Saturday, August 01, 2009

Who is Ben Harper?

"Who is Ben Harper?" you might ask. I certainly did. Caught this song on the radio the other day, and let me warn you the tune will stick in you mind for days on end!

Steal My Kisses (YouTube Link)

I actually sent a text message to the radio station, asking for the singer. I received a prompt reply from the station with the answer, addressed to me personally. Kind of Big Brother-ish, since I didn't send my name in the message. I must investigate this further.

The above link is to a performance at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles from 2003. In addition to the song, we are treated to an excellent extended bass solo on a Fender 5-string bass.

Ben Harper seems to be one of several American musicians that I have learned of here in Korea, who have a larger following outside the USA than within. Again, listen at your own risk.

If you like his voice, and can get past the full-sleeve tatoos, listen to some of his gospel songs on YouTube with the "Blind Boys of Alabama" group. Good Stuff.

(Apologies to Young Stumbler #1's music blog. I don't intend to compete, this is just a one-time thing. I will return to normal, boring posts soon.)

1 comment:

The Stumbling Mom said...

Well I'll go back even further and recomment Richie Havens. In particular his opening act for Woodstock. He was not supposed to open, but they couldn't find the booked opening act, so they put him on. Three hours later he was still singing and they were still looking for the act which was to follow him. He ran out of material, and started doing a bunch of guitar riffs and singing 'Freedom' over and over because he was stalling trying to think of something to sing. It turned out fantastic! You can see it on YouTube. He came to Greensboro and I got to see him live and in person! He's fantastic!