFred BelowFred Below was a leading blues drummer, best known for his innovative work with Little Walter and Chess Records in the 1950s. Nobody laid more of the Chicago blues rhythmic foundations, particularly its archetypal backbeat, than Fred Below.-Career:He was born in Chicago, and started playing drums...
– drums - Samuel ChartersSamuel ChartersSamuel Charters, born Samuel Barclay Charters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, August 1, 1929 , is an American music historian, writer, record producer, musician, and poet...
– producerRecord producerA record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music... - Barry GoldbergBarry GoldbergBarry Goldberg is a blues and rock keyboardist, songwriter and record producer.-Career:As a teenager in Chicago, Goldberg sat in with Muddy Waters, Otis Rush, and Howlin' Wolf. He played keyboards in the band supporting Bob Dylan during his 1965 'electrified' appearance at the Newport Folk Festival...
– organ, guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, pianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
, keyboardsKeyboard instrumentA keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
, producer - Harvey MandelHarvey MandelHarvey Mandel is an American guitarist known for his innovative approach to electric guitar playing. A professional at twenty, he played with Charlie Musselwhite, Canned Heat, The Rolling Stones, and John Mayall before starting a solo career...
– guitar - Charlie MusselwhiteCharlie MusselwhiteCharlie Musselwhite is an American electric blues harmonica player and bandleader, one of the non-black bluesmen who came to prominence in the early 1960s, along with Mike Bloomfield and Paul Butterfield. Though he has often been identified as a "white bluesman", he claims Native American heritage...
– guitar, harmonicaHarmonicaThe harmonica, also called harp, French harp, blues harp, and mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used primarily in blues and American folk music, jazz, country, and rock and roll. It is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes or multiple holes...
, vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
, performer - Pete WeldingPete WeldingPete Welding was an American blues historian, archivist and record producer.Born Peter J. Welding in Philadelphia, he worked as a journalist for Down Beat magazine and occasionally freelanced for other publications including Rolling Stone...
– liner notesLiner notesLiner notes are the writings found in booklets which come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or the equivalent packaging for vinyl records and cassettes.-Origin:...