The Rev. Julius Love discusses Grammy nomination with Blind Boys of Alabama, passing of bandmate
The Rev. Julius Love has had a pretty great few years, though recently tinged with sadness.
In 2020, the Gadsden resident was chosen to be the newest member of the acclaimed gospel group the Blind Boys of Alabama.
Since the group's founding in Talladega in 1939, it has won five Grammy Awards, performed at the White House for U.S. presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama and been inducted into the Gospel Music and Alabama Music halls of fame.
In addition, the Blind Boys have collaborated with with famed artists including Prince, Stevie Wonder, Phil Collins, Peter Gabriel, Hank Williams Jr., Mavis Staples, Willie Nelson and Lou Reed; performed in a Broadway production alongside Morgan Freeman; and sang at benefits for Martin Luther King Jr.
It didn't take long before Love's addition to the group paid off.
One of the Blind Boys' latest collaborations, the song "I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free" with Bela Fleck, landed the group a 2022 Grammy Award nomination, Love's first and the 10th overall for the band.
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For Love, the nomination was something he'd never even imagined.
"I didn't know what to expect because I had never been associated with anything like this," he explained. "It took me to another level, wondering what it was going to be like – I had no idea. Just to be nominated was such an honor.
"Being associated with the Blind Boys is an honor in itself and it still is, singing with the wonderful guys," he added.
Even though the Blind Boys did not win the award in the Best American Roots Category at the April 3 ceremony, Love was thrilled to be a part of the show.
"It was such an honor to go and participate in the Grammys, simply because that was my first time," he said. "I enjoyed it because I got to meet so many special, wonderful people. It was such an honor and a blessing."
As he was tapped to be the Blind Boys' representative at the Grammys, Love got to mingle with many of the biggest stars in music.
"I met a lot of people but I kind of forgot who they were, I was meeting them so fast," he said. "It was happening so fast, I couldn't keep them all in my head."
Love was hit with some recent bad news, unfortunately. His Blind Boys bandmate Benjamin Moore Jr. passed away May 12 at the age of 80. Moore had been a member of the group for 14 years.
Though Love only worked with Moore for about two years, he will miss him dearly.
"Brother Ben Moore, riding up and down the highway with him (and) sitting up in motels with him was such an honor because he had so many wonderful stories to tell about his singing career," Love said. "Everything he sung, he put his heart into it.
"He called me right before he went to New Mexico," Love said; Moore passed away in Santa Fe, New Mexico. "We had just finished a new recording project in Muscle Shoals. Ben was going through a little something and he said, 'I called to check on you, see how you was doing. The doctor said I'm gonna be all right. I'm gonna go and get on this plane to New Mexico.' And I said, 'Well I hope you have a good time and you be blessed.'
"I didn't realize that would be my last time talking to him," Love concluded.
One story about Moore especially is memorable for Love.
"(In 1976 Moore) first put that song out, 'I'm Your Puppet,' and I used to kid him about it. I would tell him all the time, 'Brother Ben, you sing baritone in the group, and you sing this voice and that voice. Well Ben, I'm YOUR puppet, what do you want me to do?'" Love said, chuckling. "He just laughed and laughed."
Being selected to be the newest member of the Blind Boys especially was sweet for Love considering something that happened about a decade ago.
"Some 10 years ago, I thought I was getting ready to join the Blind Boys of Alabama," he said. "We thought it was a done deal. I went to Philadelphia, Mississippi, I went on stage to practice and guess what they told me after I got through singing? 'No, you ain't the one.'
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"I'm only saying this to encourage folks," Love continued. "It may not have been my time then, but things come to you that happen good if you wait on the Lord. It may not come when you want it, but He's always on time."
As far as what comes next for Love, he said he's working on some new solo music.
"I'm working on a single project which is called 'You Keep On Loving Me,'" Love said. "It's just about completed. Bobby Womack's brother (Friendly Womack Jr.) is singing with me on that project."
No matter what he does, though, Love's top priority remains the group he waited a long time to finally be a part of.
"Of all the things I have accomplished, the thing that means a lot to me is being able to sing on stage with (bandmates) Paul Beasley, Jimmy Carter, Ricky McKinnie, Joey Williams and of course the late Ben Moore," he said. "I'm grateful to the Blind Boys. They found me, by the grace of God."
Love also added that plans are in the works to honor Carter, who has been a member of the Blind Boys since 1982.
"You talk about a nice guy," Love said about Carter, "and he deserves every bit of it."
J.J. Hicks is a news reporter at The Gadsden Times. He can be reached at jhicks1@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on The Gadsden Times: Blind Boys of Alabama's Rev. Julius Love talks Grammys, bandmate's passing
