DJ Urban Kobbb’s favorite Blind Boys: I’ll Fly Away (playing now) and hit the  button to hear Free at Last. |
This unsolicited piece of advice came to me from a fellow customer as I waited at a New York City deli this past weekend. What the heck? I can always use a good day. I went back to my hotel room and fired up some Blind Boys of Alabama. And you know, that nice young lady at the deli may have been right.
The Blind Boys of Alabama have been spreading their positive message of faith and hope for almost 60 years. Over that time, the lineup has occasionally changed, but the music has not. The Blind Boys sing Gospel classics in three-part harmony. And when I say classics, I mean songs that everybody has heard.Their latest album, Down in New Orleans, follows this formula, but in the style of the various genres of New Orleans music. The Blind Boys sing their standards backed by stroll piano, Dixieland and traditional jazz. It’s the perfect combination of feel-good lyrics and feel-good music.
The Blind Boys have successfully crossed over into popular music for a simple reason: They don’t preach. Well, they don’t preach about religion. They sing about living a good, just life and enjoying the reward that brings.Check out the lyrics to If I Could Help Somebody:
If I could help somebody,
As I travel along,
If I could help somebody,
In a word of song,
If I could help somebody,
From doing wrong,
Then my living will not be in vain
Now that’s a message that anybody can appreciate. It’s not religion. It’s morality, and more of it cannot be a bad thing. Singing that message for 60 years has surely led to somebody, somewhere leading a better life. Can you think of a better purpose for music?More than anything else, The Blind Boys of Alabama remind me of the danger of categorizing music. Because it’s Gospel, some people dismiss it without listening. Those who give it a listen will be uplifted by awesome voices, great music and inspirational lyrics.
Who knows? They might even have a better day.
