In 2001, the legendary US Gospel group Blind Boys of Alabama released an album on Peter Gabriel’s Real World Records label. It was a hugely popular album which garnered the band a Grammy Award for Best Traditional Soul Gospel Album. It included their version of Tom Wait’s song Way Down In The Hole, which was the theme song for the TV miniseries The Wire. Their version is better than Waits’ in my view.
The Blind Boys since then have won more awards and plaudits for further albums and collaborations, the highlights of which include Higher Ground (also Real World), There Will Be Light (Virgin Records) with Ben Harper, Down In New Orleans, Almost Home and inspirational supporting vocals on the hit song None Of Us Are Free, for Soloman Burke’s comeback classic album Don’t Give Up On Me. They have played with many musical icons such as Tom Waits, Richard Thompson, Mavis…
