Artist.......: Ben Harper & the Innocent Criminals
Album........: Call It What It Is
Label........: Fantasy
Genre........: Rock
Catnr........: STX-35697-02
Source.......: CD (LP)
Rip.date.....: 2016-04-08
Str.date.....: 2016-04-08
Quality......: 238kbps/44.1kHz/Joint Stereo
Url..........: http://www.benharper.com/
track title time
1. When Sex Was Dirty 3:50
2. Deeper And Deeper 4:02
3. Call It What It Is 3:47
4. How Dark Is Gone 3:38
5. Shine 3:55
6. All That Has Grown 3:25
7. Pink Balloon 2:22
8. Finding Our Way 4:15
9. Bones 3:22
10. Dance Like Fire 3:09
11. Goodbye To You 5:06
Runtime 40:51
Size 69.73
Release Notes:
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Combining funky, groove-laden soul with handcrafted acoustic folk-rock, Ben
Harper enjoyed cult status during the course of the '90s before gaining wider
attention toward the decade's end. As a young artist, he drew his influences
from classic singer/songwriters, blues revivalists, guitar slingers, and jam
bands like Blues Traveler and Phish, which meant he was embraced by critics and
college kids alike. Despite finding commercial success with the radio single
"Steal My Kisses" in 2000, Harper continued to explore different (and often
challenging) musical textures during the 21st century, enjoying a solid fan base
at home and a considerable amount of fame in Europe, where was named 2003's
Artist of the Year by the French branch of Rolling Stone.
A native of California, Harper grew up listening to blues, folk, soul, R&B, and
reggae. He started playing guitar as a child and began to perform regularly as a
preteen. During his adolescence, he focused heavily on the acoustic slide
guitar, which eventually became his signature instrument. Harper scored a deal
with Virgin Records in 1992 after maintaining a steady schedule of shows in the
L.A. area; two years later, he released his debut album, Welcome to the Cruel
World, to positive reviews.
Released in 1995, the politically heavy Fight for Your Mind made for a strong
sophomore effort, an obvious growth in musical experimentation and individual
declamation. It was also the songwriter's first record to later reach gold
status. Harper's third album, 1997's The Will to Live, pushed his blues-oriented
alternative folk into the middle mainstream, becoming a mainstay at college
radio and making inroads at adult alternative radio. Recorded over two years of
touring in support of Fight for Your Mind, The Will to Live also introduced the
Innocent Criminals, Harper's longstanding backup band. The Innocent Criminals --
bassist Juan Nelson, drummer Dean Butterworth, and percussionist David Leach --
helped solidify Harper's musical rhythms and emotional diversity over the years
to come.
Harper's career gained momentum during 1998 and 1999. One of his most successful
albums to date, 1999's Burn to Shine, blended his fondness of '20s jazz
compositions with urban beatboxing, resulting in a clever and passionate
collection of songs. "Steal My Kisses" and "Suzie Blue" were radio favorites,
landing him two headlining world tours and an opening spot on the Dave Matthews
Band's annual summer trek in 2000. The following spring, Harper issued Live from
Mars, a double-disc of live electric and acoustic material spanning the previous
year's tour and including covers of material by Led Zeppelin, the Verve, and
Marvin Gaye.
Harper dove into worldbeat on his fifth studio effort, Diamonds on the Inside,
which appeared in March 2003. He toured through Europe the following year with
the Blind Boys of Alabama, and the two acts entered Capitol Records' basement
studios after the tour's commencement to lay down ten tracks together. The
resulting collaborative album (issued under the names of both Harper and the
Blind Boys of Alabama), There Will Be a Light, was released in September 2004,
followed by the concert CD/DVD package Live at the Apollo in 2005.
Eager to release more material, Harper reconvened the Innocent Criminals and
issued the double album Both Sides of the Gun in March 2006. The album reached
number seven on the Billboard album charts and rose to number one in Australia.
While touring in support of the record, Harper and company began playing a new
slew of songs during their evening soundchecks, eventually decamping to Paris
and recording the new material within one week. This resulted in two records --
Lifeline and Live at Twist and Shout Records -- both of which were issued in
2007. For his 2009 album, White Lies for Dark Times, Harper recorded with the
band Relentless7, the members of whom had previously worked with Harper on the
track "Serve Your Soul" from Both Sides of the Gun. Harper & the Relentless7
recorded Live from the Montreal International Jazz Festival in July 2009 and
released the album early the following year. Afterwards, Harper began working on
his first solo album in years, using Jackson Browne's basement as a recording
studio and collaborating with Ringo Starr on two tracks. The album's first
single, "Rock n' Roll Is Free," was released during the early spring of 2011,
followed two months later by the full-length Give Till It's Gone, and in 2012 by
the career retrospective By My Side. Harper then moved over to Stax and teamed
with blues legend Charlie Musselwhite for 2013's collaboratively released Get
Up!
Harper went back to his roots on his next offering. He teamed with his mother,
Ellen Harper, a singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist in her own right,
and the director of The Folk Music Center and Museum in Claremont, California --
which his grandparents founded -- for the recording Childhood Home. Ellen wrote
four tunes on the set while Ben wrote six, and they performed together
throughout. The set was issued by Concord in May of 2014. Next, Harper reunited
with his band the Innocent Criminals for 2016's Call It What It Is, the group's
first studio album since 2007's Lifeline.
RLS-Crc: 42424C5F2D5F4D5033:F6