For the first time, gospel icons Blind Boys of Alabama and Blues Hall of Famer Bobby Rush have collaborated on a recording, out today. The historical collaboration of the sacred soul classic “99 ½ Won’t Do” between artists with legendary six-decade careers in American music with proceeds to support the Mid-South Food Bank in Memphis, TN.
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Both Rush and the Blind Boys won GRAMMY Awards this year; the Blind Boys appeared on the Today Show in April, sat in recently with Tom Jones, and are set to receive an Americana Music Award Lifetime Achievement Award this fall. A video of Blind Boys of Alabama rehearsing went viral recently, with over eight million views (across platforms).
Also joining the recording are “one of the most accomplished American Folk Artists” (MOJO) Dom Flemons; and beloved folk-rock band the Dustbowl Revival. The artists and producers who performed on this new version have won a combined eleven GRAMMY Awards. The release celebrates the ten-year anniversary of DeLia’s 72 Music Management.
The song was co-produced by GRAMMY-winning producer Colin Linden (Bob Dylan, Keb’ Mo’, T-Bone Burnett, and others, and music director for ABC’s Nashville) and manager Jeff DeLia. The artists’ unique voices blend seamlessly together in this call-and-response arrangement with Bobby Rush as the call and the chorus of artists responding.
“99 and 1/2 Won’t Do” is a traditional song that has been recorded by Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Mavis Staples with Ry Cooder, Steve Cropper, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Hezekiah Walker, Wilson Pickett, and Eddie Floyd.
“We wanted to choose songs that connected to each of the artists currently and historically,” writes co-producer DeLia in his liner notes to the 45, continuing, “This project is a celebration of the artists, the music, and their legacies. This is the first time these artists have been on record together. This is a conversation of artists with nearly a century of history within roots music genres especially blues and gospel, and with an impact that reaches globally.
“99 and a ½ Won’t Do” was recorded throughout the United States in 2023 with initial tracking in Nashville with Linden on guitar, Dominic Davis on bass (Jack White, Beck), and Bryan Owings on drums (Tony Joe White, Shelby Lynne). The Blind Boys session was recorded in Minneapolis, Dom Flemons in Chicago, and Dustbowl Revival in Los Angeles. The single was first released as a randomly-colored 45rpm record on Record Store Day in the US and Europe and physical copies have sold out.
Blind Boys of Alabama are six-time GRAMMY winners, Gospel Hall of Fame inductees and a part of the rich gospel quartet history that stretches back to the late 1930s.
Bobby Rush is a three-time GRAMMY winner, Blues Hall of Famer, and bluesman with over 70 years of history in the blues and as an entertainer.
Dustbowl Revival are a folk-funk band that formed from a Craigslist Ad in Venice, California 15-years ago and have reached as far as China and Norway together.
DeLia also announced that five-time GRAMMY Award nominees North Mississippi Allstars has joined 72 Music Management. The group is made up of brothers Luther Dickinson and Cody Dickinson who have recorded and toured together as North Mississippi Allstars since their seminal debut album Shake Hands with Shorty in 2000 earning them their first Grammy nomination. North Mississippi Allstars have performed or collaborated with Mavis Staples, Charlie Musselwhite, John Hiatt, Robert Plant, Tedeschi Trucks Band, Los Lobos, and the Black Crowes. NMAs’ latest recordings Up and Rolling and Set Sail came out via New West Records. Cody's debut solo album Homemade was just released on Strong Place Music and Luther has new songs rolling out in collaboration with JD Simo in advance of their September release Do The Rump! on Forty Below Records.
Headquartered in Los Angeles, Jeff DeLia’s 72 Music Management earned its decade-long reputation with a wide range of in-demand touring and recording artists consistently impacting the music landscape in multiple genres and platforms. This year alone, 72MM had three artists nominated for five total GRAMMY Awards, with Blind Boys of Alabama and Bobby Reach each winning one apiece.
