Charles Caldwell - Remember Me (2004)

> The album

The tragic story of Charles Caldwell

Unfortunately, the story of Charles W. Caldwell is not the only one of the kind among bluesmen, from Mississippi or elsewhere. When this album, recorded in 2003, was released in February 2004, Caldwell born in 1943 in the Mississippi town of Water Valley, had left this world five months earlier. Hence the choice of the song "Remember Me" as the album's title, certainly chosen by the excellent Fat Possum label whose boss "discovered" this North Mississippi Hill Country blues musician unrecorded so far.

The Gibson guitar model Caldwell played all his life ►

Forty-six years earlier, while working on his father's farm, Caldwell bought a hollow-body Gibson ES-125 guitar, learned how to play by himself, and used this same worn out instrument until the end. This thin and tall man, usually topped by a cow-boy hat, led a hard working life, taking care of his own modest farm around Coffeeville (Mississippi), while working first as a government forest keeper (hunting for raccoons whenever he could !), then in an air conditioning equipment repair plant in Grenada, about 25 kms away, after nearly getting severely wounded several times with his chainsaw. Still, he managed to acquire an old Cadillac car, reason why he was nicknamed Charles "Cadillac" Caldwell.
His performances were limited to occasional local festive gatherings and juke joints, often playing for no more than free liquor. Altogether, his life was not different from that of many of his fellow Mississippi bluesmen who lived a poor and simple life away from the lights of fame.

Caldwell's music, as it appears on this album, stands out because of the man's sound : raw, roots, vintage… whatever synonym of "authentic" you can find will fit. An old guitar and a husky rasping and sometimes trembling voice, occasionally backed by Hill Country typical basic drum rhythms, are all Caldwell needed to deliver his low-down and primary, almost primitive, unsophisticated blues in such a magnificent and poignant way. It's a plain and percussive form of blues, as traditionally played in the Hills, with sorrowful lyrics (most time love conflicts laments) that brings back blues to the original meaning of the term. Caldwell's bare simplicity is precisely what makes his songs so moving. But don't be fooled, the man certainly worked hard and long to master such an apparent basic guitar and vocal style.

Caldwell guitar playing indeed uses interesting personal melodic patterns that distinguishes him from most of his fellow Hill Country blues players, even if his music possesses the same usual repetitive hypnotic structure that is the Hill Country blues trademark. Fat Possum's boss Matthew Johnson was not mistaken when he heard Caldwell for the first time in May 2002, noticing at once this singularity, not talking of the charismatic personality of the man, and deciding such a music had to be recorded.

The eleven tracks of the album sound like a testament from this engaging modest bluesman who lived so far away from the entertainment and music industry for nearly 60 years. Retrospectively, the last track, "Remember Me", appears strangely premonitory. Suffering from a pancreatic cancer, Caldwell recorded the album while  undergoing chemotherapy. In vain ! He died a few months later, deprived of the pride and pleasure of holding the album in his hands.
The album itself was not recorded in vain though : these eleven songs keep Caldwell memory alive. Unfortunately, as time goes by, such discoveries are less and less frequent.
Another old timer gone… Sigh !

Anecdote

The possum and the fox : https://fatpossum.com/collections/charles-caldwell/

 

 

 

 

 

 

Charles Caldwell reflected
by the front chrome
of his Cadillac in 1995
(photo © Bill Steber) ►

Unfortunately, it is impossible to find
any video of Caldwell playing live.

 ________________________