The Blind Boys of Alabama
The Blind Boys of Alabama will release a traditional country-gospel album for the first time in their 70-year career on May 3rd, 2011. One of country music’s most acclaimed and compelling artists, Jamey Johnson, co-produced the album and performs on it along with Vince Gill, Willie Nelson, Hank Williams Jr., Lee Ann Womack, and The Oak Ridge Boys.
The Blind Boys have frequently been invited to appear on other great artists’ albums, resulting in a number of performances that have been collected into Duets. Their first-ever duets collection includes songs with Ben Harper, Bonnie Raitt, Randy Travis, Lou Reed, Solomon Burke, Susan Tedeschi and Asleep at the Wheel. In addition, it features three new recordings with Lou Reed, blues legend John Hammond, and Jamaican legend Toots Hibbert of Toots & The Maytals. The diverse group of artists collaborating on Duets reflects the expansive appeal of the group as well as the sweeping reverence for their talent. This new album follows their Grammy and Dove Award-winning CD Down in New Orleans.
Live in New Orleans DVD is an uplifting fusion of gospel, blues and soul from one of the longest-running groups in the world, The Blind Boys Of Alabama. Their rousing performance included favorites like
‘Free At Last’, ‘Down By The Riverside’, ‘Amazing Grace’ and ‘People Get Ready’. Special guests include Susan Tedeschi, Dr. John, Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Henry Butler and Marva Wright.
The Blind Boys of Alabama recorded in New Orleans for the first time in their almost 75 year history. Amongst the musicians supporting include legendary pianist/producer and Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Allen Toussaint and The Preservation Hall Jazz Band. After performing together for over six decades, The Blind Boys of Alabama have enjoyed one of the more striking comebacks in recent memory.
The Blind Boys show a special talent for bringing their church-like flair to material from the rock era, including a simmering rendition of Norman Greenbaum’s “Spirit in the Sky” and an organ-drenched take on Eric Clapton’s “Presence of the Lord.” Yet the Blind Boys never lose track of their true roots. Their versions of old-school gospel tunes (“Talk About Suffering” and “Old Blind Barnabas”) sound suitable for the ANTHOLOGY OF AMERICAN FOLK MUSIC, if not for the slinky blues instrumentation and high-end production. Outstanding musicianship from keyboardist Billy Preston, harmonica player Charlie Musselwhite, and guitarist David Hidalgo (of Los Lobos) adds a special sheen to ATOM BOMB, another winning disc from these gospel legends
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On the follow-up to their Grammy-winning album Spirit of the Century, the three gospel-singing septuagenarians celebrate the holy side of secular songs in hopes of connecting with “the generations that are behind us,” as founding member Clarence Fountain put it. Always alert to the potent message of God’s mightiness, they exuberantly spiritualize the Stevie Wonder title track and Curtis Mayfield’s “People Get Ready,” as well as choice picks from the songbooks of Prince (“The Cross”), George Clinton (“You and Your Folks,” grafted onto the 23rd Psalm!), Ben Harper (“I Shall Not Walk Alone”), and others (Harper guests on three tracks). A few uplifting traditional gospel numbers turn up, too. Throughout the program, Blind Boy Jimmy Carter’s stirring tenor voice is a minor miracle. And “sacred steel” guitarist Robert Randolph and his Family Band are important to the success of the album, supplying genuine fervor to grooves that complement the elders’ heaven-bound vocals.
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