Blind Boys of Alabama Bring Christmas Spirituals to Orange

If you think the Rolling Stones have been around awhile, then ladies and gentlemen, meet the Blind of Boys of Alabama.

This legendary gospel and blues group goes back, way back, to 1939. Seriously, my friends. The Boys were actually known then as the Happyland Jubilee Singers. The original quintet met as boys and were raised as blind, African-American males in the Deep South during the Jim Crow years. The expectations for them was to one day . . . perhaps . . . make brooms or push mops for a living. As the boys grew older, they discovered that singing songs was a way to flip the focus from what they couldn’t do to what they were capable of.

And here they are now.

So what kind of changes has this enduring group—featuring co-founder and vocalist Jimmy Carter, vocalists Ricky McKinnie, Ben Moore, Paul Beasley, guitarist-vocalist Joey Williams, drummer Austin Moore, bassist Ray Ladson and keyboardist Matt Hopkins—experienced over the past decade or two?

“Things don’t really change but people do,” suggested McKinnie during a recent phone interview. Perhaps alluding to our divisive political climate, he continued, “I believe that some people are taught hate because they’ve known nothing else from the beginning. But music, particularly spirituals and hymns, has the power to transcend the negative forces in our lives.”

The only founding member still onboard at age 85 is Carter. (The other founding member still alive, 88-year-old Clarence Fountain, recently retired.) The group’s line-up has not surprisingly changed over the past six decades but what has always defined the Blind Boys of Alabama—who perform a Christmas-themed concert Friday night at Chapman University in Orange--is their gift to brighten spirits even in the darkest of times.

Spoken with the fervor of a preacher, McKinnie declared, “When the Blind Boys come to town, if you’re feeling sad, you’ll be leaving glad! Music has the power to touch the heart of a man and soothe his soul. Gospel music is designed to lift you up when you’re down because there’s always someone you can call on in times of trouble to say, `Lord, lift me up’.”

McKinnie points to “God Knows Everything,” his favorite song on the group’s new release, “Almost Home,” as an example of their unwavering faith. A sample lyric as written by Marc Cohn and producer/guitarist John Leventhal: "When I take my last bow and sing my last chord/I know I'll find peace at last in the arms of the Lord."

The Blind Boys of Alabama, which was formed at the Alabama Institute for the Deaf and Blind in Talladega, have ventured boldly beyond gospel into R&B, rock, funk and blues without sacrificing their spiritual core. One of their strongest releases, “There Will Be a Light,” is a 2004 collaboration with musician Ben Harper that features his haunting lap-steel guitar licks and the Boys’ soaring, rich harmonies. More secular collaborations ensued with musicians/bands as stylistically diverse as Peter Gabriel, Hank Williams Jr., Bonnie Raitt, Yo La Tengo, Yonder Mountain String Band and My Morning Jacket, to name but a few.

The Boys have been blessed in overcoming their disabilities to win six Grammy Awards and of these, the Lifetime Achievement Award received in 2009, is the one these men treasure most.

“It’s a great feeling to do the Lord’s work but at the same time, to have worked with so many talented musicians and receive this kind of recognition is a very humbling thing,” says McKinnie, who’s been a band member for the past 30 years. “It’s truly an inspiration to realize that we have touched other people’s lives in some very real way.”

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Opening for the Boys on this Christmas Celebration tour is one of roots music’s stalwarts, singer/songwriter/guitarist Ruthie Foster. For a sampling of her soulful voice and bluesy slide-guitar chops, check out her latest release, “Joy Comes Back,” which includes a Delta blues-style cover of Black Sabbath’s “War Pigs” that has to make Ozzy Osbourne proud. And definitely worth a look and listen on YouTube is Foster sharing the stage with Bonnie Raitt and Martie Maguire (Dixie Chicks fiddler/vocalist) at the recent Harvey Can’t Mess with Texas hurricane relief benefit concert. This female-powered live version of John Prine’s “Angel from Montgomery” is surely a prayer answered from above. Amen, sisters.

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*The Blind Boys of Alabama: A Christmas Celebration featuring the Preservation Hall Legacy Horns and opening act Ruthie Foster, Dec. 15, at Chapman University’s Musco Center for the Arts, One University Dr., Orange. 7:30 p.m. $35-$65. (844-626-8726) www.muscocenter.org.