I have loved Ben Harper's music since I first got hold of his first album when I was on a day pass from basic training. There is something about that first day of freedom after ten weeks of absolute and rigid structure that will forever stay in your mind. I mosied around the town of San Antonio like a man freed from prison, and I blew most of my paycheck on a portable CD player (remember those?) and a stack of albums.
Ben Harper's Welcome To The Cruel World played on those headphones as I sat on a park bench as a free man (that album title must have somehow spoken to me).
Ben Harper is one of the "best souls" on the planet. He is contentious in almost everything he does, he is environmentally friendly and conscious of issues of justice. His music is a mix of the blues with world beats, reggae, rock and roll and folk all mixed in, and that slide guitar he plays brings down the house every time.
I have followed him and the "Innocent Criminals" (his longtime backup band) for years, and then last year he released Give Till It's Gone, a record chronicling his recent divorce.
When you really dig somebody, I mean really dig their music and persona, then it feels hard to listen to their anguish; and oh boy, does Harper let it flow here. The song titles alone should give that away ("Don't Give Up On Me Now", "Pray That Our Love Sees The Dawn", "Waiting On A Sign" etc).
The music is subdued (except for the exuberant "Rock And Roll Is Free") and I'm not sure how many times I'll spin this one, except to be reminded how much I value and treasure my wife and family.
This is a tough record from someone I genuinely love. It chronicles something true, and you feel every inch of the despair a divorce can inspire. Here is hoping his personal life is on the upswing.
4 stars
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