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 All the duets - from various labels - all on one great CD! Nov 21, 2009
I love the BBs of Alabama and have for years. Time and age has changed the membership of the group since it was formed in 1939 but they always sing as a cohesive unit - and individual members names are rarely listed on their albums. I have many of their CDS (and DVDs) but most of the tracks - though all but four are previously issued - are new to me. Why? Because the Executive Producers Charles Driebe and Chris Goldsmith took these tracks from albums which featured the Boys as "guests". There's a diverse group from Country's Randy Travis to kids' music icon Dane Zanes. So you don't need to go buy whole albums just to hear the Boys do their thing.
Add to this the four "new to CD" tracks with Toots of the Maytals, blues master John Hammond and - least likely partner of all, Lou Reed! The Bonnie Raitt (issued) track comes from 1994 but the other are all post 2001.
The sound is "heavenly" (pun intended here) and the sequencing just perfect. If the "name acts" included here introduced new folks to the Blind Boys recordings, that'll just be the icing on the cake!
Steve Ramm
"Anything Phonographic"
 Gospel soul harmonies matched to pop, rock, blues and more Nov 11, 2009
The Blind Boys of Alabama formed as a quartet in 1939 at what was then called the Alabama School for the Negro Deaf & Blind. All four members - three primary vocalists and a drummer - were blind. Of the four founders, two have passed, one has retired, and Clarence Fountain continues to tour with the group as his health allows. Like the Staple Singers, the Blind Boys of Alabama sing traditional material and bring their gospel harmonies to pop music. This collection pulls together fourteen collaborations in which the group backs up or sings alongside folk, rock, pop, country, blues, soul and reggae artists.
All but four of these tracks were previously released, but anthologizing them in a single place provides an amplified view of how the group's gospel meshes into a variety of musical contexts, and how effortlessly the group pulls other artists into their embrace. Ben Harper's soulful singing is a natural fit, as are Toots Hibbert's and Solomon Burke's. Randy Travis' old-timey religion gives the group a jaunty rhythm, and the twangy guitar, solid backbeat and spoken blues of Charlie Musselwhite's "I Had Trouble" is backed with Jordanaires-styled harmonies.
The acoustic "Welcome Table" provides Dan Zanes and the group a terrific arena for vocal interplay, even dropping in an a cappella verse. The spare blues of John Hammond's "One Kind of Favor" finds the group harmonizing in a low hum, and the swing stylings of Asleep at the Wheel's "The Devil Ain't Lazy" offer a playful way to put across the song's message. Perhaps most surprising is the pairing with Lou Reed on the Velvet Underground's "Jesus." Here the group's harmonies shed the light of salvation upon Reed's spent and broken monotone.
Timothy B. Schmit's "Secular Praise" is the album's newest track, and the cuts by Toots Hibbert, Lou Reed and John Hammond are each previously unreleased. All four are fine additions to the material that was drawn from ten different original artist's albums. The group's live and recorded work has received numerous accolades over the years, including film and TV placements and five Grammy awards, but their greatest compliments may just be these invitations to make music with their peers. [©2009 hyperbolium dot com]
Duets Oct 29, 2009
This delightful assemblage of musicians completely surprised me. The powerfully evocative Duets CD is a rewarding mixture of superb contemporary musical artists. It is really hard to pick a favorite from the diverse sampling of songs on Duets: "Jesus" with Lou Reed and "Perfect Peace" with Toots Hibbert are truly exceptional pairings. The Blind Boys continue to amaze me with their talent and creativity on this new compilation.
0 of 1 found the following review helpful:
Blind Boys return... with friends! Oct 28, 2009
I've often said that only two good things ever came out of religion: art and music. The Blind Boys of Alabama have proven the former to be true with their Grammy-winning gospel. Collected on this anthology are fourteen tracks of the group's collaborative work. Most of the tracks have already been released on the albums of other artists; however, there are three previously unreleased tracks, including a great song titled "Jesus" which finds the fellas teaming up with Lou Reed. Most of the tracks hit ("None Of Us Are Free" with Solomon Burke; "Take My Hand" with Ben Harper; etc.), but there is a miss or two ("Nothing But The Blood" with Jars of Clay). Still, those couple of misses are because of the collaborator the Blind Boys are working with, not because of the work the guys themselves are contributing to the track. The rest of the album is such a solid collection that it almost makes me want to believe.
Blind Boys + Friends = Great Album! Oct 28, 2009
The Blind Boys of Alabama are amazing. Ben Harper, Lou Reed, Toots, Randy Travis etc etc are also amazing. I am so glad they got together to create this album. really is powerful and a great listen. I am not super spiritual but listening to The Blind Boys makes me wonder if i should be!
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