<back - BLIND BOYS OF ALABAMA - The (5) Blind Boys of Alabama have been pilgrims on the 'Gospel Highway' for nearly 60 years. The seeds of the group took root among friends singing informally in 1937.  The 'information superhighway' of Clarence Fountain's was the radio. It brought the sounds of The Soul Stirrers, and The Golden Gate Quartet. Fountain, not yet in his teens, was singing in the Glee Club at the Talladega Institute for the Deaf and Blind when he enlisted Johnny Fields, JT Hutton, Ollice Thomas, George Scott, and Vel Bozman Traylor to form Happy Land Jubilee Singers.

Except for JT Hutton, all of them were blind. They learned many songs from The Golden Gate Quartet. "Those were the people that we really patterned ourselves after," Charles Fountain states. The 'jubilee style' can be heard on songs such as Didn't It Rain, Hush, and Listen to the Lambs. Tragedy followed in 1947 when Vel Bozman Traylor, died of an accidental gunshot. "He really was the one who got the thing together," sadly Fountain recalls. They continued on with Rev. Paul Exkano sharing lead vocals with Fountain for a few years, as the Happy Land Gospel Singers. The group made its record debut in 1948 with See Everybody's Mother But Mine for the Coleman label. By the time of their 1950 recordings for the Philly-based Gospel label, the group had become the 5 Blind Boys of Alabama. "We changed our name when the 5 Blind Boys of Mississippi came along and were doing really well." Fountain explains. Between 1953/57 the 5 Blind Boys of Alabama recorded for Specialty. The 5 Blind Boys of Alabama never strayed from their path, recording extensively for Vee-Jay Records in Chicago from 1963/65. In 1969 Charles Fountain left the group to purse a solo career. 'Do Lord' was one of the final songs he recorded with the group before a 10 year hiatus. Then after reuniting, the 5 Blind Boys of Alabama starred in the Obie Award winning Broadway musical, 'Gospel at Colonus' in 1983. In 1994, the group debut on House of Blues label with the release of the live 'I Brought Him with Me'. The Blind Boys did not record again until 2001 releasing 'Sprit of the Century' on the Real World label. It became the group's best-selling album to date and won the 2001 Grammy Award for Best Traditional Soul Gospel Album. This was followed by 'Higher Ground' in 2002. Backed by Robert Randolph and Ben Harper, the Blind Boys offered masterful interpretations of Curtis Mayfield's 'People Get Ready' and Aretha Franklin's 'Spirit in the Dark'. During the 2002 Gospel Music Association's Dove Awards, the Blind Boys of Alabama were inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame and a Dove Award for 'Higher Ground'.  MP3 - Do Lord | Hush |