Artist: Clarence Fountain
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I figured some good old fashioned gospel music would make a nice tribute to Martin Luther King, Jr. on this special day. What I didn't realize until doing a little research just now is that Clarence Fountain was one of the original founding members of The Blind Boys of Alabama, the famous gospel group that actually performed at benefits for Rev. King during the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s.
This 1974 LP is one that Fountain released during his ten-year hiatus from The Blind Boys, when he decided to try his hand at a solo career. His solo work sounds pretty terrific to me (that voice! And he makes particularly nice use of the electric organ as accompaniment), but in the late 1970s Clarence went back to perform with the group he'd founded. When Fountain passed away last June at the age of 88, he left Jimmy Carter as the only remaining founding member of The Blind Boys of Alabama; Jimmy still performs with the group today. Happy Martin Luther, King Jr. Day!
This 1974 LP is one that Fountain released during his ten-year hiatus from The Blind Boys, when he decided to try his hand at a solo career. His solo work sounds pretty terrific to me (that voice! And he makes particularly nice use of the electric organ as accompaniment), but in the late 1970s Clarence went back to perform with the group he'd founded. When Fountain passed away last June at the age of 88, he left Jimmy Carter as the only remaining founding member of The Blind Boys of Alabama; Jimmy still performs with the group today. Happy Martin Luther, King Jr. Day!
[ Clarence Fountain: November 28, 1929 — June 3, 2018 ]
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