His mother lived to be 103 years old, and Jimmy Carter — the last original member touring with the Blind Boys of Alabama — knows he’s isn’t a spring chicken anymore.
“I can't do what I used to do,” Carter told CL during a phone call from a tour bus ride on the way to Delaware. He won’t share his age, but Carter does joke that he’s a few years past 50 (consider this: Blind Boys released its debut single in 1948). Carter isn’t quite ready to hang it up, either, and recently told NPR that there still things he wants to do. He just hasn’t elaborated on that — until now.
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“I don't know if this would ever happen — I wish it would. I wanna see the Blind Boys of Alabama, Stevie Wonder and Ronnie Milsap do a cross-country tour together. I would love to see that,” he says, laughing. He’d also like someone to set the Boys up with a residency in Branson, Missouri or Las Vegas. “Set 'em up for four, five, six months. Just let 'em stay in one place, sing three or four nights a week, you know, yeah — that's what I want.”
“You think that’s possible?,” he asks.
It’s a puzzling inquiry because if anyone should know about testing the boundaries of “possible,” then it would be Carter, the only blind son out of six kids, and a boy who was taken away from his family and put into the Alabama Institute for the Negro Blind just after his dad passed away. Carter sings about that devastation and a prayer he sent to God on “Let My Mother Live,” just one of 13 deeply personal songs he and Blind Boy co-founder Clarence Fountain wrote on a new album, Almost Home, which the Boys will sing at Mahaffey Theater on November 21.
“I miss Clarence a great deal,” Carter says of his friend who he met at the Institute in 1939. “I think he was my inspiration, and I was his inspiration.”
Fountain, has retired from the road, but Carter vows to honor his legacy and remains joyfully optimistic, even when asked about the civil rights battle he references on Home track “Pray For Peace,” which seems eerily relevant in these days when the rights of marginalized communities still seem to be a low-priority to so many.
“I think [race relations] have improved. Things are lookin' up. We have a long way to go, but we've come a long way also,” he says. And when asked about a still rousing show that has literally saved lives, Carter reiterated why he’s been on this road so long.
“People say, ‘I had plans to commit suicide,’ and then they came to a Blind Boys show,’ They tell us that we saved their lives,” he says, adding that he’s known that singing gospel was his calling since before he was a teen. “That's why I've been trying to do it for so long. All of that man, that makes everything we do worthwhile.”
Listen to Almost Home via Amazon, and read more of our chat with Carter below.
Hello, sorry I missed your call.
All good, how are you Jimmy?
Great. Now, we're gonna try to do this — I'm on a bus, I'm on a tour bus, and I'm driving through some rough spots, so if it gets cut off we'll have to chat again.
Okay, that works for me. You're coming in loud and clear right now.
Yeah, I'm good.
You're heading off on tour? Play somewhere last night?
Yeah, we were in, we were travelling all day. We just left Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Uh huh.
And we left there day before yesterday, we drove to somewhere in Pennsylvania last night, spent the night there, got up this morning and now we're heading for Wilmington, Delaware.
And hopefully by the time you get down here to Florida it'll be nice and warm for you.
I sure hope so, haha.
So, you're coming down here kind of close to Thanksgiving, and this new album you have, Almost Home, has a lot of stories about yours and Clarence's life. Does Thanksgiving bring back familial memories for you, or are the memories kind of rough because of the school you were in?
Well, it's been a while. It's just me and my brother now, so we'll do something for Thanksgiving.
In August, you told NPR that you were almost ready to stop, but you had a few things left to do. What are those things?
I have a few more things I want to do. I don't know if this would ever happen — I wish it would. I wanna see the Blind Boys of Alabama, Stevie Wonder and Ronnie Milsap do a cross-country tour together. I would love to see that, haha.
I would love to see that as well.
Haha, yeah. That's one thing I want to do, and the other one is, I want some enterprising person to take the Blind Boys to a place like Branson, Missouri or Las Vegas and just set 'em up for four, five, six months. Just let 'em stay in one place, sing three or four nights a week, you know, yeah — that's what I want.
So you'd love to do residency somewhere?
What's that?
So you'd love to do residency somewhere?
I would, I would love a residency somewhere. Thank you, that's right.
That's awesome. I, I think all of those things are, uh, closer to our grasps then they are out of it if you know what I mean.
You think they're possible?
Well, I think you're the guy to talk about all the things that are possible in life. You've had an incredible journey, that would almost seem unreal if you weren't singing about it your entire life, and that's what's pretty cool about Almost Home. So you're on the bus right now, Jimmy — how much do you miss Clarence since he’s since retired due to health reasons?
Oh, well I miss Clarence a great deal. He was, he was my inspiration. As a matter a fact, I think he was my inspiration, and I was his inspiration, so, you know, we miss one another, but we talk, and uh, you know, we have a good relationship going still.
Mmmhmm. Is his retirement part of the reason you kind of look forward to coming off the road and doing those residencies?
Well, you know, I'm not gonna say. I'm not a spring chicken. I can't do what I used to do.
Yes sir.
So, it's gotta be a point where, you know, I don't wanna go out backwards — I wanna go out forwards, haha.
Yeah, I totally get that. I wanted to also ask you, you've got a song on Almost Home that you wrote with the North Mississippi All-Stars called “Pray For Peace.” There's a lot of social commentary on there, and I was wondering, you know, coming from you Jimmy Carter how much hope do you still have left inside of you considering how much things have, and kind of haven’t, changed up to now as far as a social situation goes. I know back in the day during segregation, you like to say that you guys knew your place and not ruffle too many feathers, but so many things that you sing about on "Pray For Peace" are things that the world has struggled with over the last few decades, and in a lot of ways things still kind of feel the same. Does it make you less hopeful or scared?
Well, you know, when you look back, things have come a long way. Things have come a long way. You know back then you couldn't go in certain places, you couldn't do certain things, you couldn't, you know, all that is just about gone now. You know, there are some diehard people still, but most of, I think that race relationships have improved, now we still have a long way to go, but I think it has improved. Uh, it's, you know, things are lookin' up, that's what I'm thinking. Like I said, we have a long way to go, but we've come a long way also.
I hear that. Speaking of things looking up. I think you had six brothers and sisters, and you were the only blind brother.Right.And at one point you used to question God, and you say you eventually made this decision that He made you blind because your purpose in life was to sing gospel music.
I still feel that way.
Do you remember when you had that moment of clarity? Where were you? How old were you? Was it particularly moving?
Ohhh, I was a young guy. I was, I hadn't reached teenage phase at that time. When I was five or six years old, I was singing around my house, you know, but like I said, I felt, I did question him, like, "I got five more brothers, I'm the only one can't see — why is that?," but now I know. I feel if I had had my sight, I wouldn't be doing this, but since I don't have it, and He saw farther down the road than I did, this is my calling. I was called to do this. I know that now, and that's why I've been trying to do it for so long. And as long as I can touch these people's lives, I hope I can continue to do that.
Yeah, I think that is what I was going to say. Watching video of you, particularly in the part of the show where you kind of walk out into the crowd…
Oh, I love that. I love that, there.
What does that feel like, I know you can't see anything, but I wish you could see the way that some of these people are looking at you.
That's what I heard. You see now, in my mind, in my mind, when you tell me that, I can see it, you know, so that's good. And I've had people tell me afterwards, "I had plans to commit suicide," and then they came to a Blind Boys show, and they came back and told us that we saved their lives. All of that man, that makes everything we do worthwhile, you know.
Yeah, it is incredible, and after hearing all of those stories I am sure you can feel that coming from the crowd.
That's right, exactly.
Now, Mr. Carter, I know that a long, long time also the Blind Boys made a pledge to always and forever do gospel (although you did fulfill a dream and do country on High Road with Vince Gill and the Oak Ridge Boys), and I know you have your Christmas tour, but any chance of hearing any of that when you come play in St. Petersburg? It is close to the holiday.
Now, our Christmas tour does not begin until December, so you might now hear no songs, you might not hear no Christmas holiday songs when I come to St. Pete.
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Okay.
[Laughter]
Okay, I think that's perfectly fine. Now, real quick, I talked to this young man named Paul Thorn a few months ago, and he mentioned that he was about to go into the studio with you. How did those sessions go?
Oh, man, Paul, that's my buddy. He's alright with me — that's my good friend. We're supposed to do some shows with him in the other part of next year.
Oh, okay, so you're gonna do some shows with Paul around that album next year?
Yeah, yeah.
That's amazing, I can't wait to hear that. That's gonna be awesome. He was very, very excited to be going to the studio.
Yeah, he's a good fellow.
Now, I wanted to ask you another question, Jimmy, if I may. We did a really interesting story about Florida soul music — are there any particular Florida Gospel artists that the world has forgotten?
You know, I don't know. Florida, Florida, Florida. Uh, I can't think of a Florida gospel artist off the top of my head right now, I don't know.
Okay, not a big deal. I think I only have a couple questions left, I think we're getting short on time, um, I wanted to come back to Almost Home. Like I said, it's this incredible story with a lot of joy in it, but there's also a lot of tribulation. Is there anything in your life that you regret doing or not doing?
Um, that's a good question. I'd have to think about that.
Okay.
I don't see, I don't see, I don't see anything now, that I would. Well there might be a few things I might do over again, I can't say what they are right now. Haha.
That's okay.
But yeah, yeah.
And Jimmy your mom lived to be 103 years old.
That's correct.
That story about that song…
"Let My Mother Live."
"It's a powerful one, and there's a lot of love in that song.
Oh yeah.
Well thank you for taking the time to talk to me, sir.
Thank you, thank you my friend. Thank you for having me. Thank you, you're very easy to talk to.
I could talk to you all day, but I know you have other stuff to do.
[Laughing]
Alright. Thank you Jimmy.
Thank you, buddy.
Have a great day.
You, too.
Bye.
This article appears in Nov 9-16, 2017.