The Blind Boys of Alabama
Waterfront Blues Festival
Portland, OR.
July 5, 2007
Recorded from KBOO FM again this year. KBOO is an all volunteer radio station that has been broadcasting this festival for 20 years. There will be some inherrent reception problems and some drops in the music from time to time, but I have tried to "fix" all where possible.
Recorded from FM > Sharp MD > HD > Wave Editor > FLAC > you
Enjoy the tunes, twofthrs
"When The Blind Boys of Alabama open their mouths to sing, what comes out is older than salvation, older than redemption. It is the sound of oppression and struggle. It is the sound of revelation and liberation. It is a sound as old as time. The Blind Boys of Alabama are the pyramids of gospel music; the birthplace of sacred soul."- Ben Harper
Formed some six and a half decades ago, The Blind Boys of Alabama are the Iron Men of the music industry. They predate Elvis, Little Richard and Al Green yet even in their 70s they are still at the top of the gospel charts and have won an impressive four consecutive Grammy Awards over the past four years.
In recent years, The Blind Boys have proven themselves masters of bringing out the most spiritual aspects of mainstream music, while at the same time bringing the music of the church straight to the roadhouse. In the past five years, they've recorded moving renditions of songs by everyone from Tom Waits to Prince side by side with their traditional material, and appeared as guests on record and on stage with an equally diverse array of artists, from Peter Gabriel to Ben Harper. During this amazing run, the cover tunes and collaborations have been consistently tasty and organic, seasoned with a time-tested understanding of the sounds that move Man's soul.