On his 1994 debut album, Ben Harper bid Welcome To The Cruel World and has been re-meeting and greeting this mean old world ever since. It's a lonely road to tread which may be why he's opted to share his blues experiences with Charlie Musselwhite, a 68 year-old harmonica player from Mississippi.
Musslewhite is no slouch, having learn his craft from luminaries such as Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker and Howling Wolf. Aside from his own albums, he has guested on discs by the likes of Bonnie Rait and Tom Waits.
The exclamatory title of this collaboration with Harper could be taken as a nod towards Musselwhite's first album in 1967 called Stand Back!
The two have worked together before on the song Burnin' Hell in 1997 but now join forces in a more committed manner playing ten variations of classic blues of both the unplugged and electric variety.
You get the stripped back sound of You Found Another Lover (I Lost Another Friend) contrasting with hard driving numbers like I Don't Believe A Word You Say and Blood Side Out.
The title track features a loose jam backed by a mean bass line, We Can't End This Way is pure gospel and there's even room for some hoochie coochie on She Got Kick.
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Ironically, however, the best track is one on which Musselwhite doesn't appear. I Ride At Dawn is described as a battle hymn and sticks to a slow, menacing guitar groove over which Harper relates how the sins and errors of mankind come and go in harsh cycles ("Give a man a hundred years, he'll want a hundred more")
The style and sophistication make it a Grammy contender although for me it feels too much like a demonstration record designed to prove to the world what two generations of bluesman can bring to the table.
The lack of raw edge means that Harper's pleas for forgiveness, redemption and salvation never wholly convince me that these sentiments come from the heart.
Ben Harper's website
Charlie Musselwhite's website
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