''Stand Back! Here Comes Charley Musselwhite's South Side Band'' is the 1967 debut album of American blues-harp musician

Charlie Musselwhite Charles Douglas Musselwhite (born January 31, 1944) is an American electric blues harmonica player and bandleader, one of the white bluesmen who came to prominence, along with Mike Bloomfield, Paul Butterfield, and Elvin Bishop, as a pivotal f ...

, leading Charlie Musselwhite's Southside Band.There is discrepancy in sources as to the year of initial release, with many sources including Allmusic citing 1967 and various books and newspapers citing 1966. The artist's own website cites 1967 on its discography page, while also reproducing various press articles that variously list both years. See
Musselwhite's press page
an
Musselwhite's music page
The

Vanguard Records Vanguard Recording Society is an American record label set up in 1950 by brothers Maynard and Seymour Solomon in New York City. It was a primarily classical label at its peak in the 1950s and 1960s, but also has a catalogue of recordings by a n ...

release brought Musselwhite to notability among

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

musicians and also helped bridge the gap between blues and

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from Africa ...

, musically and in marketing. With rough vocals and notable performances on

harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica inclu ...

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

and

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

, the album was critically well received. It introduced Musselwhite's signature song, his cover of

Duke Pearson Columbus Calvin "Duke" Pearson Jr. (August 17, 1932 – August 4, 1980) was an American jazz pianist and composer. ''Allmusic'' describes him as having a "big part in shaping the Blue Note label's hard bop direction in the 1960s as a record produ ...

's "Cristo Redemptor".

Critical reception and influence

The album has been critically well-received, 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 also influenced rock and roll. The Southside Band, named for Chicago's South Side, was a combination of blues rhythm section—with

Fred Below Frederick Below, Jr. (September 6, 1926 – August 13, 1988) was an American blues drummer, best known for his work with Little Walter and Chess Records in the 1950s. According to Tony Russell, Below was a creator of much of the rhythmic stru ...

and Bob Anderson—and rock-influenced musicians

Barry Goldberg Barry Joseph Goldberg (born December 25, 1942) is an American blues and rock keyboardist, songwriter, and record producer. Goldberg has co-produced albums by Percy Sledge, Charlie Musselwhite, James Cotton, and the Textones, plus Bob Dylan's ve ...

and

Harvey Mandel Harvey Mandel (born March 11, 1945) is an American guitarist best known as a member of Canned Heat. He also played with Charlie Musselwhite and John Mayall as well as maintaining a solo career. Early life Mandel was born in Detroit, Michigan, a ...

. 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

player whose collaborations have included

Muddy Waters McKinley Morganfield (April 4, 1913 April 30, 1983), known professionally as Muddy Waters, was an American blues singer and musician who was an important figure in the post-war blues scene, and is often cited as the "father of modern Chicago b ...

Howlin' Wolf Chester Arthur Burnett (June 10, 1910January 10, 1976), better known by his stage name Howlin' Wolf, was an American blues singer and guitarist. He is regarded as one of the most influential blues musicians of all time. Over a four-decade care ...

Tom Waits Thomas Alan Waits (born December 7, 1949) is an American musician, composer, songwriter, and actor. His lyrics often focus on the underbelly of society and are delivered in his trademark deep, gravelly voice. He worked primarily in jazz during ...

Ben Harper Benjamin Chase Harper (born October 28, 1969) is an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. Harper plays an eclectic mix of blues, folk, soul, reggae, and rock music and is known for his guitar-playing skills, vocals, live perfo ...

Cyndi Lauper Cynthia Ann Stephanie Lauper Thornton (born June 22, 1953) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and activist. Her career has spanned over 40 years. Her album ''She's So Unusual'' (1983) was the first debut album by a female artist to achi ...

and

INXS INXS (a word play, phonetic play on "in excess") were an Australian Rock music, rock band, formed as The Farriss Brothers in 1977 in Sydney, New South Wales. The band's founding members were bassist Garry Gary Beers, main composer and keyboar ...

. 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 AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

indicates is "considerably more affected than...later ocals(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."

Bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

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 1967 on Vanguard Records, catalogue numbers VRS-9232 (

monaural Monaural or monophonic sound reproduction (often shortened to mono) is sound intended to be heard as if it were emanating from one position. This contrasts with stereophonic sound or ''stereo'', which uses two separate audio channels to reproduc ...

) and VSD-79232 (

stereo Stereophonic sound, or more commonly stereo, is a method of sound reproduction that recreates a multi-directional, 3-dimensional audible perspective. This is usually achieved by using two independent audio channels through a configuration ...

), the album has been re-released several times on LP and CD by Vanguard and

Ace An ace is a playing card, Dice, die or domino with a single Pip (counting), pip. In the standard French deck, an ace has a single suit (cards), suit symbol (a heart, diamond, spade, or club) located in the middle of the card, sometimes large a ...

Track listing

Unless otherwise indicated, the composer is uncredited. #"Baby Will You Please Help Me" (

) – 3:20 #"No More Lonely Nights" – 5:14 #"Cha Cha the Blues" – 3:13 #"Christo Redemptor" (

) – 3:21 #" Help Me" (Carreras, Farver, Ed Ward) – 3:29 #"Chicken Shack" – 4:17 #"Strange Land" (Musselwhite) – 3:04 #"39th and Indiana" (Musselwhite) – 4:12 #"My Baby" – 2:46 #" Early in the Morning" – 4:31 #"4 P.M." (

) – 3:17 #"Sad Day" (

) – 5:04

Personnel

*Bob Anderson –

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

–

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

Samuel Charters Samuel Barclay Charters IV (August 1, 1929 – March 18, 2015) was an American music historian, writer, record producer, musician, and poet. He was a widely published author on the subjects of blues and jazz. He also wrote fiction. Overview Cha ...

– producer *

–

organ Organ may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a part of an organism Musical instruments * Organ (music), a family of keyboard musical instruments characterized by sustained tone ** Electronic organ, an electronic keyboard instrument ** Hammond ...

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

, producer *

– guitar *

– guitar,

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

, performer *

Pete Welding Peter John Welding (15 November 1935 – 17 November 1995) was an American historian, archivist, and record producer specializing in jazz and blues. Born in Philadelphia, United States, Welding worked as a journalist for ''Down Beat'' magazine and ...

–

liner notes Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or the equivalent packaging for cassettes. Origin Liner notes are desce ...

References

{{Authority control Charlie Musselwhite albums 1966 debut albums Albums produced by Samuel Charters Vanguard Records albums