Go Tell It on the Mountain [Bonus Track]

Performer: The Five Blind Boys of Alabama
Artist: Solomon Burke; Tom Waits; Michael Franti; Chrissie Hynde; Richard Thompson; Aaron Neville; Mavis Staples; Shelby Lynne; George Clinton; Robert Randolph; Les McCann
Engineer: Jimmy Hoyson; Erik Flettrich; Warren Latimer; Mike Glines; Jimmy Hoyson
Producer: John Chelew; Chris Goldsmith; John Chelew
Distributor: EMI Music Distribution

Notes: Blind Boys Of Alabama: Clarence Fountain, Jimmy Carter, George Scott, Joey Williams, Ricky McKinnie, Bobby Butler (vocals). Additional personnel includes: Solomon Burke, Mavis Staples, Les McCann, Tom Waits, Aaron Neville, Michael Franti, John Medeski, Duke Robillard. GO TELL IT ON THE MOUNTAIN won the 2004 Grammy Award for Best Traditional Soul Gospel Album. The Five Blind Boys of Alabama: Tracy Pierce, Bobby Butler, Ricke McKinnie, Joey Williams (vocals); Clarence Fountain, Jimmy Carter , George Scott. Personnel: Les McCann, Me'Shell Ndeg�ocello (vocals, piano); Chrissie Hynde, Clarence Fountain, George Clinton , Aaron Neville, Jimmy Carter , Mavis Staples, Michael Franti, Shelby Lynne, Solomon Burke, Tom Waits, George Scott, The Blind Boys of Alabama (vocals); Duke Robillard, Rick Thompson (guitar); Michael Jerome (drums). Additional personnel: Richard Thompson (guitar); John Medeski (Hammond b-3 organ); Danny Thompson (double bass); Chrissie Hynde, Duke Robillard, George Clinton , Aaron Neville, Les McCann, Mavis Staples, Me'Shell Ndeg�ocello, Michael Franti, Michael Jerome, Shelby Lynne, Solomon Burke, Tom Waits. Audio Mixer: Jimmy Hoyson. Recording information: Capitol Studio B, Los Angeles, CA; Omega Studios, Rockville, MD; Paul Smith Music Studios, London, England; The Record Plant, Sausalito, CA. Photographers: Henry Diltz; John Beverly Jones. Arrangers: John Chelew ; Chris Goldsmith; The Blind Boys of Alabama. On the surface, one might fear the taint of market-research exploitation on an album where this classic gospel group backs a variety of famous guests on well known Christmas songs, but that fear is aesthetically unfounded. The Blind Boys of Alabama, for all their soulful gravitas, function extremely well in a support role (though their "solo" track, "Last Month of the Year," is one of the most memorable moments here). Tom Waits comes off like a half-crazed preacher, throwing down the spiritual gauntlet on "Go Tell It on the Mountain." Chrissie Hynde demonstrates why she's one of the more underrated singers in rock, as she heats up "In the Bleak Midwinter." And, of course, the Aaron Neville and Mavis Staples cuts are no-brainers; how could they possibly not work? Some less expected guests include Spearhead frontman Michael Franti and the funkmaster himself, George Clinton, who brings the blues, if not the funk, to "Away in a Manger." Here we go. Why can't record labels leave well enough alone? Here is the third Five Blind Boys of Alabama record on which the legendary Southern gospel quartet has to have celebrity guests collaborate with them in order to get played on National Public Radio. To make this one seem different than the last two -- and for the record, Higher Ground was a monster album, as the group was backed by Robert Randolph & the Family Band -- this one is a Christmas outing. Here, Solomon Burke lends his talents to "I Pray on Christmas" and Tom Waits on the title track, with Michael Franti stepping in for "The Little Drummer Boy," Chrissie Hynde and Richard Thompson "adding" to the traditional "In the Bleak Midwinter" (which makes sense since Danny Thompson is the bassist on this date). Other guests include Shelby Lynne, Les McCann, Aaron Neville, Robert Randolph and George Clinton (a ridiculous collaboration -- Randolph, a brilliant ambitious musician, doesn't need the fumbling Clinton for anything, especially to play with the Blind Boys), and Me'Shell Ndeg�Ocello. And thank god for Mavis Staples, who adds dimension, depth, and texture to an already glorious sound. [The disc was re-issued in 2004 with the addition of a bonus track: an a cappella version of "My Lord What a Morning."] ~ Thom Jurek

Entertainment Weekly (12/19/03, p.74) - "...[The Blind Boys and their guests join] players like John Medeski [in] turning up the spiritual-blues simmer..." - RAting: A- Dirty Linen (p.49) - "[T]his concert spans the seasons, much like the Blind Boys span the years and bridge the generations. There's a stunning version of 'Amazing Grace'..." Mojo (Publisher) (1/04, p.104) - 4 stars out of 5 - "[H]ere the Blind Boys take on standards such as 'White Christmas' and 'O Come All Ye Faithful' and fashion them into stirring soul sermons."

One of the most influential and long-lived of the gospel groups to come to prominence in the 1940s, the Five Blind Boys of Alabama had a long-standing rivalry with the similarly named Five Blind Boys of Mississippi, with whom they often toured. Founding member Clarence Fountain went on to a successful solo career in the late '60s, but returned a decade later. The group's standing grew with each passing decade; still in operation in the 2000s, they recorded some high-profile albums featuring guest stars from the pop world, still featuring Fountain and original member George Scott. Yet more new fans were exposed to the Blind Boys when their version of Tom Waits's elegiac "Way Down in the Hole" was used as the theme for the cult sensation cop show THE WIRE in 2001.

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