Music |
There Will Be a Light
Ben Harper and The Blind Boys of Alabama
By
Published: Jan 01, 2005
Category:
Soul
A few years ago, Americans flocked to a George Clooney movie. When they left the theater, they went immediately to music stores and bought the soundtrack. And suddenly "O Brother Where Art Thou?" was the best-selling CD in the country.
And it didn’t stop. Week after week, the "O Brother" soundtrack stayed on top of the charts. Radio stationsplayed "Man of Constant Sorrow." The musicians on the soundtrack hastily organized a tour.
The experts were confused. How could this be? The music on the CD was bluegrass — the most despised form of country music. This was music from the hollow. Backwoods roots music. And now it was everywhere.
What the experts missed was something you and I know a lot about — we were tired of having unimaginative music tricked up as the latest thing. We wanted authenticity, no matter what the flavor. And we wanted passion, real passion. And joy.
"O Brother" wasn’t the only CD that went where no expert would have predicted. The first Norah Jones CD was also a shocker. But they’re few and far between, aren’t they?
Now comes a CD that’s as exciting, in its way, as "O Brother." Again, it’s a blend of oldtime music and cutting-edge production. And, again, it’s got passion, joy and authenticity — it jumps and crackles, gets your feet dancing, your fingers popping, your mind opening.
And it’s….gospel.
I had heard The Blind Boys of Alabama in concert. They were the real deal — you can’t knock a group of black, blind singers in their 70s who first started performing together in 1939 — but they were not thrilling. There was a sameness in their songs that just sucked the energy out of their effort.
Ben Harper, who has quite the cult going, has a personal interest in gospel. That is, he’s a believer. And he writes songs that testify. And so he and The Blind Boys became friendly.
Last year Harper got together with The Blind Boys to cut a few tracks. The sessions were magic. A few songs became eleven, cut in just eight hours over two sessions. The result is gospel with punch — because the Ben Harper band is a tight, polished group that packs a wallop.
The CD starts with a tom-tom of a drum. Then a tinkling piano. And then a sharp Ben Harper lyric about a father who "pulled his car to the side of the round/looked at his children with tears in his eyes/said life is too heavy a load." And, of course, there is an Answer: "Take my hand/when you are worried/Take my hand/when you’re alone/Take my hand/and let me guide you/Take my hand/and lead me home." Along the way, there are shouted pleas— "Don’t let me stumble" — that turn the song into a revival experience. Exciting? Totally.
And here’s the thing — all the songs are that hot. This is a totally heartfelt, joyous, committed recording that blends respect for tradition,the joy of testifying, and the sheer excitement of playing — literally: playing — sessions that felt like magic at the time, and hold up on the recording. And then there is the small matter that the songs all sound like classics — even though Ben Harper only recently wrote most of them.
Talk about love! Here is Harper talking about The Blind Boys: "I have now spent a considerable amount of time with all of them, and I know for certain, they see what we won’t, they see what we don’t, and they see what we can’t." And here is Clarence Fountain of the Blind Boys on Harper: "All I know he had some very fine words, and his melodies are sweet. When you can feel what the man is writing when you sing it, that lets you know that’s good writing."
But it’s this, from another Blind Boy, that says it all for me: "Well, we didn’t expect nothin’ and we got somethin’."
What they got is glorious, down-home, kick-ass, soul-stirring pleasure. If I could, I would buy it for all of you — "There Will Be a Light" is that good.
To order "There Will Be a Light" from Amazon.com, click here.
