Benjamin Chase "Ben" Harper (born October 28, 1969) is an American musician.
Harper was born in Claremont, California, U.S. (in California's Pomona Valley). He began playing guitar as a child in Claremont.[1] He eventually specialized in the acoustic lap steel guitar (Weissenborn guitars). As a young man, he recorded an LP (Pleasure and Pain) with fellow folk guitarist Tom Freund. After this limited edition record, Harper got a record deal with Virgin Records, who released his debut album, Welcome to the Cruel World (1994).
This was followed by the incendiary Fight For Your Mind (1995) which became a college radio favorite and generated an abundance of songs which still fill his set list to this day.
In 1999 at the Santa Barbara Bowl, Harper met Jack Johnson, who was unknown at the time and had not recorded. Harper obtained a demo tape of twelve of Johnson's songs that he forwarded to his producer, J.P. Plunier, with whom Johnson recorded his first album.[2]
From early on in his career, his music received more attention in Europe than it did in his home country. While he was a well-known and respected figure in the States, in countries like France, Portugal, Germany, Switzerland, and The Netherlands, he was a star, receiving a great deal of airplay and critical acclaim. His popularity in Europe is such that he was French Rolling Stone magazine's Artist of the Year (Artiste De L'Année) in 2003, and his tour that year for Diamonds on the Inside played to packed arenas across the continent.
In October 2004, Harper participated in the Vote for Change concert tour organised to benefit Moveon.org and encourage people in the swing states to vote during the 2004 U.S. presidential election. Also in October, Harper contributed a live recording of the song "Oppression" to the For The Lady benefit album for jailed Nobel Prize winner and Burmese pro-democracy advocate Aung San Suu Kyi.
Over the summer of 2005, when the Zooma tour scheduled with Trey Anastasio and various side stage performers was canceled, Harper engaged in a tour of more private clubs/venues such as the Avalon Ballroom in Boston, the Tabernacle in Atlanta, and a full-band acoustic performance at the historic Ryman Auditorium in Nashville. This series of concerts saw the debut of a number of new Harper songs, such as "Get It Like You Like It" and "Dressed In Black."
In 2006, Harper released the double album Both Sides of the Gun which debuted at #7 on the Billboard charts.
Harper has just finished his worldwide tour, with support from Damian "Jr. Gong" Marley on the North American leg.
Though uncredited, he appears briefly in the 2006 David Lynch film Inland Empire, alongside his wife Laura Dern.
Harper recorded a new album in Paris, Lifeline. It was released in 2007 and he has also covered John Lennon's "Beautiful Boy" on the benefit CD Instant Karma: The Amnesty International Campaign to Save Darfur.
He has become a big success in Brazil, because of his collaboration "Boa Sorte/Good Luck" with Brazilian singer Vanessa da Mata, which peaked at #1 in the Brazilian top 100.
Ben Harper is part of the No Nukes group which is against the expansion of nuclear power. In 2007 the group recorded a music video of a new version of the Buffalo Springfield song For What It's Worth
+ Personal
Family
Ben Harper's father, Leonard Harper, was African-American with some Cherokee Indian ancestry, while his mother, Ellen Chase, is of Russian Jewish descent. His parents divorced when he was a child.
Harper has two brothers, Joel and Peter Harper.
On December 23, 2005 Harper married his girlfriend of five years, actress Laura Dern. They have two children together, son Ellery Walker and daughter Jaya. The Rev. Paul B. Raushenbush baptized his children. Harper also has two children from a previous marriage, a son Charles and daughter Harris, whom he sees often.
+ DISCOGRAPHY
Pleasure and Pain (1992)
Welcome to the Cruel World (1994), gravado pela Virgin Records.
The Three Of Us 2:35
Whipping Boy 5:31
Breakin' Down 4:00
Don't Take That Attitude To Your Grave 4:24
Waiting On An Angel 3:53
Mama's Got A Girlfriend Now 2:28
Forever 3:24
Like A King 4:18
Pleasure And Pain 3:47
Walk Away 3:49
How Many Miles Must We March 3:08
Welcome To The Cruel World 5:37
I'll Rise 6:16
Fight For Your Mind (1995)
The Will To Live (1997)
Burn To Shine (1999)
Live From Mars (2001)
Diamonds on the Inside (2003)
There Will Be A Light (2004)
Live At The Apollo (2005)
Both Sides Of The Gun (2cd) (2006), álbum duplo a solo de Ben Harper que apresenta as duas facetas da sua música, uma mais intimista (no primeiro CD) e outra mais reinvindicativa (no segundo CD).
CD 1
Morning Yearning
Waiting For You
Picture In A Frame
Never Leave Lonely Alone
Sweet Nothing Serenade
Reason To Mourn
More Than Sorry
Cryin’ Won’t Help You Now
Happy Everafter In Your Eyes
CD 2
Better Way
Both Sides Of The Gun
Engraved Invitation
Black Rain
Gather ‘Round The Stone
Please Don’t Talk About Murder While I’m Eating
Get It Like You Like It
The Way You Found Me
Serve Your Soul
Lifeline (2007)
Fight Outta You
In the Colors
Fool for a Lonesome Train
Needed You Tonight
Having Wings
Say You Will
Younger Than Today
Put It on Me
Heart of Matters
Paris Sunrise #7
Lifeline
+ MORE INFORMATIONS:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Harper
Music 4 World - Ben Harper (Blues/R&B/Soul) - Biography - Benjamin Chase `Ben` Harper (born October 28, 1969) is an American musician.
Harper was born in Claremont, California, U.S. (in California's Pomona
