One Night In America

Charlie Musselwhite

Product Details

• Audio CD (February 26, 2002)
• Original Release Date: February 26, 2002
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Telarc
• ASIN: B000060OJ6
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #94,982 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Track Listings

1. Trail of Tears

2. Cold Grey Light of Dawn

3. Blues Overtook Me

4. In a Town This Size

5. Walking Alone

6. Rank Strangers to Me

7. One Time One Night

8. In Your Darkest Hour

9. Big River

10. Ain't It Time?

11. I'll Meet You Over There

12. Ain't That Lovin' You Baby

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

On One Night in America, Charlie Musselwhite takes his music back home to the Memphis of his childhood, walking down some blues-drenched country roads along the way. Musselwhite, with strong assistance from guitarists G.E. Smith and Robben Ford, as well as from vocalists Kelly Willis and Christine Ohlman, creatively captures the sonic sensibilities of the Memphis musical melting pot with a wide-ranging selection of songs. Musselwhite rolls through everything from Johnny Cash's country classic "Big River" to bluesman Jimmy Reed's "Ain't That Loving You Baby" in fine fashion, spicing up the tunes with occasional harp solos, but primarily letting the songs stand on their own.

Austin country sweetheart Willis dazzles on a duet of Kieran Kane's "In a Town This Size" and lends some angelic accompaniment on the country gospel standard "Rank Strangers to Me" to provide some vocal diversity. Musselwhite, who contributes several autobiographical songs to the mix, does more singing than playing, but he has no trouble blowing through the blues in the straight-ahead instrumental workout "I'll Meet You Over There." And, for all the Memphis emphasis of the album, the title actually comes from East L.A., courtesy of Musselwhite's upbeat rendition of Los Lobos' Americana gem "One Time One Night," that concludes the recording. --Michael Point

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Charlie goes Country...blues that is!, March 7, 2002

By	John A. Gregorio (Castalian Springs, TN) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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In the liner notes to his cd, Charlie addresses future critics by stating he has always experimented with new musical genre and the most country sounding song, "Cold Grey Light of Dawn" was written by bluesman Ivory Joe Hunter. Be that as it may, if you don't like country music you may want to buy another of Charlie's excellent works.
But, I like country music and I love the music of Charlie Musselwhite. As far as I am concern this man does not put out a bad cd. Whether it is blues, cuban or country, he brings a high standard of performance to every recording.
The same is true of this cd. I took off one star because I don't think this "band" cooks as hot as the band Charlie has been touring and recording with the past few years. It may be because they have not played as much together to have a complex musical conversation. The singer of this group, Christine Ohlman is good, but average and not up to the musical level of Charlie. I would like to see him record with Etta James or someone of that caliber.
But, this is not to say the band does not cook, it does. Charlie really doesn't break new ground, as he did when he performed Cuban influenced music,he does what he does best, maybe better than anyone, play that harp and sing with soul. A Musselwhite cd is always worth your money.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars COUNTRY FLAVORED BLUES!, June 28, 2002

By	deepbluereview "deepbluereview" (SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

As a long time fan of Musselwhite, "One Night In America" came as somewhat of a surprise to me. Especially considering that Robben Ford, the consummate jazz/bluesman from Northern California appears on 4 of the 12 tracks. What I did not see coming was a country-blues CD more in the style of Willie Nelson than Charlie Musselwhite. Surprisingly, it seems to work for Musselwhite and it all comes together rather nicely with the exception of "Ain't That Lovin' You Baby", which is a low point on the disc. Musselwhite's supporting cast of Ford, Marty Stuart, Kelly Willis, T-Bone Wolk, Per Hanson and others is extremely polished. The professional quality of the recording is simply a cut above. If you are into country-blues, this may well be to your liking.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A walk down Main Street with Mr. Mellow, June 8, 2002

By	booknblueslady (Woodland, CA United States) - See all my reviews

Harpster and singer Charlie Musselwhite is a veteran blues man who has been deservedly praised by other blues greats. He has such a wonderful mellow vocal style and the cd One Night in America shows off both his vocal style and his dynamic harp to a tee. On this cd Charlie Musselwhite gathered a group of noted musicians including guitarist Robben Ford,and Marty Stuart and vocalists Kelly Willis and Christine Ohlman to performs songs reflective of his childhood in Memphis.

Musselwhite first came on the music scene in the 1960's in Chicago and like Paul Butterfield helped to redifine a rocknroll which would celebrate its blues music roots. Charlie always held onto the essence of the rural roots music rather than the more urban blues. Musselwhite ever retains the "good ole' boy" sound to his music and One Night in American is certainly a trip through the heartland. In the liner notes Musselwhite states that growing up in Memphis he was influenced by sounds of "blues, gospel and hillbilly on the radio." We can hear echoes of all these music forms on the cd. Charlie Musselwhite says that he has always rebelled against the tightly defined blues format and believes that music can be classified as blues more by the feeling than the format. Despite his laid back, pleasant style Charlie is able to deliver plenty of feeling on this cd.

One Night in America includes songs by blues greats as Ivory Joe Hunter and Jimmy Reed and country songs by Johnny Cash and Kieran Kane as well as Musselwhite originals. Through it all is the feeling of walking down Main Street at night in small town America and hearing the music drifting out of the small bars and restaurants.

Taken singly each song is a delight to hear but in combination they create a feeling and cohesiveness which is rare. Trail of Tears a country blues song which despite its name does carry a hint of optimism. Robben Ford is on guitar and vocalists Kelly Willis and Christine Ohlman voices weave beautifully with Musselwhite's. "Cold Gray Light of Dawn is a very countrified version of Ivory Joe Hunter's song. Musselwhite sings" in the morning in my room, I'm like a body in a tomb." Musselwhite states that this song reminds him of bad habits which he has left far behind. "In a Town this Size" celebrate small town American and the way everyone is aware of everyone else's business form stolen kisses to cigarettes lit. "One Time One Night" a song with an upbeat sound and a sad message, as the lyric goes "She gave away her life, to become somebody's wife." While the songs continue to resonate the essence of small town, existence they are both a celebration and an indictment.

Blues is a feeling and there is plenty of blues feeling to be had on this cd.