Music Review: The Blind Boys of Alabama - Duets

Let’s be honest — “duets albums” can be dodgy propositions. Sinatra’s and Ray Charles’s duet projects were end-of-career grabs for chart success; genre artists, like the Chieftains, exploit them for crossover appeal. Piggybacking on collaborators’ names can attract new audiences, but an artist can lose his/her own identity along the way.

So I got nervous when the Blind Boys of Alabama, those multi-Grammy-winning gospel icons, released the simply titled Duets, featuring co-stars as diverse as underground rocker Lou Reed, reggae legend Toots Hibbert, and born-again country star Randy Travis. Were the Blind Boys of Alabama jumping the shark?

There’s no question the Blind Boys of Alabama are cornerstones of American gospel music – they were founded in 1939 – but only one original member remains (the semi-retired Clarence Fountain). Wasn’t it inevitable that the replacement Blind Boys might cash in on their predecessors’ reputation?

I am happy to report, however, that the Blind Boys’ Duets does no such thing. For one thing, this wasn’t a calculated, pre-conceived duets project – it compiles a dozen-plus tracks recorded over the past seven years (and one even older 1994 duet with Bonnie Raitt, “When The Spell Is Broken”). And they’re not re-recording past hits, but adding their sumptuous harmonies to new songs by an eclectic range of musical artists.

I think of this as the Brendan Fraser effect — just as actor Fraser tends to get cast by savvy directors, so do the Blind Boys benefit from the intelligence of the other artists who hire them. And after the Blind Boys’ stellar 2003 Christmas album Go Tell It On the Mountain, which featured stunning duets with everyone from Tom Waits to Chrissie Hynde, I’d bet that the Blind Boys had their pick of guest-star invitations.

On the one hand, Duets includes traditional blues artists like Charlie Musselwhite (“I Had Trouble”), John Hammond (“One Kind Favor”), and Solomon Burke (“None Of Us Are Free”), their gravelly voices highlighted against the loamy blend of the Blind Boys’ harmonies. On the other hand, country/western artists like Randy Travis (“Up Above My Head”) and the swing band Asleep At the Wheel (“The Devil Ain’t Lazy”) call on the Blind Boys’ exquisite rhythmic gifts to punctuate more jubilant songs.

Article Author: Holly Hughes

Holly A Hughes has been a rock 'n roll fan since February 9, 1964. She's heard it all, on vinyl, cassettes, 8-track tapes, CDs, and mp3 files. But so long as it's got a good beat, she'll dance to it.

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