"I Won't Take Nothing To Turn Around"

From their beginning in the late 1930's at the Talladega Institute for the Blind in Alabama, the Blind Boys of Alabama have traveled the Gospel Highway several times over. Their careers have spanned seven decades, they have won four Grammy Awards and have toured and recorded with the likes of Bonnie Rait, Solomon Burke, Ben Harper and Peter Gabriel. I even had the honor and priviledge to open up for them one night at the Belly Up Tavern in Solana Beach, CA.

Here is footage of The Blind Boys of Alabama doing "Too Close To Heaven" around 1963 with Clarence Fountain singing lead. It's a little glimpse into the earlier days of the Blind Boys, before the world-wide fame and tour buses. And even though the film is shot over 20 years after their inception, their performance, in my opinion exemplifies what great gospel singing is all about. Watch the footage and see what it means to sing to God and and to sing because of God, lifting up your voice with your entire body.





Amen.