1 	When I Go 	
2 	Bad Habits 	
3 	Love And Trust 	
4 	The Bottle Wins Again 	
5 	Found The One 	
6 	When Love Is Not Enough 	
7 	Trust You To Dig My Grave 	
8 	No Mercy In This Land 	
9 	Movin' On 	
10 	Nothing At All

Drums, Percussion – Jimmy Paxson
Electric Bass, Bass [Upright Bass] – Jesse Ingalls
Harmonica – Charlie Musselwhite
Lead Guitar – Jason Mozersky
Organ [B3] – Jesse Ingalls (tracks: 8)
Piano – Ben Harper (tracks: B5), Jesse Ingalls (tracks: 5, 6)
Slide Guitar, Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar, Vocals – Ben Harper
Vocals – Charlie Musselwhite (tracks: 8)

After Ben Harper and Charlie Musselwhite won the Best Blues Album Grammy for 2013's wonderful Get Up!, fans knew it was only a question of time before they worked together again. In the interim, the only outing from Harper was another duo offering, the gorgeous folk-inflected Childhood Home with his mother Ellen Harper. Musselwhite, a serious road dog, issued the raw, scorching Juke Joint Chapel on Henrietta the year before and was also nominated for a Grammy. Get Up! was followed by the wild and wooly live set I Ain't Lyin' in 2015. He assembled a new band and gigged all over the world, also finding time to participate in a documentary about Clarksdale, Mississippi.

No Mercy in This Land follows on the heels of its predecessor by using mostly the same formula: Harper wrote or co-wrote the entire album and sings lead with Musselwhite lending his growling Delta-cum-Chicago harmonica in support. Opener "When I Go" commences with wordless gospel-blues moaning before the wrangling electric guitar and harp meet in the foreground. It's raw, swampy, and lonesome. Further, when Harper gets to the final line of the refrain: "....I'll take you with me when I go...." it's borderline sinister. "Bad Habit" borrows heavily from Preston Foster's "I Got My Mojo Workin' à la Muddy Waters' version (as do a lot of blues songs) with a smoking Little Walter-esque harp solo by Musselwhite. The great bluesman duets with Harper on the title track, as the guitarist plays an acoustic slide under his deep blue harmonica, with tom-tom and kick drums keeping time. Another standout is the raucous single "The Bottle Wins Again," with the lead guitar vamp and harmonica playing in unison as Harper wails the lyric. The brief, shuffling, cut-time groover "Found the One" walks the loopy line where vintage R&B and Chicago blues meet roots rock. Musselwhite's distorted solo is resonant and unruly. While "When Love Is Not Enough," with its lilting piano, upright bassline, and brushed snares under acoustic and electric guitars is a nod at Southern soul, it's mostly a vehicle for Harper's sweet, ragged singing. It's answered by the Piedmont-style acoustic blues "Trust You to Dig My Grave," with Harper on acoustic 12-string guitar. The pair push the pedal to the metal with "Movin' On," a snarling, rowdy, swaggering, barroom blues before closing with the anti-climactic, all-too-languid ballad "Nothing at All" which, frankly, feels out of place here. Musselwhite's deep blues solo is the only thing that links it to the rest of the album's contents. Ultimately, No Mercy in This Land is solid if not (quite) as strong as Get Up! That said, it is more diverse, immediate, and instinctive, making it a worthy listen, and provides further evidence that this pair should work together more often. ---Thom Jurek, AllMusic Review

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1.Alone 3:58
2.The Woman In You 5:41
3.Less 4:05
4.Two Hands Of A Prayer 7:50
5.Please Bleed 4:37
6.Suzie Blue 4:29
7.Steal My Kisses 4:05
8.Burn To Shine 3:34
9.Show Me A Little Shame 3:44
10.Forgiven 5:17
11.Beloved One 4:03
12.In The Lord's Arms 3:06

Ben Harper - guitar, vocals
Richard Barnes - washboard
Bruce Bishop - guitar
Jim Bogen - clarinet
Eve Butler - violin
Dean Butterworth - drums, snare drums
Jon Clarke - English horn, oboe
Joel Derouin - violin
Tyrone Downie - keyboards
Michael Fay - banjo
David Firman – bass
Matt Funes - viola
Suzie Katayama - cello
David Leach - percussion
James Leigh - trombone
David Lindley - banjo, fiddle, mandolin
Juan Nelson - bass
Real Time Jazz Band
Nick Rich - human beatbox
Eric Sarafin - piano, harmonium, recorder

Burn to Shine presents proof positive that you can always distill the essence of rock & roll down to a solitary man alone with his guitar and conscience. It sounds inventive yet firmly rooted in the blues-rock singer/songwriter/guitarist tradition of Taj Mahal and of Neil Young and Cat Stevens at their most confessional. Harper's guitar with falsetto vocal in "The Woman in You" even suggests a Curtis Mayfield tune in the hands of Prince. "Steal My Kisses" is one of those uncluttered, radio-friendly rock shuffles that simply makes you bob your head and feel better. Even Harper's detours -- like the wobbling New Orleans shuffle with the Real Time Jazz Band, "Suzie Blue," and charred Black Sabbath metal in "Less" -- prove worth exploring. Other cameos include guitarists David Lindley and former Bob Marley sideman Tyrone Downey. Burn to Shine is a minor masterpiece that may prove to be not so minor. ---Chris Slawecki, Rovi

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01. Forever [03:25]
02. By My Side [03:35]
03. Gold to Me [04:58]
04. Diamonds On the Inside [04:24]
05. In the Colors [03:01]
06. Beloved One [03:59]
07. Not Fire Not Ice [03:40]
08. Morning Yearning [04:04]
09. Feel Love [03:44]
10. Happy Everafter in Your Eyes [02:24]
11. Waiting On an Angel [03:53]
12. Crazy Amazing [03:58]

Brett Banducci - Viola
Eve Butler - Violin
Oliver Charles - 	Drums
Jon Clarke - Oboe
Matt Cory - Bass
Rock Deadrick - Percussion
Joel Derouin - Violin
Matthew Funes - Viola
Jessy Greene - String Arrangements, Violin
Ben Harper - Drums, Guitar, Guitar (Acoustic), Percussion, Piano, Vibraphone, Vocals, Weissenborn
Jesse Ingalls - Bass
Suzie Katayama - Cello, String Arrangements
Greg Kurstin - Piano (Electric)
Greg Leisz - Pedal Steel
Timothy Loo - Cello
Leon Mobley - Percussion
Jason Mozersky - Guitar
Juan Nelson - Bass
Nicky P - Guitar (Electric)
Joel Pargman - Violin
Alyssa Park - Violin
Ervin Pope - Hammond B3
Jordan Richardson - Drums
Patrick Rosalez - Violin
Michael Ward - Guitar
Jason Yates – Keyboards

The problem with many retrospectives is that they usually place an artist's best-known and/or best-selling songs in a sequence that can defy context. The end result can be a rather jagged listening experience. Ben Harper's By My Side seems to address that issue by looking at it directly. Instead of simply letting his label choose a slew of tracks and call it a "hits" or "best-of" collection, Harper handpicked a dozen cuts, and focused on a particular aspect of his work: ballads. In addition to ten standard-bearers from his catalog, he also chose an alternate studio version of "Not Fire Not Ice," which sounds like a nicely recorded demo (and was never available in the United States before), and provided a single new cut, a sparse, sexy, soulful number called "Crazy Amazing" with his Relentless7 bandmates. The remaining tracks are canny choices: the vast majority of them would be the very cuts his fans would choose for such a collection. They span his entire career beginning with "Forever," from Welcome to the Cruel World. Also included from that recording is "Waiting on an Angel" near the end of this set. The two tracks chosen from Fight for Your Mind are the title track, of course, and "Gold to Me." The title track to Diamonds on the Inside is also here. Among the other selections are "Morning Yearning" from Lifeline (with the Innocent Criminals), "Beloved One" from Burn to Shine, and "Happy Everafter in Your Eyes" from Both Sides of the Gun. Taking in Harper's ballads without the rockist guitar pyrotechnics is solid not only in conception but in execution. While there's no doubt that fans have most of these tracks already, listening to By My Side's presentation of them as a resonant sampling of a particular area in the larger context of his work adds both depth and dimension to Harper's reputation, not only as a songwriter but as a singer as well. ---Thom Jurek, Rovi

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01. The Three Of Us 2:35
02. Whipping Boy 5:31
03. Breakin' Down 4:00
04. Don't Take That Attitude To Your Grave 4:25
05. Waiting On An Angel 3:53
06. Mama's Got A Girlfriend Now 2:29
07. Forever 3:23
08. Like A King 4:18
09. Pleasure And Pain 3:44
10. Walk Away 3:49
11. How Many Miles Must We March? 3:07
12. Welcome To The Cruel World 5:36
13. I'll Rise 3:35

Ben Harper- (Vocals, Acoustic & Electric Guitar, Dobro); 
Taylor- (Background Vocals);
Suzie Katayama- (Cello); 
Richard Cook- (Uillean Pipes); 
Gail Deadrick- (Piano); 
Jelani Jones, Kevin Williams, Clyde Allen, Clarence Butler, Clabe Hangan, Kenneth McDaniel, John 
John McKnight- (Accordion, Bass);
Rock Deadrick- (Drums, Percussion, Background Vocals).

The full range of Ben Harper's influences would not come to bear until later albums, but his debut, Welcome to the Cruel World, lays a strong foundation. "Like a King" and "Take That Attitude to Your Grave" burn with a political conviction rarely heard during the 1990s. "Forever" has a tenderness which demonstrates Harper's emotional range. Lackluster hippie jams that cultivated his early following may have served a purpose but feel fluffy by comparison when compared to the meatier tracks. Ben closes the album with a song that frequently closes his concerts, "I'll Rise." This song, built around Maya Angelou's 1979 poem "And Still I Rise," reminds one of art's ability to pierce through society, self, and the soul. --- Ryan Randall Goble, Rovi

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01 – Don’t Look Twice [00:03:12]
02 – I’m In I’m Out And I’m Gone [00:04:37]
03 – We Can’t End This Way [00:03:34]
04 – I Don’t Believe A Word You Say [00:03:16]
05 – You Found Another Lover (I Lost Another Friend) [00:04:12]
06 – I Ride At Dawn [00:04:41]
07 – Blood Side Out [00:02:52]
08 – Get Up! [00:06:16]
09 – She Got Kick [00:02:56]
10 – All That Matters Now [00:04:53]

Backing Vocals – C.C. White (tracks: 3), Charlie Musselwhite (tracks: 3), Marti Walker (tracks: 3), Pebbles Phillips (tracks: 3)
Bass – Jesse Ingalls
Drums – Jordan Richardson
Guitar – Jason Mozersky
Guitar, Slide Guitar – Ben Harper
Harmonica – Charlie Musselwhite
Producer – Ben Harper
Vocals – Ben Harper 

For Ben Harper, the blues have always been within arm’s reach. His latest collaboration with bluesman Charlie Musselwhite, Get Up!, finally allows Harper the time and space to deal with the blues—on his terms. The two players first met during a session with boogie-king John Lee Hooker more than a decade ago and have been occasional collaborators since. Both Harper and Musselwhite seem to have a profound effect on the other. The gritty and soulful sound of Musselwhite’s harp adds authenticity to the group, while Harper’s songs give “Memphis” Charlie more than a 12-bar form to explore.

And explore he does. Covering the bases from jazz and blues to more folkloric sounds, Musselwhite pushes Harper and his band in a way that really demonstrates why chemistry is so important when it comes to collaborative projects. Their groove is in full force on “I’m In, I’m Out, and I’m Gone,” where Harper channels John Lee with a stream-of-consciousness lyric that fits perfectly with the stomping shuffle groove. On this album, substance and feeling are placed above flash and polish, which is a rare thing these days, but entirely necessary when it comes to the blues. --- Jason Shadrick, premierguitar.com

Ben Harper has teamed with renowned harmonica master Charlie Musselwhite to create Get Up!, a piercing song-cycle of struggle and heart, slated for release by Stax Records/Concord Music Group on January 29th, 2013. Recorded in Los Angeles and produced by Harper, Get Up!, is his 12th studio album and first new recording since 2011's Give Till It's Gone (Virgin). A striking mix of blues, gospel, roots and R&B, Get Up! features ten vivid musical character studies, skillfully rendered in cinematic detail, all written or co-written by Harper.

Charlie Musselwhite s searing point/counter-point harmonica accentuates Harper s vocals throughout Get Up!, tying its songs together into a cohesive musical whole. The band, including Jason Mozersky, guitar; Jesse Ingalls, bass; Jordan Richardson, drums; along with Ben Harper on vocals, guitar and slide guitar; plays with economical grit, lending the songs true understanding and authority.

In 1994, Ben Harper released his first record Welcome to the Cruel World, marking his arrival as singer and songwriter of substance and ambition. Two decades later, an artist in full creative command, he s delivered an inspired work of purity and depth. Get Up!, the new album from Ben Harper with Charlie Musselwhite, is sure to be one of 2013 s most essential recordings. ---Editorial Reviews

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