Spirit of the Century

The Blind Boys of Alabama

album cover

Here's Gospel 2.0

When most music obsessives think about gospel, it's usually in the past tense, something that happened a long time ago. Of course some know about the reverent recordings Marion Williams (see p. 865) made in the 1980s and '90s, and about groups like the Fairfield Four and the Dixie Hummingbirds (see p. 226), whose legends have evolved over decades of gracious harmonizing. But in recent decades not much of interest has appeared under gospel—unless you count Kirk Franklin's dim R&B bait-and-switch routines.

Recorded in 2000, Spirit of the Century suggests that all gospel needed was a little bit of old-fashioned jukejoint energy. Here are freshly hopped-up versions of revivaltent standbys, including a version of "Amazing Grace" set to the chords of "The House of the Rising Sun." Also included are rock-era pieces cut from the same message-music cloth—notably the Rolling Stones' "I Just Wanna See His Face," treated as an up-tempo jubilee, and Tom Waits's yowling better-get-ready parade song "Jesus Gonna Be Here." They're sung by one of the most storied groups ever to travel the gospel highway: The Blind Boys of Alabama first formed in 1937 at a state school for the blind, and under the direction of Clarence Fountain became one of the powerhouse harmony acts, contributing important works in the '50s, '60s, and '70s.

Spirit, which features cameos from Ben Harper, harmonica virtuoso Charlie Musselwhite, and British bassist Danny Thompson, may not be the single best Blind Boys title available. But it's the one that set the group's comeback in motion. It's also the best illustration of the group's adaptability—its knack for savoring the riches of the epoch just past while hurtling, at fearless speed, into the new one. The spotlight throughout is on the singers, reverent voices who know exactly what to do when the man upstairs sends down a double dose of great-gosh-almighty.

Genre: Gospel
Released: 2001, Real World
Key Tracks: "Jesus Gonna Be Here," "Run On for a Long Time," "Amazing Grace," "Nobody's Fault but Mine," "Motherless Child"
Catalog Choice: Collectors Edition; The Gospel at Colonus
Next Stop: Ben Harper and the Blind Boys of Alabama: There Will Be a Light
After That: Mavis Staples: Have a Little Faith
Book Pages: 97–98