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Blind Boys Of Alabama

Talkin' Christmas! with Taj Mahal

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Talkin' Christmas EPK
The Blind Boys of Alabama & Taj Mahal - What Can I Do?
The Blind Boys of Alabama - The Making of I'll Find A Way
If I Had A Hammer Marc Cohn & The Blind Boys Of Alabama City Winery NYC 1/6/2019
1 Do You Hear What I Hear?
2 Christ Was Born on Christmas Morn
3 What Can I Do?
4 Talkin' Christmas!
5 Merry Christmas to You
6 Silent Night
7 There's a Reason We Call it Christmas
8 The Sun is Rising
9 No Room in the Inn
10 Jesus Was Born
11 Who Will Remember?
12 Merry Christmas
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This holiday season, music lovers will have a lot to celebrate because The Blind Boys of Alabama & Taj Mahal will be Talkin' Christmas! Available on October 21 via Sony Music Masterworks, Talkin' Christmas! is a summit meeting of two American music icons. It includes new versions of Christmas standards, covers of hidden gospel gems, and seven brand-new holiday songs - six of which are the first Christmas songs ever penned by the Blind Boys themselves. The new original songs include the title track ‘Talkin' Christmas!,' a funky tribute to the power of Christmas featuring Money Mark on keyboards, and the compassionate ‘What Can I Do?,' which features Taj Mahal on vocals and is one of two songwriting collaborations with Stax Records soul legend William Bell.  The album also features a hand-clapping rearrangement of the usually-slower classic ‘Do You Hear What I Hear?' and a refreshingly intimate, acoustic version of ‘Silent Night.'

  • Blind Boys of Alabama bring their gospel sounds to Iowa City's 'Englert Theatre' / The Gazette
    Posted At: February 22, 2024 12:00 AM
    The Gazette's Ed Condran writes….The Blind Boys of Alabama will bring their Grammy- and Dove-winning gospel stylings to the Englert Theatre in Iowa City on Feb . 29, 2024. They are (from left) Joey Williams, Ben Moore, Jimmy Carter, Ricky McKinnie and Paul Beasley. Carter, 91, has recently retired and no long tours with the group. (Jim Herrington)The Blind Boys of Alabama will bring their Grammy- and Dove-w...
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  • relix reflects on the Blind Boys of Alabama
    Posted At: November 15, 2023 12:00 AM
    relix - Jeff Tamarkin writes…What do Lou Reed, Ben Harper, Chrissie Hynde, Peter Gabriel, Béla Fleck, Prince, Bonnie Raitt, Tom Waits and Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon all have in common? Two things. First, all of them have—at one time or another— collaborated with The Blind Boys of Alabama. Second, none of them were born yet in 1939, when that renowned gospel troupe first sang together. Since then, there have b...
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  • Taj Mahal named - B.B. King entertainer of the year at 39th Annual Blues Awards / POLLSTAR
    Posted At: May 14, 2018 12:00 AM

    With E Street band guitarist Little Steven Van Zandt emceeing the affair, last night's Blues Music Awards honored Taj Mahal and Keb' Mo' for their collaborative album TajMo, picked up awards for album of the tear and contemporary blues album honors.  Mahal was also named the B.B. King entertainer of the year and best acoustic artist and Keb' Mo' was selected best contemporary blues male artist. The ...
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  • Watch The Blind Boys Of Alabama at NYC's Paste Studios
    Posted At: February 21, 2018 12:00 AM

    Although the Blind Boys of Alabama have been singing gospel music for more than five decades, it wasn't until the late 20th century that they had the benefit of a major record company behind them. Led by founding member Clarence Fountain, the group has also featured Eric McKinney, George Scott, Caleb Butler, Johnny Fields, Jimmy Carter, Joey Williams, Donald Dillion, and Aubrey Blount. From their inc...
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  • Blind Boys of Alabama discuss the gospel roots of rock and soul on NPR: World Cafe
    Posted At: February 15, 2018 12:00 AM

    How many relationships do you know of that have lasted for 70 years? If you're coming up short, I'll help you out; Clarence Fountain and Jimmy Carter, the two surviving original members of Blind Boys of Alabama, who began touring together in the 1940's. Since the beginning, Blind Boys of Alabama built a career by putting their own stamp on gospel standards and tradition hymns, like their ...
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  • Blind Boys to perform Martin Luther King Jr. tribute in Birmingham for Alabama Bicentennial / Al.com
    Posted At: November 28, 2017 12:00 AM

    The Blind Boys of Alabama will perform a tribute to Martin Luther King Jr. on Jan. 14 in Birmingham. The show at the UAB's - Alys Stephens Center is part of the city's celebration of the Alabama Bicentennial. The show will feature a orchestra conducted by Henry Panion III and seven choirs from universities around the state. Singers from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham Sou...
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  • Oklahoma School for the Blind students experience The Blind Boys of Alabama / NONDOC
    Posted At: October 23, 2017 12:00 AM

    In my business, sometimes you walk down the street, get offered a show ticket and end up observing music students from the Oklahoma School of the Blind as they experience phenomenal gospel music from the Blind Boys of Alabama. At least that's what happens if you are lucky. Wednesday evening, I received a last-minute ticket to the Tower Theatre for the performances of Irma Thomas and the Blind Boy...
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  • The Blind Boys of Alabama continue to evolve on Almost Home / relix
    Posted At: September 19, 2017 12:00 AM

    To put things into perspective, when the Five Blind Boys of Alabama-the name under which they performed at the time-first recorded in 1948, most of the 1960s' future rock and R&B heroes were still wondering how their lives would change once they got into junior high. Nearly 70 years later, Blind Boys of Alabama-with surviving octogenarian co-founders Clarence Fountain and Jimmy Carter still involved-...
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  • Words like veteran, legendary and influential don't go far enough in describing the Blind Boys of Alabama / American Songwriter
    Posted At: August 21, 2017 12:00 AM

    p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 10.0px Arial} Words like "veteran," "legendary and "influential" don't go far enough in describing the over 60-year career the Blind Boys of Alabama have fashioned. Smart marketing, beautifully produced albums and contributions of high profile artists from Peter Gabriel and Ben Harper (both of whom they toured with) to Taj Mahal, blues harpist Charlie...
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  • Paste - 20 best songs by The Blind Boys of Alabama
    Posted At: August 19, 2017 12:00 AM

    With the release of Almost Home, their first new album in three years, the legendary vocal group Blind Boys of Alabama culminate a legacy that stretches back a full seven decades. It's a remarkable trajectory, borne in the most challenging of circumstances, but 70 years later, two original members, Charles Fountain and Jimmy Carter, still remain at the helm, upholding southern gospel tradition while cons...
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  • Blind Boys Of Alabama - Almost Home is culmination of their long journey / Paste
    Posted At: August 16, 2017 12:00 AM

    At this stage in their impossibly long and remarkable career, it might be unnecessary to begin a review of the new Blind Boys of Alabama record rehashing their biography, or offering another appraisal of their legacy. But after seven decades together as a group, having lived through ever-changing times and many departed bandmates, Almost Home can't help but feel like their swan song, or like th...
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  • Blind Boys of Alabama - Jimmy Carter interviews with NPR: Weekend Edition Sunday
    Posted At: August 14, 2017 12:00 AM

    Sometimes, all you have to hear is a few notes, and you know that a voice has been lived in; you can hear a long life of ups and downs, a rich and weathered sound. That is certainly true of singer Jimmy Carter, one of the founding members of the Blind Boys of Alabama. The Grammy-winning group had its recording debut nearly 70 years ago; now, it has a new album, Almost Home. The album includes written to ...
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  • Blind Boys of Alabama entertain 10,000 at Hoover's 2017 Freedom Fest / Hoover Sun
    Posted At: July 5, 2017 12:00 AM

    An estimated 10,000 people turned out at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium Tuesday night to celebrate the Fourth of July at with The Blind Boys of Alabama at the 2017 Freedom Fest. The Boys filled the air with their soulful and gospel sounds in a 75-minute show. The highlight of the performance came when the Grammy Award-winning group's leader, Jimmy Carter of Birmingham, left the stage and took a (guided) str...
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  • The Blind Boys of Alabama make 'The Edinburgh Reporter's' top 5 sessions at J&BFest
    Posted At: June 28, 2017 12:00 AM

    This year Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival is celebrating the Centenary of Jazz – and the history of the Blues. Jazz 100 offers historic concerts, New Orleans comes to Edinburgh in the shape of a host of musicians from the birthplace of jazz, Cross the Tracks blurs the boundaries between jazz and contemporary music, and Scottish Jazz Expo celebrates Scottish...
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  • The soul-stirring Blind Boys of Alabama anoint the faithful at Broadway Theatre / Saskatoon StarPhoenix
    Posted At: June 26, 2017 12:00 AM

    The spirit in the sky descended on a multitude at the Broadway Theatre on Saturday, anointing the faithful with soul-stirring songs by The Blind Boys of Alabama. The powerful vocal group formed in 1939 so it's a miracle in itself that it's still a vital touring entity and still releasing albums. The next recording, Almost Home, comes out next month. They're unstoppable. Leader Jimmy Carter made an announ...
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  • Blind Boys Of Alabama set to release - Almost Home / NPR: All Songs Considered
    Posted At: June 24, 2017 12:00 AM

    When you're a group that's performed together for more than seven decades, it might be a daunting task to keep crafting music that feels fresh. No doubt that hill is even harder to climb when you're working within a tradition like gospel, with its well-loved, and well-worn, harmonic and lyrical conventions. Yet the singers who make up Blind Boys of Alabama have always risen to the challenge w...
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  • Blind Boys of Alabama to perform at 2017 Freedom Fest / Hoover Sun
    Posted At: June 2, 2017 12:00 AM

    The city of Hoover AL has lined up the Blind Boys of Alabama to perform at the fifth annual Freedom Fest Fourth of July celebration at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium. The Boys are scheduled to put on a 75-minute show beginning at 7:30 p.m. on July 4 and will be followed by a fireworks show at the Hoover Met. City officials in past years has been able to feature a lot of up-and-coming musicians from Hoover a...
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  • DAILY KOS presents The Blind Boys of Alabama LIVE from the KEXP studio
    Posted At: March 26, 2017 12:00 AM

    Welcome to the DAILY KOS - Morning Open Thread, a daily post with a MOTley crew of hosts who chose the topic for the day's posting. We support our community, invite and share ideas, and encourage thoughtful, respectful dialogue in an open forum. The diarist gets to sleep in if she wants to, and she can show up long after the post published. That is a feature, not a bug. Other than that, site rulz rul...
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  • 'Beat the Blues to Save Lives' set for NYC's B.B. King's / jambands.com
    Posted At: March 22, 2017 12:00 AM

    Grammy-winning gospel group Blind Boys of Alabama will participate in a charity concert this week, taking place at the B.B. King Blues Club in New York City and benefitting Suicide Awareness Voices of Education (SAVE) and the Jed Foundation. The concert, dubbed Beat the Blues to Save Lives, will take place this Thursday, March 23, and will also feature vocalists Dana Fuchs and Ruthie Foster, both of whom...
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  • The Blind Boys of Alabama return to DC for Howard Theatre show / Washington Post Q&A
    Posted At: March 19, 2017 12:00 AM

    Of the grade-school students who started singing together in 1939 at the Alabama Institute for the Negro Deaf and Blind, only a couple are still alive. And just one of the founding members, Jimmy Carter, continues to tour with the Blind Boys of Alabama. The group has performed for more than 75 years, meeting four presidents and playing the White House three times, and its acclaim has only grown in recent...
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  • The Blind Boys of Alabama talk longevity with MassLive before Northampton date
    Posted At: March 7, 2017 12:00 AM

    The Blind Boys of Alabama may be a gospel group, but their reach spans many other genres. This was evident from group member Rickey McKinnie's final thoughts during a recent interview when he channeled the word's of Thin Lizzy's Phil Lynott. "Tell people they better not miss it when the boys are back in town," he said with a hearty chuckle. The Blind Boys of Alabama will play Signature Sounds...
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  • 'How Sweet the Sound: The Blind Boys of Alabama' is closing-night feature at ReelAbilities Film Festival / New York Times
    Posted At: March 2, 2017 12:00 AM

    "How Sweet the Sound: The Blind Boys of Alabama" tells the story of the Grammy-winning gospel group, which goes back a very long way - the Blind Boys released their first single in 1948. The film, the closing-night feature on Wednesday, March 8, at JCC Manhattan's ReelAbilities Film Festival, relates how the original members came together in the 1930s at an Alabama school for deaf or blind black students...
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  • The Blind Boys set for annual Christmas show at Musical Instrument Museum / Phoenix New Times
    Posted At: December 22, 2016 12:00 AM

    It has been some eight-plus decades since a young Jimmy Carter (not the president) first experienced the wonder of waking up and finding a basket of fruit and a new toy at the foot of his bed on Christmas morning. A Birmingham, Alabama, native, Carter relishes those memories, but more so, he holds on to what Christmas has always meant most to him. "Christmas to Jimmy Carter means it's the day the Sav...
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  • Blind Boys of Alabama - Christmas Show is set for Tucson's Rialto Theater / KXCI Radio
    Posted At: December 15, 2016 12:00 AM

    The Blind Boys of Alabama have the rare distinction of being recognized around the world as both living legends and modern-day innovators. They are not just gospel singers borrowing from old traditions; the group helped to define those traditions in 20th century and almost single-handedly created a new gospel sound for the 21st. Since the original members first sang together as kids at the Alabama Instit...
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  • Blind Boys of Alabama set for Ludlow Garage / Cincinnati.com Q&A
    Posted At: November 9, 2016 12:00 AM

    Other than the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and such, it's hard to think of a band that's been around longer than the Blind Boys of Alabama. With roots dating back to the late 1930s, when the founding members met at the Alabama Institute for the Negro Blind, the Blind Boys of Alabama run has spanned several musical eras and continues today. Justin Verson of Bon Iver, Merrill Garbus of  tUnE-yArDs a...
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  • Blind Boys of Alabama re-release - Spirit of the Century & Higher Ground / relix
    Posted At: November 4, 2016 12:00 AM

    An American institution, the Blind Boys of Alabama tap tradition in a contemporary context. Their following was once confined to sacred circles, but they have not only narrowed the divide between the spiritual and the secular, but also often eliminate it entirely. The re-release of two of their most defining albums, Spirit of the Century and Higher Ground (from 2001 and 2002, respectively), proves that p...
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  • The Blind Boys of Alabama play World Cafe Live / Elmore Magazine review
    Posted At: August 30, 2016 12:00 AM

    "We hope we can sing something that'll lift you up and make you feel good," Jimmy Carter rasps to greet us. At 85, the group's remaining active founder shows a zest impressive for any age. He happily returns a "We love you!" from the floor and promises a heartfelt performance. Sure enough, the band sheds any rustiness during Curtis Mayfield's "People Get Ready," and for 80 minutes they fill the room with...
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  • Watch The Lone Bellow and Blind Boys of Alabama Combine for emotional performance of 'Watch Over Us' / relix
    Posted At: May 19, 2016 12:00 AM

    The Lone Bellow and Blind Boys of Alabama stole the show at Eaux Claires Music Festival in 2015 with their collaborative performance of the Brooklyn folk-rockers original "Watch Over Us." Now, that stunning performance has been released in the form of a pro-shot video. "This was magic," the band wrote on their Facebook page at the time. "Yesterday The Blind Boys of Alabama literally graced us w...
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  • The Blind Boys of Alabama set to play UK's Lied Center / Kansas Public Radio
    Posted At: May 17, 2016 12:00 AM

    The Blind Boys of Alabama have the rare distinction of being recognized around the world as both living legends and modern-day innovators. They are not just gospel singers borrowing from old traditions, as they helped to define those traditions in the 20th century and almost single-handedly created a new gospel sound for the 21stcentury. Since the original members first sang together as kids at the Alaba...
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  • Finding Higher Ground with The Blind Boys of Alabama / Hawaii Public Radio
    Posted At: March 23, 2016 12:00 AM

    The Blind Boys of Alabama have spread their style of gospel music for more than seven decades. The founding members of the group met as children in the late 1930's- and have since released more than 60 records, and won 7 Grammys. Although they were a fixture in the civil rights movement – and saw their career decline as audiences moved towards more popular music. But the band never crossed over to ...
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  • Five Reasons Why You Must Go See The Blind Boys Of Alabama / Folio Weekly
    Posted At: November 26, 2015 12:00 AM

    If, as Elvis Presley purportedly said, "Gospel music is the purest thing there is on this Earth," then The Blind Boys of Alabama are the purest keepers of that eternally pure flame. Formed in 1944 at the Alabama Institute for the Negro Blind when its seven founding members were all of nine or ten years old, the group has performed nearly everywhere, from the Jim Crow South to pivotal Civil Rights Movemen...
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  • The Blind Boys of Alabama play Ohio U / The Post review
    Posted At: November 16, 2015 12:00 AM

    It was impossible to not tap a foot and clap along to The Blind Boys of Alabama's performance at Templeton-Blackburn Alumni Memorial Auditorium Saturday night. The show started off with the crowd cheering when Jimmy Carter, the lead member, responding with, "That is what we call a good welcome." The Blind Boys of Alabama are a gospel-based group that have performed since 1939, when the orig...
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  • Blind Boys of Alabama play Ottawa Jazz Festival / Ottawa Sun
    Posted At: June 24, 2015 12:00 AM

    Jazzfest served up a shot of southern-fried soul with a gospel chaser, drawn straight from the source, with the Blind Boys of Alabama bolstered by the Dirty Dozen Brass Band in a near-perfect pairing at Confederation Park. And with the threat of Tuesday's rain a distant memory under clear, breezy skies, frontman Jimmy Carter stepped out on stage and urged fans to get comfortable. "You can even take y...
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  • Blind Boys of Alabama - Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly
    Posted At: March 6, 2015 12:00 AM

    PBS - Religion & Ethic NewsWeekly talked with the Blind Boys of Alabama about gospel music and the spiritual dimensions of their new album, "I'll Find a Way," produced by Justin Vernon of Bon Iver, when their current tour brought them recently to Washington, DC. The group collaborates here with many young musicians, including Shara Worden on the title song. Produced by Lauren Talley and Nick Liao. In...
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  • Blind Boys of Alabama play the McCoy Center / Columbus Dispatch review
    Posted At: February 16, 2015 12:00 AM

    The Blind Boys of Alabama played the McCoy Center in Columbus OH last night, Sunday February 15, and opened with Curtis Mayfield's People Get Ready, a gospel song originally recorded with Mayfield's soul group the Impressions. They followed with a Tom Waits tune - Way Down In The Hole, God Put A Rainbow In The Clouds, a tune country singer Kitty Wells made famous, and th...
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  • Blind Boys play Santa Rosa / The Press Democrat
    Posted At: December 17, 2014 12:00 AM

    The Blind Boys of Alabama play Santa Rosa's Wells Fargo Center this Sunday, Dec. 21 and the Press Democrat sat down for an interview with Blind Boys founding member Jimmy Carter, to discuss their new CD - Talkin' Christmas" with Taj Mahal. "I'm a stickler for good diction," Carter says . "If you don't have good diction, me and you can't deal." Over the past 70 ye...
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