Although the weather is frigid outside Morristown, NJ’s MPAC this Thursday, February 20, 2020 evening, it hasn’t prevented music lovers from making their way out to see a concert of authentic blues presented by singer/songwriter/guitarist Elvin Bishop and harmonica player Charlie Musselwhite.
Elvin Bishop, 77, was born in Glendale, CA, but spent his early childhood on a farm in Iowa before moving to Tulsa, Oklahoma where he attended high school. He earned a full scholarship to the University of Chicago where he majored in physics, but in 1963, met harmonica player Paul Butterfield. Bishop joined The Butterfield Blues Band and played and recorded with the group for five years.
During the time he was with the band, Bishop met blues guitarist Louis Myers at a show. Trading his own Fender Telecaster for Myers’ red Gibson ES-345, Bishop renamed the guitar “Red Dog,” and has continued to use it throughout his career.
In 1968, he formed the Elvin Bishop Group, a band which co-headlined a series of concerts with The Allman Brothers Band, and Bishop also performed with the likes of such musicians as Mike Bloomfield, Al Kooper, The Grateful Dead, Bo Diddley, and B.B. King.
In 1976, Bishop released his most memorable hit single, “Fooled Around and Fell in Love,” which featured vocalist Mickey Thomas, who later joined Jefferson Starship. The song was included in the Guardians of the Galaxy soundtrack album entitled Awesome Mix Vol I and skyrocketed to the top of the album charts in 2014. In 2015, Bishop was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as an original member of the Paul Butterfield Blues Band.
Charlie Musselwhite, 76, was born in Mississippi. His father played the guitar and the harmonica and his mother played the piano. At the age of three, Charlie moved to Memphis where he was exposed to such up-and-coming artists as Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Johnny Cash.
As a young man, Musselwhite moved to Chicago where he immersed himself in music and made the acquaintance of such blues legends as Muddy Waters, Junior Wells, Buddy Guy, and Howlin’ Wolf; sat in with musicians like Big Joe Williams; and forged a lifelong friendship with John Lee Hooker.
Following the success of The Paul Butterfield Band’s recordings, in 1966, Musselwhite released Stand Back! Here Comes Charley Musselwhite’s Southside Band which catapulted him to success as a bluesman in San Francisco. Since then, he’s gone on to work with artists as diverse as Bonnie Raitt, The Blind Boys of Alabama, Tom Waits, and INXS. Reportedly the inspiration for Elwood Blues, the character portrayed by Dan Aykroyd in the 1980 film, The Blues Brothers, Musselwhite appeared in the movie, Blues Brothers 2000, as a member of the fictional band, The Louisiana Gator Boys, along with Eric Clapton, Dr. John, and other well-known musicians.
At MPAC, before Bishop and Musselwhite make their entrance, the audience is treated to an opening act performance by British singer/songwriter James Maddock.
Taking the stage strumming his guitar and vocalizing, Maddock opens up his set of original material with “Once There Was a Boy,” his raspy and soulful voice captivating the audience with an intruiguing tale which recounts the adventures of a young lad.
Following eager applause, Maddock launches into “Rag Doll,” an uptempo folk-rocker in which he sings, “Rag doll/Feelin’ like a rag doll/Feelin’ like a rag doll/Getting pushed and pulled around.”
After introducing himself, Maddock performs the wistful ballad, “If I Had a Son,” his soft vocal complimenting his rolling finger-picked accompaniment.
He follows up with “Beautiful Now,” his warm, weathered voice singing the praises of the beauty of a woman, before concluding his set with “Another Life,” a country rocker which has the audience hooting and hollering for more.
Following a short intermission, the lights dim and Elvin Bishop and Charlie Musselwhite make their way onto the stage where Bishop welcomes the crowd saying, “Everybody doing alright? Good to see you! We got the blues in the house tonight!”
Accompanied by Bob Welsh on guitar, the bluesmen open with “100 Years of Blues,” a slow talking blues on which Bishop and Musselwhite tell the audience about themselves through the very personal lyrics of the song. Relating to the audience in an easy manner like they’re playing for old friends, the duo’s relaxed and authentic performance makes audience members smile as they entertain them with lyrics like “My name is Elvin, I’m from Oklahoma/That’s Charlie, he’s from Tennessee/ We’re here this evening with you all and damn glad to be/We’ve been playing this music a long time/And I’ll tell you folks the truth/Between the two of us/You’re looking at 100 years of blues!”
Bishop plays “Red Dog” — his guitar — and Musselwhite plays harmonica in sync as they solo, bending and twanging their way to avid cheers from the audience before Musselwhite announces, “This is an autobiographical tune called ‘The Blues Overtook Me.’ If you feel like moving, don’t hesitate.” On this foot-tapping number, Welsh plays honky tonk keyboard while Musselwhite sings, “The blues overtook me/When I was a little child/You know fast women and whisky/Made this southern boy wild,” before wailing on his harmonica.
All three musicians receive cheers for their rollicking and bluesy solos.
The audience becomes the percussion section on the musicians’ next number, “Another Mule,” as Bishop gets the audience clapping the beat on this Fats Domino cover. Singing, “When your liver starts to jump/And your heart begins to thump/Man, that’s all/Another mule is kickin’ in your stall,” Bishop plays guitar accompanied by Welsh, and Musselwhite delivers an inspired harmonica solo on this uptempo blues song.
The crowd cheers and Bishop responds by stating, “It feels like we’re sitting on our front porch. This is fun — ain’t no work to it!” Continuing, “A good friend of ours was James Cotton,” Bishop declares, “We want to lay this one on you for James.”
Piano, harmonica, and guitar are featured on Cotton’s “West Helena Blues.” After Musselwhite sings “I got a woman I’m lovin’ lives in West Helena, Arkansas/She buys me them long-toed shoes, keeps that brown mule up in my jaw,” the group plays with an old-time honky tonk blues sensibility. Musselwhite’s slow and sensual harmonica solo brings avid applause and the group’s dynamics soften prior to crescendoing with emotion straight to the conclusion.
The audience loves the next number, “What the Hell is Going On?” a timely and humorous blues about the state of politics in America today. After singing, “Everytime I turn around/Somethin’ else is goin’ wrong/Hey hey hey, tell me, what the hell is goin’ on?” Bishop rocks out on Red Dog to avid whistles and cheers from the crowd.
Bishop announces, “I’m gonna loan my guitar to Charlie for this one. It’s by Robert Nighthawk. Charlie is the only one who can play like him,” to which Musselwhite adds, “I picked up how to play by watching him… and this is pretty much the way he used to do it.”
Here, the group launches into Nighthawk’s “Crying Won’t Help You,” where Musselwhite handles the lead vocals and plays slide guitar to audience cheers. Bishop and Welsh expertly accompany him and at the end, referring to Musselwhite’s Red Dog performance, Bishop says, “I wish you wouldn’t play all the sweet notes out of it!”
Bishop states, “This is a tune from a new album which is coming out this summer. It’s about us and you, folks.” Here, the musicians perform “Birds of a Feather.”
After Bishop sings, “So clap, stamp, holler, and yell/We’re all friends here so what the hell,” the audience keeps the rhythm going, clapping and whistling, on this down-home blues number. Musselwhite’s harmonica sings along sounding like a train whistle prior to echoing Bishop’s guitar part.
The audience hoots and hollers and audience members start to yell out song selections when Bishop responds by joking, “I’m married a long time. I can’t hear you, but I’m in the habit of agreeing with what you’re saying. As long as you’re happy, I’m happy!”
Musselwhite is featured on the swinging, “Blues For Yesterday.” After singing, Musselwhite plays harmonica as Welsh’s piano leads the way and Bishop’s guitar fills in sounding like a train. Warbling, bending, and shaking his strings as he keeps time with his tapping foot, Bishop solos before Musselwhite adds his voice and harmonica to the bluesy concoction.
Announcing, “We’re playing a lot of blues tonight — that’s what we’re here for,” Bishop reveals, “This is my favorite tune,” as the group performs a cover version of Leroy Carr’s “Midnight Hour Blues.” Musselwhite’s harmonica playing is anguished and low and then high and bluesy with feeling and depth on this mournful and longing number.
The crowd cheers and Musselwhite jokes, “How about another blues? This is one I wrote about being on the the road.” Launching into “If I Should Have Bad Luck,” he sings, “If I should have bad luck/Honey, long long way from home/Well, now since I know you love me, love will keep me going.” On this performance, the driving beat moves ever forward, the crowd enjoying the interplay between Bishop and Musselwhite, two seasoned bluesmen whose natural easy rapport is clearly evident in their music.
Musselwhite gets the audience’s attention when he tells a story about Sonny Boy Williams who, as Musselwhite contends, “carried a hatchet under his coat and could throw it,” pointing out, “Nobody messed with him!”
Introducing “a timeless tune,” Musselwhite sings lead on Williamson’s “Help Me,” a rhythmic minor blues featuring Bishop’s guitar chords that move up and down. Musselwhite’s strong and bluesy voice alternates with his expert harmonica playing which is punctuated by Bishop’s veteran blues guitar skills, his strumming, picking, and bluesy improvisations inspiring the audience to cheers.
Next up is the audience pleaser, “Old School,” where Bishop fingers chords on Big Red as he sings, “I wear old fashioned clothes/Old fashioned shoes/Old Gibson guitar/Play the old fashioned blues/I’m old school/I’m old school.”
On the instrumental section, Musselwhite’s harmonica wails above Bishop’s picking and strumming before Bishop sings, “Don’t you lie to me!” and the audience happily echo sings. Welsh follows up with a joyful honky tonk piano solo and Musselwhite echoes Bishop’s guitar line prior to the two playing together in unison and then harmony.
The crowd stands for these talented musicians who leave the stage and then return, at which point Bishop announces, “This is your last chance to put your dancing shoes on!”
The audience claps along as the trio starts to play “Blues, Why Do You Worry Me?” and Musselwhite sings, “Blues, why do you worry me?/Why do you stay so long?/You came to me yesterday/And you stayed the whole night long,” before Bishop and Musselwhite express themselves on their instruments, their interplay enveloping the audience in a communal connection with the blues.
At the end of the number, the musicians take leave of the stage, and as audience members begin to filter out of the theater, we take a moment to chat with the stars of tonight’s show — Elvin Bishop and Charlie Musselwhite.
When asked how he enjoyed playing here in the Garden State this evening, Bishop replies with a smile, “I like it here in New Jersey! There are real nice people here,” before joking, “What’s not to like?”
Charlie Musselwhite, however, informs us about his being the inspiration for Elwood Blues of The Blues Brothers recalling, “At least three times, Dan Ackroyd has told me — and I’ve seen it in interviews, too — that I was his inspiration for Elwood Blues. He said that when he was in school, he would come to see me perform at a bar in Quebec called LeHibou, which means The Owl. So he would be in the crowd and I’d be up on stage wearing the black suit with my hair slicked back, which he said inspired him,” prior to concluding, “And, of course, later on, it was an honor for me to be in the movie, Blues Brothers 2000, with all of those great artists.”
We also chat with several music lovers in the crowd who share their thoughts about tonight’s concert with us.
Remarks Kathleen from Kinnelon, “This entire show was a real surprise. I didn’t know what to expect, but it was really good, starting with James Maddock — I loved his performing and his writing.”
Marko from Morristown agrees adding, “I liked James Maddock. His songs have good storytelling and his imagery is great. His performance was very relaxed and very smooth, and I’m looking forward to getting some of his music to listen to at home.”
John from Clifton comments, “Elvin Bishop and Charlie Musselwhite were fabulous! You don’t often see a friendship that carries over like that. They’ve been playing together for 50 or 60 years, and you can really feel the dynamic between them — it was just magic.”
Continuing, “I’ve been following the blues for years, and the stories they could tell you would blow you away,” John adds, “I’ve gotten some of the stories over the years from watching Elvin, but tonight, this was just like two friends sitting on the porch playing the blues.”
Ardie from Morristown concurs, calling this evening’s performance “a great night,” whereas John from Old Ridge notes, “I truly enjoyed it — it was real quality, home-cooking blues.”
Relates Jersey Bob, a harmonica-player from Rockaway, “Elvin Bishop and Charlie Musselwhite were awesome,” joking, “I’d give them 99 out of 11.” Explaining, “Charlie Musselwhite did some things tonight that you rarely see — for example, he played the guitar, which is something you hardly ever get to see live — plus his harmonica playing is top-tier; it’s very intimate and off-the-cuff.” Adding, “He’s one of the last links to the earlier generation of blues musicians — Muddy Waters, James Cotton, and Junior Wells,” Bob concludes, “It was really neat to see how he and Elvin Bishop played together.”
Lastly, Robin from Keyport calls Elvin Bishop and Charlie Musselwhite “Fantastic,” declaring, “They were dynamic, so for us, it truly was amazing getting to enjoy what these two friends experienced together — ‘100 Years of Blues!’”
To learn more about Elvin Bishop, please go to elvinbishopmusic.com. For more on Charlie Musselwhite, click on charliemusselwhite.com. For further information on James Maddock, go to jamesmaddock.net. To find out about upcoming events at MPAC — including Herman’s Hermits starring Peter Noone & The Grass Roots on March 20, Christopher Cross’s 40th Anniversary Tour on April 8, Dennis DeYoung’s The Grand Illusion 40th Anniversary Tour on April 18, and The Charlie Daniels Band & The Marshall Tucker Band on May 8 — please go to mayoarts.org
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