''Both Sides of the Gun'', is

Ben Harper Benjamin Chase Harper (born October 28, 1969) is an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. Harper plays an eclectic mix of blues, folk, soul, reggae, and rock music and is known for his guitar-playing skills, vocals, live perfo ...

's seventh album, released in 2006. Split into two discs, the title suggests the two sides of Harper's musical nature. The first disc ("White") is made of mostly acoustic and string-driven songs hinted at on the last track ("She's Only Happy In The Sun") of Harper's previous album '' Diamonds on the Inside''. The second disc ("Black") is made up of the more rock and upbeat material and touching on genres such as

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest hard ...

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...

and

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...

. A number of tracks on "Both Sides of the Gun" crackle with intensity and outrage over the political climate in the United States, particularly "Black Rain," the lyrics to which Harper posted last September on his official Web site. The cut lashes out at President Bush's handling of Hurricane Katrina, proclaiming, "Don't speak to us like we work for you / Selling false hope like some new dope we're addicted to / I'm not a desperate man but these are desperate times at hand / This generation is beyond your command." The first disc is a quiet, intimate affair. It opens with the wistful, string-addled ballad "Morning Yearning" and moving on to the Nick Drake-influenced solo guitar confessional "More Than Sorry" and the unabashedly sentimental closer "Happy Everafter in Your Eyes," an ode to Harper's wife, actress Laura Dern. The second half of "Both Sides" delves into a variety of styles, from the swaggering, Black Crowes-style rocker "Get It Like You Like It" to the raw blues of "The Way You Found Me" and the slow-burning, largely instrumental jam "Serve Your Soul" that closes the album. The album saw Harper playing the majority of the instruments on both discs; an approach that he had rarely used on his previous albums. However, the Innocent Criminals would appear on a few tracks whilst his later band,

Relentless7 Relentless7 was an American rock band, formed in 2008 by singer/guitarist Ben Harper. The band was composed of Harper (guitar, lead vocals), Jason Mozersky (lead guitar), Jesse Ingalls (bass), and Jordan Richardson (drums). History Ben Harper f ...

, would appear together for the first time on "Serve Your Soul", the last track on the second disc. The album became Harper's first US top 10 hit on the

Billboard Hot 200 The ''Billboard'' 200 is a record chart ranking the 200 most popular music albums and EPs in the United States. It is published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine and is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artis ...

album charts, peaking at number seven. As of April 2007, it has sold 126,000 copies in United States.

Track listing

All songs written by Ben Harper, except as indicated. Disc 1 - "White" #"Morning Yearning" – 4:09 #"Waiting for You" (Ben Harper, Michael Ward) – 3:34 #"Picture in a Frame" (Ben Harper, Michael Ward, Juan Nelson, Oliver Charles, Jason Yates, Leon Mobley) – 4:36 #"Never Leave Lonely Alone" – 2:51 #"Sweet Nothing Serenade" – 2:44 #"Reason to Mourn" – 4:26 #"More Than Sorry" (Ben Harper, Danny Kalb) – 3:24 #"Cryin' Won't Help You Now" – 2:35 #"Happy Everafter in Your Eyes" – 2:31 Disc 2 - "Black" #"

Better Way "Better Way" is a song by singer-songwriter Ben Harper. It is the first track on disc two of his 2006 album '' Both Sides of the Gun'', and was released as the album's first single. A live version of the song appears on Songs for Tibet: The Art o ...

" – 3:58 #"Both Sides of the Gun" – 2:44 #"Engraved Invitation" – 2:55 #"Black Rain" (Ben Harper, Jason Yates) – 2:57 #"Gather 'Round the Stone" – 3:08 #"Please Don't Talk About Murder While I'm Eating" – 2:34 #"Get It Like You Like It" – 3:27 #"The Way You Found Me" – 2:53 #"Serve Your Soul" – 8:22 Disc 3 (''Special Edition package only'') ''The album was also released as a limited special edition box set including a bonus CD featuring four alternate mixes and two live tracks.'' #"Gather ‘Round The Stone" (Alternate Version Mix) #"Reason to Mourn" (Alternate Mix) #"Get It Like You Like It" (Live, Acoustic) #"Waiting for You" (Alternate Mix) #"Morning Yearning" (Alternate Mix) #"Beloved One" (Live)

Personnel

- Vocals,

slide guitar Slide guitar is a technique for playing the guitar that is often used in blues music. It involves playing a guitar while holding a hard object (a slide) against the strings, creating the opportunity for glissando effects and deep vibratos tha ...

, acoustic guitar,

Weissenborn Weissenborn or H. Weissenborn is a brand of lap slide guitar manufactured by Hermann Weissenborn in Los Angeles in the 1920s and 1930s. These instruments are now highly sought after, and form the base for most non-resonator acoustic lap steel ...

, electric guitar, bass guitar, drums, percussion, piano, vibes,
Juan Nelson
- Bass * Oliver Francis Charles - Drums *

Leon Mobley Leon Mobley (born February 27, 1961) is a percussionist and drummer, founder and artistic and musical director of Da Lion and Djimbe West African Drummers and Dancers, actor, and a member of the Innocent Criminals, Ben Harper's band. He worked w ...

- Percussion *Jason Yates - Keys * Matt Cory - Bass * Michael Ward - Guitar, bass * JP Plunier - Drums *

Charlie Musselwhite Charles Douglas Musselwhite (born January 31, 1944) is an American electric blues harmonica player and bandleader, one of the white bluesmen who came to prominence, along with Mike Bloomfield, Paul Butterfield, and Elvin Bishop, as a pivotal f ...

- Backing vocals * David Lindley - Tambura *

Greg Kurstin Gregory Allen Kurstin (born May 14, 1969) is an American record producer, multi-instrumentalist, and songwriter. He has won nine Grammy Awards, including Producer of the Year, Non-Classical in 2017 and 2018, and written and produced four songs t ...

- Hammond B3 *

Marc Ford Marc or MARC may refer to: People * Marc (given name), people with the first name * Marc (surname), people with the family name Acronyms * MARC standards, a data format used for library cataloging, * MARC Train, a regional commuter rail system o ...

- Guitar *Alyssa Park, Joel Pargman, Patrick Rosalez, Brett Banducci, Timothy Loo - Strings * David Palmer - Keys *

Danny Kalb Daniel Ira Kalb (September 9, 1942 – November 19, 2022) was an American blues guitarist and vocalist. He was an original member of the 1960s group the Blues Project. Life and career Kalb was a protégé of Dave Van Ronk and became a solo per ...

- Guitar,

sound engineer An audio engineer (also known as a sound engineer or recording engineer) helps to produce a recording or a live performance, balancing and adjusting sound sources using equalization, dynamics processing and audio effects, mixing, reproduction, ...

* Jan Ghazi - Electric guitar, backing vocals * Nick Sandro - Bass, backing vocals * Jason Mozersky - Guitar *Scott Thomas - Backing vocals *

Jose Medeles Jose is the English transliteration of the Hebrew and Aramaic name ''Yose'', which is etymologically linked to ''Yosef'' or Joseph. The name was popular during the Mishnaic and Talmudic periods. * Jose ben Abin * Jose ben Akabya *Jose the Galile ...

- Drums *Jesse Ingulls - Bass *Jordan Richardson - Drums *William Gus Seyffert - Bass *Ellen Harper, Sue Chase, Michelle Griepentrog, Jennifer Ohrstrom, Natasha Cockrell - Backing vocals

Production

*Producer:

*Engineer: Danny Kalb *Management: J.P. Plunier

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Both Sides Of The Gun Ben Harper albums 2006 albums Virgin Records albums