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The Blind Boys of Alabama - I Brought Him With Me (1995) * * * *

best tracks: rain, better all the time, king jesus, lord will make a way

lately i just can't get enough of the blind boys. their soulful, relaxing, jazzy sounds make me feel so calm and chilled. i've had this album on repeat for days after stealing it from my mums shelf and keeping it as my own.

i added this to my itunes a fair few months ago when i was bored and added a load of my mums music to my itunes after judgind a cd by it's cover and taking what i thought would sound decent. i liked the cover so i guessed i would like what was inside.

'rain', the first song opens with "alright l.a, put your hands together and welcome clarence felton and the blind boys of alabama" followed by applause and "i didn't come here looking for jesus, i brought him along with me". i'm not certain that this is where the album name comes from, but i'm guessing it does. this track is upbeat and makes me smile. comparing it to something more modern, paolo nutini - pencil full of lead, is very similar.

'better all the time' is a more relaxed tune. laid back and simple gives it easy listening and the singers husky vocals make it something more intersting than the norm. yet another love song, but different to anything modern makes it a nice change to mainstream songs that are pumped into our ears with computer enhanced vocals. these men are genuine talent. "i'm not what i want to be but i'm better than i used to be. i'm getting better all the time" is such an uplifting lyric, perhaps one of my favourites, everyone can related to it.

if you're into jazz/swing soul music sung by men with geuine talent that can harmonise perfectly, then i recommend you buy or atleast listen to this album. it's a hidden gem.