Barrence Boxes With Russell

I've been a huge fan of songs about real people, real lives, true stories. Songs like Bob Dylan's Hurricane, Gordon Lightfoot's Wreck Of the Edmund Fitzgerld, Johnny Cash's The Ballad of John Henry, etc. There's hundreds of them. Today I've stumbled across a great tribute song by a good friend of mine Barrence Whitfeild. Barrence works at the record exchange record store in Salem, MA that i frequently hung out in and thumbed through the vinyl. My collection grew larger and larger after learning more and more great music from Barrence, Jimmy, Skip and Paul. I probably wouldn't have the knowledge of music if it wasn't for those guys and I owe them alot and thank them greatly. Barrence can be heard around New England with his funk group He also tours around Europe and Australia. In this song however Barrence takes a more traditional route, collaborating with folk artist Tom Russell he sings great with his gruff voice on a song that is beautifully written. The song is a tribute to legendary boxer John Arthur (Jack) Johnson, the first ever African American to ever win the World Heavyweight Boxing Championship and the second ever African American to win a championship. Story's like this can never be lost in history and thanks to Barrence Whitfield and Tom Russell at least Jack Johnson's story never will.