Charlie Musselwhite

Mississippi-born Charlie Musselwhite was a legendary blues-harp player in the tradition of Little Walter and Sonny Boy Williamson. One of the few non-black--he was a Choctaw Indian--blues-harmonica players to come out of the Mississippi Delta, he grew up in Memphis, TN, where he met up with Will Shade, Furry Lewis and other blues players. He relocated to Chicago in 1962, having learned the finer points of playing the blues-harp and guitar in Memphis, and worked with such blues legends as J.B. Hutto and Mike Bloomfield. In 1966 he signed a contract with Vanguard Records, and issued a string of critically acclaimed albums. He left Vanguard in 1971 and recorded for such labels as Arhoolie, Paramount and Capitol. He had something of a comeback in 1990 when he released the albums "Ace of Hearts" and "Signature" on Alligator Records.