The Five Blind Boys

 Artist: The Five Blind Boys

LP: Can I Get a Witness

Song: "Shall We Come?"

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Song: "I'll Trust In God"

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Song: "Come Up the Back Door"

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I can only assume that, after losing their first five copies of this terrific gospel record by The Five Blind Boys of Alabama to theft by sticky-fingered staff and students, the folks at Tufts University Radio (WTUR) were forced to take extraordinary security measures regarding their WTUR-property-labeling protocols upon acquiring this subsequent copy of the record.

 

The Five Blind Boys of Alabama (not to be confused with the five blind gospel-singing boys from the state next door) released more than one LP under the "Can I Get a Witness" title. According to Discogs, the one I've posted above is from 1969. The other is from 1965 and then there's yet another one from 1970 that has the same tree-and-clouds cover as the one from 1965:

 

According to the Discogs listing, my Buddah Records release of the LP with the farming cover is a 1969 reissue of the 1965 release on Vee-Jay Records that features the tree-and-clouds cover. (The track list titles are slightly different, but they seem like they might still be the same songs.) And then the 1970 release, with the tree-and-clouds cover again, on Exodus Records has the same track list as the 1965 listing, but for some reason Discogs doesn't list that one as a re-issue of the earlier releases. (Discogs also says there's yet another re-issue with the tree-and-clouds cover on Trip Records, release date unknown.) So it seems there are at least three LPs released by The Five Blind Boys of Alabama on three different labels over the span of five years, all with this same title. I suppose this points to the difficulty of securing a witness when nobody in the group is able to see. 

 

Speaking of dates unknown, the group photo below may or may not include actual members of The Five Blind Boys of Alabama at around the time this LP was recorded. But based on hairstyles, I'd say there's a good chance the photo was taken sometime between the years 1965 and 1970.

 

[ The Five Blind Boys of Alabama ]