HEAR TODAY MUSSELWHITE'S BLUES: CHI TOWN, TO DELTA, TO L.A.

Byline: - Fred Shuster

Blues harpist Charlie Musselwhite ran moonshine in his 1950 Lincoln, got drunk with Elvis and had John Lee Hooker as the best man at his wedding.

And that's just for starters.

Surfacing on Chicago's South Side during the flowering of that city's history-making blues scene, Musselwhite issued his 1966 debut, ``Stand Back!'' -- now considered a classic -- which established him as a headliner in rock venues.

Through the decades, he's made 20 albums of his own, and contributed to countless others, including guesting on Bonnie Raitt's Grammy-winning ``Longing in Their Hearts,'' the Blind Boys of Alabama's Grammy-winning ``Spirit of the Century,'' Tom Waits' ``Mule Variations'' and even played the driving blues harp on INXS' 1990 Top 10 hit ``Suicide Blonde.'' Perhaps most meaningful to Musselwhite personally, he conquered a long-running battle with alcoholism in 1987.

Out today from Peter Gabriel's Real World label is ``Delta Hardware,'' which finds Musselwhite in howling form on a set of tough, socially conscious tunes like ``Black Water'' and ``The Invisible Ones'' -- both inspired by Hurricane Katrina -- as well as the gritty electric blues standout ``Just a Feeling.''

We reached Musselwhite, 62, at his Sonoma County home. Thursday, he appears at the Temple Bar in Santa Monica.

Q: Your new album has some hard-hitting lyrics about the aftermath of the hurricane.

A: ``Things just seem to be falling apart. And I think people are waking up to that. People are starting to see there's something really rotten going on. I don't want to be offensive to anybody. I respect everybody and their opinion, and I hope they respect mine.''

Q: You play about 200 shows a year around the world. The blues life hasn't gotten any easier, has it?

A: ``It's rough but rewarding. All those people can't come to my house, so I have to go where they are. The traveling is tedious, but when I see the smiling faces, it's worth it.''

Q: How do people in other countries who don't speak English respond to the music?

A: ``There's an honesty in the blues that cannot be denied. When you hear it, you hear it from the heart and soul. You respond with, `Oh yeah. I need this.' It's sustenance. In other cultures, people who don't understand the words pick up on the feeling. I'm glad we have it in our lives -- it's gotten me through some hard times.''

Here is a sample of other new releases in the stores this week:

Ashley Parker Angel releases his solo debut, ``Soundtrack to Your Life.''

T-Bone Burnett sings of odd places like ``Palestine, Texas'' and ``Zombieland'' on his new solo effort, ``The True False Identity.''

Christina Milian's ``So Amazin' '' features a duet with Oscar-winning Three 6 Mafia.

The White Stripes' Jack White joins up with the Raconteurs for ``Broken Boy Soldiers.''--

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo:

(1) MUSSELWHITE

(2) no caption (CD cover)