Beatitudes, etc. by benjamin & the bible
I wrote the beatitudes ditties over the course of a few years with no plan as to what to do with them. Eventually (maybe in late 2006?) I shared what I had with university friend Tim Kitz, who borrowed my demos and came back to me later with accompanying parts for various instruments (see credits below). I had the idea to perform them as a series of sing-alongs, which we tried out at our respective churches in Ottawa. In 2008 I met Ashton Duffus (now Ashton Glass) at camp on Bowen Island, BC, and when I casually sang the songs near her she started improvising vocal harmonies that just obviously belonged. I was moving to Boston in the new year for a few months and invited Tim and Ashton to visit me there, where I hung out often with visual artist and inspiring songwriter/musician Alex Cook.
The beatitudes were recorded in one afternoon/evening in Alex's bedroom and through his set up which at the time consisted of one mic plugged directly into his computer. The basic recording software would preserve only about 2/3 of takes, and we would only find out at the end of a take if it happened to be successfully processed or lost forever. We rearranged ourselves around the room to manage mic proximity (there are still videos of this recording up on my YouTube page, for the curious or nostalgic). Non-beatitudes songs were recorded separately, in a variety of settings, most (but not all) of them even more low-fi.
After assembling recordings, selecting takes, and making simple edits, I burned the album onto CD-Rs with hand-folded paper covers and sold it that way to lots of people in person, at shows, and by mail order in exchange for $15 or "something creative" over the next several years. This is the first time the album's been available online since its creation in early 2009. Enjoy.
with love,
Ben
Tracklist
| 1. | the poor | 1:37 |
| 2. | the mourners | 1:41 |
| 3. | the meek | 1:30 |
| 4. | the hungry | 1:32 |
| 5. | the merciful | 2:50 |
| 6. | the pure | 2:42 |
| 7. | the peacemakers | 1:36 |
| 8. | the persecuted | 2:16 |
| 9. | ye | 3:12 |
| 10. | the net | 2:06 |
| 11. | petals | 1:24 |
| 12. | stepping stones | 2:19 |
| 13. | clouds | 2:05 |
| 14. | presence | 2:18 |
| 15. | light | 2:52 |
| 16. | wings | 3:08 |
| 17. | little feet | 1:57 |
| 18. | the poor outtake | 0:50 |
Credits
Ben Vaughan: voice, guitar, recorder, harmonica, all songwriting
Tim Kitz: flute, bass guitar, glockenspiel, mbira (or some kind of lamellophone), slide ukulele, banjo
Ashton Glass: voice, finger stomps, zipper, kazoo
Alex Cook: zipper, finger stomps, hand claps, recording facilitation, improvised vocals on #18
Scott Wendelberger: lentils, rice, hand claps, interruption on #18
Anonymous sound contributors from outside Alex’s apartment: barks, vrooms, etc.
