The Blind Boys Of Alabama
Latest Article
Take The High Road is the new album from The Blind Boys of Alabama, who for the first time in their 70 year career have released a traditional Country-Gospel album. Any band that can last 70 years in what is a very fickle musical industry deserves our up most respect, they have had amazingly positive reviews in some of the UK's biggest music magazines and papers, from Uncut to Mojo to Q.
In the band's long career they have won many awards, they are Five-time Grammy Award winners and have also received the amazing 'Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award' and have...
Read More Take The High Road is the new album from The Blind Boys of Alabama, who for the first time in their 70 year career have released a traditional Country-Gospel album. Any band that can last 70 years in what is a very fickle musical industry deserves our up most respect, they have had amazingly positive reviews in some of the UK's biggest music magazines and papers, from Uncut to Mojo to Q.
In the band's long career they have won many awards, they are Five-time Grammy Award winners and have also received the amazing 'Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award' and have also been inducted into The Gospel Music Hall of Fame. This is one band who can definitely say they have been there, seen it all and worn the t-shirt. If you think these guys are only making records once in a while, you would be wrong, The Blind Boys of Alabama continue to tour the world, performing over 150 concerts each year, as well as releasing the Grammy winning album, Down in New Orleans in 2007, which was followed in 2008 by a companion DVD, Live in New Orleans. In 2009, they released Duets, a collection of songs recorded with artists including Bonnie Raitt, Ben Harper and Randy Travis. And now 2011 sees the band release Take The High Road.
The band brought in Grammy winning producer Chris Goldsmith & Jamey Johnson to produce this album, who had enlisted the help of veteran Nashville drummer Chad Cromwell (Neil Young, Mark Knopfler). Jamey then brought in bassist Kevin 'Swine' Grantt (Brad Paisley, Daryl Worley) and additional top-notch Music City players, including legends such as guitarist Reggie Young, to join them in the studio.
The album opens with a funky bass beat in Jesus, Hold My Hand, which from the off gets you swaying and wanting to sing along to the powerful, passionate vocals that sing every word with heartfelt energy. The Gospel track Jesus Built A Bridge to Heaven shows off the dynamic vocal range of the band, from very low vocals to some great harmonies. This album has a good mix of up tempo numbers and slow ballad country songs like I Know A Place, as well as great vocal range and the dynamics in the musicianship on the songs are of top quality.
Yes this album does tend to have the obvious Gospel/Country sound, but at the same time it does have a modern twist, not resting on sounds of the past, trying to push things forward a little bit. Another way of trying to explain what I mean is to say the albums has a few similarities to what the Welsh legend Tom Jones did when he released his last album Praise & Blame, Bluesy, Gospel songs with a modern edge but not going too far away from the original sound. The Blind Boys of Alabama have produced an amazing album with their strong signature Gospel vocals pulling the album forward in fine form.
Making an appearance towards the end of the album are some fantastic guest vocalists, Hank Williams Jr sings on the amazing and powerful drum and bass, high energy Gospel track I Saw The Light. Vince Gill features on Can You Give Me A Drink, which is about Jesus meeting the lady at the well, a great Bluesy track with soft drumming adding a cool dimension to a great song. Other vocalist to appear on the album are Lee Ann Womack and The Oak Ridge Boys.
This wouldn't be my obvious album to listen to, as I'm not really into Country Gospel Music, yet an album like this can jump out and surprise even me. The more I listen to the songs, the more I got into the soulful vocals and the jazz/funky beats got my feet taping while listening to it. With great uplifting powerful truthful lyrics this is one Gospel album I'm sure will be a great success.
Review by Jono Davies
LTTM Rating 4 Out of 5 Stars
Standout Tracks
Take The High Road
Can You Give Me A Drink?
Jesus, Hold my Hand
