Originally Published on Jun. 5, 2018
RIP Clarence Fountain (1929-2018)
The Song of the Day is:
The Blind Boys of Alabama – “Amazing Grace”
From the album Spirit of the Century (2001)
I once was lost but now I am found
Was blind but now I see
Rest in peace to the lead singer of the Blind Boys of Alabama, Clarence Fountain. He sung those lyrics above, and despite his impairment, I do believe he meant it. He is the second-to-last surviving founding members of the group. Jimmy Carter (b. 1932) is now the last surviving member. He spent the last ten years off the road, but would still be heard on their albums. The group was formed in 1939 when seven students from the Alabama Institute for the Negro Blind all joined together around the age of nine. Their name can be used interchangeably with “The Five Blind Boys Of Alabama”, and there was also a Five Blind Boys of Mississippi, too. Some individuals have been members of both groups. The group had remained strictly gospel for many decades, but by the 1990’s they had embraced contemporary music (though commonly spiritual in nature). Around this time, they became rightfully acknowledged as an American treasure. This particular arrangement of the Christian hymn “Amazing Grace” (published by poet John Newton in 1779) is mashed up with the accompaniment to the song “House of the Rising Sun” (Bob Dylan, The Animals). Despite the loss of Fountain, the group will continue on.
Hear Today, Grown Tomorrow 