Harper, Ben

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BEN HARPER

Born: Pomona, California, 28 October 1969

Genre: Rock

Best-selling album since 1990: Burn to Shine (1999)

Hit songs since 1990: "Steal My Kisses"

Arestless singer/songwriter, Ben Harper has created original, distinctively American fusions by drawing on blues, folk-rock, country, reggae, and gospel. As a child, Harper often hung out at his grandparents' record store in Claremont, California. There he got an eclectic musical education listening to Little Feat's blues, the Allman Brothers' rock, Otis Redding's soul, and Stevie Wonder's R&B. Surrounded by the sounds of his heroes, he decided he wanted to pursue a music career, too.

He was discovered by Taj Mahal, the world-beat blues fusionist who saw his own eclecticism and curiosity reflected in Harper. Signed to Virgin Records in 1992, Harper started out as a twangy, acoustic-heavy folk balladeer. He even had a signature instrument: the Weissenhorn, a 1920s slide guitar played in the lap. Despite the fact that he had to play it seated, his lyrical fire and soulful vocals worked audiences into a frenzy, and he became an underground favorite among folk-music lovers, activists, and urban sophisticates.

His debut album, Welcome to the Cruel World (1994), makes ample use of his slide guitar. The album begins with a couple of acoustic ballads, "The Three of Us" and "Whipping Boy," but catches fire with the up-tempo "Breakin' Down," where his sweet falsetto channels Aaron Neville. He reveals his liberal politics on the midtempo "Don't Take That Attitude to the Grave," delivering fire and brimstone to law-and-order conservatives. "You're gonna reap what you sow," he scolds. But he is more effective at delivering honey than fire—"Waiting on an Angel" is pure seduction, a waltz where he uses his gentle baritone to convincingly plead to a lover. While not a big seller in the United States, the album created some buzz in Europe, where Harper appeared on bills with John Lee Hooker, Ray Charles, and Neneh Cherry.

His next effort, Fight for Your Mind (1995), is one of those critically acclaimed, commercially ignored efforts that new fans rediscover years later, after the artist has finally broken into the mainstream. Here he maintains his acoustic framework, but adds some energetic blues and a powerful rhythm section, featuring the nineteen-year-old drummer Oliver Charles. The album kicks off with the political "Oppression," another slide-guitar-centered song with a meandering melody and quietly determined lyrics: "oppression / you shall learn to fear me." Harper picks up the energy on the swampy, shuffling "Ground on Down," where he turns his Weissenhorn into an unlikely funk instrument. He ventures even further into rootsy, Delta blues on "Gold to Me," where he conjures the genre's raw pain, pleading for redemption. He again shines on the ballads, singing soft and low and somehow making time stop on the deceptively up-tempo "Another Lonely Day." Almost dropping to a whisper on "Please Me Like You Want To," he sings, "you're with somebody / but you don't want to be."

Always on the move, Harper veered into Hendrix-inspired alt-rock for The Will to Live (1997). "Faded" demonstrates Harper's lingering awkwardness with heavier music, as his subtle vocals don't match the amped-up sound. Recalling the country-blues fusions of his mentor Taj Mahal, Harper combines a Western-swing two-step with bluesman vocals on "Homeless Child," which also features Harper's spot-on falsettos. The more electric, rock tendencies of The Will to Live helped push it to number eighty-nine on the Billboard 200 album chart, making it his first chart album in the United States. The album also marks the debut of his regular backing band, the Innocent Criminals.

Though his albums were not big moneymakers, Virgin continued to support him without the usual label meddling; his critical acclaim represented a feather in the label's cap, as did his road-warrior's willingness to perform 200 to 300 dates a year.

The efforts finally paid off commercially with Burn to Shine, a more confident sequel to The Will to Live. He garnered significant Top 40 airplay with the single "Steal My Kisses," a cute ditty that does not dilute Harper's essence, combining modern funk rhythms with stripped-down arrangements. The rest of the album is also more commercial. The rocker "Alone" uses Red Hot Chili Peppers-like bass and an ominous, minor-key melody. "Less" is a bombastic, cymbal-heavy rock anthem that despairs over a jaded, demanding partner. He flirts with hard rock on "Two Hands of a Prayer" and "Please Bleed." While fans who expected him to continue his roots-revival ways forever were disappointed, Harper's many facets and interests kept him from settling on any style for too long.

Harper summed up the best of his 1990s material with a double-live set Live from Mars in 2001. That year he fathered a child with his actress girlfriend Laura Dern (her first, his third). He was also the subject of a low-budget documentary, Pleasure and Pain (2002), co-directed by the music photographer Danny Clinch.

Diamonds on the Inside (2003) displays his most ambitious world-music vibe yet. The African spiritual "Picture of Jesus" features the famed South African vocal group Ladysmith Black Mambazo. "With My Own Two Hands" is Marley-esque reggae, while the ethereal, almost prayerful "When She Believes" uses a Caribbean-style accordion. The album did not produce any more crossover hits, but no one could fault its creative heft or inspired fusions.

While flying below the pop-star radar, Harper has delighted music connoisseurs with his ability to make modern, relevant pop informed by multicultural American and world traditions.