Although the Blind Boys of Alabama have been singing gospel music for more than five decades, it's only recently that the group has had the benefit of a major record company behind them. The founding members were Clarence Fountain, Johnny Fields, George Scott, Ollice Thomas, and Vel Trayler. The current group consists of Eric McKinney, Billy Bowers, Jimmy Carter, Joey Williams, and Donald Dillion.
From their inception in the 1930s, when all were boys, all members of the group except one were blind. They began singing when all were students, in the glee club, at the Talladega Institute for the Deaf and Blind in Alabama, but didn't begin recording until 1948. As a youth, Fountain heard the legendary Golden Gate Quintet on the radio; the early Five Blind Boys of Alabama took their musical cues from that group. The group began singing professionally as the Happyland Jubilee Singers, and for years only toured the Bible Belt in the Southern U.S.
Since 1948, they've recorded for a variety of small record companies, and had gospel music hits in the 1950s with "Oh, Lord Stand By Me" and "I Can See Everybody's Mother But I Can't See Mine". In 1950, after the death of one of their members, the group renamed themselves simply the Blind Boys of Alabama.
The group recorded first for the Newark-based Coleman Records label. Between 1953 and 1957, the group recorded for Art Rupe's California-based Specialty label. In the 1960s, the group's hard-driving gospel sounds were imitated by people like Bobby "Blue" Bland and Marvin Gaye. The group recorded extensively for the Vee Jay label from 1963 to 1965. In 1969, Fountain left the group for a decade to try to make it on his own, and the group re-formed with all the original members in the late 1970s.
They gained widespread success in 1988, when they starred in an Obie Award-winning Broadway show. According to Fountain, the group's high point was being on Broadway for 15 weeks with the musical Gospel at Colonus. The musical opened up new avenues to bookings for the group, and they began touring theaters and larger churches in the early 1990s, embarking on their first European tours as well. The group was awarded a National Heritage Fellowship in 1994. In 1994 and 1995, the group played festivals including the Philadelphia Folk Festival, the Beale Street Music Festival and the King Biscuit Blues Festival. The group also toured in Melbourne, Australia and the World's Fair, in Brisbane.
Mid-1990s television appearances included Black Entertainment Television's On Jazz, and even a cameo on Beverly Hills, 90210.
Since the turn of the century, founding members, George Scott (2005) and Johnny Fields (2009) passed away. Clarence Fountain remains the only living founding member. The group is still performing, under the vocal leadership of longtime member, Jimmy Carter. Releases by the group in recent years have been favorites at the Grammy Awards — they have won the Grammy Award for Best Traditional Soul Gospel Album every year since 2002. The Blind Boys of Alabama were inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame in 2002. Their cover of the Tom Waits song "Way Down in The Hole" was featured as the opening theme for season one of HBO's The Wire. In 2008 they released Down in New Orleans, on which they were accompanied by such Crescent City legends as the Preservation Hall Jazz Band and Allen Toussaint.
Founding members
Jimmy Carter – vocals
Clarence Fountain – vocals (November 28, 1929 - June, 3, 2018)
Johnny Fields (deceased) – vocals
George Scott (d. 2005) – vocals
Olice Thomas (deceased) – vocals
Vel Bozman Traylor (deceased) – vocals
Past members
Bishop Billy Bowers (deceased, July 2, 2013) – vocals
Caleb Butler – rhythm guitar
Samuel Butler Jr – rhythm guitar, songwriter and arranger, manager, second lead singer
Roscoe Robinson – lead vocals
Charles Porter - vocals
Lamont Blount (deceased) – band manager
Demons
The Blind Boys Of Alabama Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I think the creature's coming back
And I am fine 'coz all my love's electrifying
And I come feel like assessable, wanna be with you
And it's my premonition, I better give my heart a listen
And my preacher say
"All of your demons will wither away
You'll understand when you come my way
'Coz all of my demons have withered away
All of your demons will wither away"
He said, he shook himself to death
I wanna dance till my last breath
But Mr.[Incomprehensible] only party's hard and [Incomprehensible]
Come feel like assessable
Wanna be with you, wanna be with you
And it's my premonition, I better give my heart a listen
And my preacher say
"All of your demons will wither away
Ecstasy comes and they cannot stay
You'll understand when you come my way
'Coz all of my demons have withered away"
All of your demons wither away
All of your demons wither away
All of your demons wither away
Ecstasy comes
All of your demons wither away
Ecstasy comes, cannot stay
You'll understand, come my way
All of my demons wither away
The Blind Boys of Alabama's song "Demons" is a song about the singer realising that his demons, or inner fears and doubts, will dissipate with love and joy in his life. The first few lines suggest a fear of something scary returning, but he brushes it off as his "love [being] electrifying." He wants to be together with his partner, and his heart tells him to listen to his premonition. The preacher, through this premonition, assures him that all of his demons will disappear with the arrival of "ecstasy" or joy, and the demons "cannot stay."
In the second verse, the singer mentions someone who "shook himself to death," possibly referring to the singer wanting to live life to the fullest and dance until his last breath. He wants to be with his partner, and he's confident that his demons, too, will wither away. The preacher again assures him that all of his demons will go away upon the arrival of ecstasy. The song ends on a positive note, with the idea that joy will make all of his demons go away.
Line by Line Meaning
They said, "She had a heart attack"
Someone told me that she had a heart attack
I think the creature's coming back
I feel like my dark past is haunting me and coming back to torment me
And I am fine 'coz all my love's electrifying
My passionate love gives me the strength to face any challenge in life
And I come feel like assessable, wanna be with you
I feel a strong connection with you and want to be close to you
And it's my premonition, I better give my heart a listen
I have a strong feeling that I need to pay attention to my emotions and instincts
And my preacher say
My spiritual guide advises me that:
"All of your demons will wither away
Your inner demons and fears will disappear
Ecstasy comes and they cannot stay
When you experience true happiness, your inner demons cannot survive
You'll understand when you come my way
You will comprehend this only when you have the same experience as me
'Coz all of my demons have withered away
Because I have overcome my own fears and inner demons
He said, he shook himself to death
Someone told me that he danced so hard that he died
I wanna dance till my last breath
I want to enjoy life and dance with joy until the end of my life
But Mr.[Incomprehensible] only party's hard and [Incomprehensible]
But Mr. [Unknown] only knows how to party hard and have a good time
All of your demons will wither away
Your inner demons and fears will disappear
Ecstasy comes and they cannot stay
When you experience true happiness, your inner demons cannot survive
You'll understand when you come my way
You will comprehend this only when you have the same experience as me
'Coz all of my demons have withered away
Because I have overcome my own fears and inner demons
All of your demons wither away
Your inner demons and fears will disappear
All of your demons wither away
Your inner demons and fears will disappear
All of your demons wither away
Your inner demons and fears will disappear
Ecstasy comes
True happiness and joy arrive
All of your demons wither away
Your inner demons and fears will disappear
Ecstasy comes, cannot stay
When you experience true happiness, your inner demons cannot survive
You'll understand, come my way
You will comprehend this only when you have the same experience as me
All of my demons wither away
Because I have overcome my own fears and inner demons
Contributed by Charlie T. Suggest a correction in the comments below.