The Blind Boys Of Alabama

The Blind Boys of Alabama established themselves early as fixtures within American roots traditions, taking shape amid the segregated South during the mid-twentieth century and delivering classic Black gospel repertoire just as the Civil Rights era approached. The ensemble first coalesced in the late 1930s while its members were still schoolboys; they converted their visual impairment into a defining asset, given that every original participant save one was blind. After years of traversing the chitlin’ circuit, the singers reached an initial commercial peak with recordings issued throughout the 1950s and 1960s, navigating both a swiftly evolving nation and the shifting fashions of the record business without ever abandoning their core spiritual identity. Their mainstream arrival finally occurred in the late 1980s through participation in the Obie-winning Broadway production The Gospel at Colonus, after which they launched their earliest international engagements, signed with major labels, and joined forces with secular artists such as Lou Reed, Prince, and Stevie Wonder. Well into their seventh decade, the group sustained creative momentum in the new millennium, earning a place in the Gospel Music Hall of Fame and securing Grammy Awards for the 2002 release Spirit of the Century and the 2009 album Down in New Orleans, while also pursuing fresh partnerships with younger figures including Valerie June, Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon, and Sam Amidon. By 2018 only two charter members remained, yet the ensemble pressed forward with the career-spanning Almost Home before teaming with Marc Cohn for Work to Do and, in 2023, delivering Echoes of the South on the Alabama-based Single Lock Records.

Clarence Fountain guided the lineup for the greater part of its existence, alongside Jimmy Carter, Eric McKinney, George Scott, Caleb Butler, Johnny Fields, Joey Williams, Donald Dillion, and Aubrey Blount. The singers first united as students at Alabama’s Talladega Institute for the Deaf and Blind, although their recording activity did not commence until the closing years of the 1940s. As a youngster, Fountain encountered the Golden Gate Quartet via radio broadcasts, and the fledgling Five Blind Boys of Alabama drew foundational inspiration from that ensemble. They initially performed professionally under the name Happy Land Jubilee Singers, sustaining themselves through hand-to-mouth travels across the southern chitlin’ circuit. Beginning in 1948 they cut sides for numerous independent companies and scored gospel successes in the following decade with “Oh, Lord Stand by Me” and “I Can See Everybody’s Mother But I Can’t See Mine.” Following the passing of one member in 1950, the group adopted its enduring title, the Blind Boys of Alabama. Fountain’s unit first recorded for Newark’s Coleman label, then worked with Art Rupe’s California-based Specialty imprint from 1953 to 1957. During the 1960s their vigorous gospel approach influenced performers such as Bobby “Blue” Bland and Marvin Gaye, while the singers themselves documented extensive material for Vee-Jay between 1963 and 1965. Fountain departed for a solo attempt in 1969 and returned a decade later, reuniting the original roster by the close of the 1970s.

Broad public recognition arrived only in 1988 via their starring role in the Obie-winning Broadway production. Fountain later identified the fifteen-week run of The Gospel at Colonus as the troupe’s artistic summit. That engagement generated fresh theatrical and ecclesiastical bookings, enabling early-1990s tours of larger venues and churches together with the group’s first European excursions. A National Heritage Fellowship followed in 1994, the same year they appeared at the Philadelphia Folk Festival, the Beale Street Music Festival, and the King Biscuit Blues Festival; additional mid-decade visibility came through BET’s On Jazz and a guest spot on Beverly Hills 90210. The Blind Boys contributed to Peter Gabriel’s 2002 album Up and shared billing with Ben Harper on the 2004 release There Will Be a Light. Scott’s death in 2005 prompted Fountain’s retirement from the road, leaving Carter as the primary frontman; original bass singer Fields passed away in 2009. The 2011 project Take the High Road explored country-gospel terrain under producer Jamey Johnson with assistance from Willie Nelson, Hank Williams, Jr., and Vince Gill. A subsequent collaboration with Justin Vernon yielded the October 2013 album I’ll Find a Way, featuring guest appearances by Shara Worden of My Brightest Diamond, Merrill Garbus of tUnE-yArDs, Sam Amidon, and Patty Griffin. The holiday set Talkin’ Christmas, recorded with Taj Mahal, surfaced in 2014, while Omnivore Recordings reissued the group’s expanded Real World catalog two years later.

Health concerns kept Fountain at home while Carter continued to lead touring efforts. Late in 2016 the ensemble convened with four-time Grammy-winning producers Chris Goldsmith, Vance Powell, Steve Berlin, and John Leventhal across four North American cities, drawing original material from Leventhal, Marc Cohn, Ruthie Foster, Randall Bramblett, Valerie June, and North Mississippi Allstars before interpreting songs by Bob Dylan and Billy Joe Shaver to reflect upon their long history. The resulting Almost Home appeared in August 2017 and marked Fountain’s final recording before his passing in June 2018. With Carter now the sole surviving founder, the Blind Boys joined Cohn for the 2019 collaborative album Work to Do and toured Europe that year alongside Amadou & Mariam. After pandemic restrictions eased, they resumed selective live dates and entered the studio once more in late 2022 at the Nutthouse in Sheffield, Alabama, working with Matt Ross-Spang, Ben Tanner, and manager Charles Driebe; the sessions constituted the last work with Ben Moore and Paul Beasley, both of whom died shortly afterward. The collection incorporated gospel standards such as the single “Work Until My Days Are Done,” blues selections, and renditions of Stevie Wonder’s “Heaven Help Us All” and “Friendship,” the latter long linked to Pops Staples. Following completion of the recordings, Carter himself stepped down. Issued in August 2023 by Single Lock Records and titled Echoes of the South in reference to the 1940 radio broadcast on which the singers first performed live, the album concluded this chapter of their history.