Interview with Ben Harper
by Mary Andrews
Ben Harper was kind enough to grant us a telephone interview after the release of his second album he made with Charlie Musselwhite, No Mercy in This Land. The singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist was cinematic with his enthusiastic storytelling when he spoke about his collaboration with Musselwhite and the rest of the band.
The multi-instrumentalist is a three-time Grammy Award winner for his mix of blues, folk, soul, reggae, and rock music. His musical instincts have him tapping into the essence and soul of any genre of music he chooses write and perform. His truth is understated and modest. It was a privilege to have a conversation with Harper.
Me: We’ve been listening to your new album with Charlie Musselwhite called No Mercy In This Land and you have nailed it once again.
Ben Harper: Thank you. Don’t worry, it won’t to my head because I don’t make the good make me or make the bad break me. I try to walk the line so it won’t go to my head and it won’t break my heart if you are over it. I’d rather have you like it. And as Charlie Musselwhite says, “I admire your taste.”
Me: Charlie Musselwhite has played at Tucson’s Fox Theatre the last couple of years and we spoke with him after the show. He mentioned that the two of you were going to follow up “Get Up!” with another album. It was thrilling to learn that a new album had come to fruition. How long did it take you to get this album done?
BH: For me personally, I started thinking about this record as soon as we walked out of the studio from recording Get Up!. I didn’t know Get Up! was going to blast as it did. I figured that I had a stockpile of songs I had set aside. Charlie and I had threatened to do this for 15 or 16 years. I had put plenty of blues on my previous records. Once Charlie and I had started talking about it around the late nineties, John Lee (Hooker) said we should just do it. He said, “You two need to play together more, that’s a great sound.” As soon as the talk heated up, I thought I’m not going to put “I’m In I’m Out And I’m Gone” on my record, I’m going to put it aside. I had been preparing to work with Charlie for a while. Then, I thought maybe we would go in the studio for a week and get maybe a half a dozen tracks done and see what happens. We went in for Get Up! and we had the record done in eight to nine days. You don’t want to hang anything too heavy around the expectations. Boy, it lifted off. I went, you know what? This is its own sound. This is something we can pursue as long as the good Lord lets us. We did two one-week sessions with No Mercy In This Land. It took one week to mix. I was prepared like never before. After doing Get Up, I had a new lens to look through and to aim towards which was Charlie. Charlie’s harp is the voice and the center of the circle. It grounds all of us and all of this music in history. His harp gives the music its weight.
Me: Did you write every song on the album?
BH: Yes, I did write every song lyrically. I brought the music to the table (of the musicians on the record). Jason Mozersky on guitar, Jimmy Paxson on drums, Jesse Ingalls on bass are the players, The way I’ve been writing as of late is that I bring the song lyrics to the players. I don’t tell them what to play and they figure it out. I tell them the reason you are here is that you are brilliant. Write your part. Everybody contributes. People make suggestions. We are an opinionated bunch. Everybody writes their part. Everybody gets writing credits.
Me: That is very generous of you. Not all performers will do that.
BH: I’ve had to evolve into that and you are right. I’ve grown into doing that. I wouldn’t do that in every recording session because in a certain settings I know exactly what I want from every instrument. It would be unfair to . . . In this rare case, I said this is how it has to be. Charlie Musselwhite writes Charlie Musselwhite. There is one song, “Found the One” that came to life in the studio. I had the words to the song and the guitar player and drummer started banging away. They made a beautiful racquet and I said okay, let me pull some lyrics. I had some lyrics on deck and they were “Found the One.”
Me: Do you have someone specific in mind when you write lyrics? Let’s use the song “When I Go.” You have the phrase “I’ll take you with me when I go.” Are you speaking to someone specifically?
BH: Sometimes I do have someone specific in mind. Sometimes I don’t. Sometimes I have a specific person in mind for just one verse of the song. I have to say it is more of the sentiment at large because there are a few people I want to take with me when I go. Even when I go on down the road, never mind when I make the big life transition. When I step out on tour and leave home, I need to take you with me to stay sane. I don’t want to be the guy who says where their music comes from or who it speaks to.
Me: Your lyrics go beyond the physicality of life to reach into the spirituality of the human condition. There is a spirituality throughout the album that is remarkable. It’s a beautiful album. Who has had the most influence on you musically?
BH: Thank you for that. Thank you so much. The genre that has had the most influence on me musically is the blues. The person who has had the most influence on me is my mother because she made sure we were surrounded with great music. She was a great musician. My mom and I made a record a few years back called childhood home. We did a duet record. My mom plays guitar and sings beautifully. I’ve been singing and playing something and banding away as long as I can remember. We had a piano at the center of the house. My mom was a professional touring musician who found herself with three nappy-headed kids, having to make ends meet. That’s why “Childhood Home” was kind of a big moment for both of us. I was able to bring that back to her. That was her first major record. She would recruit me at the age of six or seven to sing the harmony part. She would be rehearsing for her band and she would say I need to rehearse the harmony line and here’s how the harmony line goes. You sing this part and I’m going to sing the melody. She’d give me a third or fifth chord and I’d learn it. After I sang harmony along with my mom,
Me: What about your brothers? Did they make music?
BH: My brothers also make music. They do it more recreationally.
Me: What is the best advice you have ever gotten?
BH: I’m just going through my Rolodex of advice and I don’t want to miss the target on this one. My grandfather gave me so much good advice. Ry Cooder told me once, he said, “Ben you are lucky if you ever get a small slice of music. if you are ever able to cut out a small slice of music, protect it.” He told me that when I was young and I wasn’t sure exactly what it meant, but I get what he means now. If you do get a chance to stake your claim in music, protect it if you get it. It stuck with me. He said don’t sell out. I had a song that got on the radio called “Steal My Kisses.” I love that song and I love to play it, but there were certain people who expected me to do that song for the rest of my career. By not doing that, I did protect that small slice of music. I made a record with the Blind Boys of Alabama after that. That always stuck with me. Also, my grandfather said when I first started getting interested in people, My family has had a music store in Clairmont, CA in the inland empire in Southern Calif. For sixty years. So, I grew up in a music store. Everybody from Sonny Terry, to Leonard Cohen, would come in. Rev Gary Davis, it was a very special environment. These people were coming through those doors for 60 years. Jackson Browne David Lindley. My grandfather said people come around and they are interested in your music and don’t let the praise make you and don’t make the criticism break you. Solomon Burke told me it’s up to me to see it through. It’s up to u now. You have to carry this thing on.
Me: Dead or alive, who would you like to meet? And who would you like to see perform?
BH: Robert Johnson because he is everything. Robert Johnson singlehandedly invented Springsteen and Bob Dylan as far as I’m concerned. You listen to “Come On to My Kitchen” and that’s everything. That is the history of rock and roll. Chuck Berry, Bob Dylan, it’s everything. I would just imagine having his hear for ten minutes. I would have to say that Robert Johnson would be the person I would like to see perform.
Me: If you weren’t a musician, what would you be?
BH: I would be an instrument repair person. I apprenticed to do that before I started performing. I learned the craft inside and out. I will probably be halfway decent at it by now.
Harper’s most recent collaboration is with Rhiannon Giddens on the American roots song, “
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