Fight for Your Mind

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Fight for Your Mind
Studio album by Ben Harper
Released	1995
Genre	Alternative Rock
Length	68:05
Label	Virgin
Producer(s)	Ben Harper, J.P. Plunier, Bob "Stiv" Coke
Professional reviews
All Music Guide link
Ben Harper chronology
Welcome to the Cruel World (1994)	Fight for Your Mind (1995)	The Will to Live (1997)

Fight for Your Mind is a 1995 (see 1995 in music) album by Ben Harper. It was his last solo album before adding The Innocent Criminals to his line-up. Reviews were generally very positive, praising Harper's fusion of multiple genres, from folk ("Another Lonely Day"), folk rock ("Gold to Me"), Black Sabbath-style riffing heavy metal ("Ground on Down") and politically-charged reggae ("Excuse Me Mister").

After Harper's well-received debut, Welcome to the Cruel World, he expanded on his fanbase by touring relentlessly with jam bands like Dave Matthews Band. On this, his second album, Harper added a more refined sense of his own intense spirituality, such as on the gospel-influenced album closers, "Power of the Gospel", "God Fearing Man" and "One Road to Freedom".

Contents 1 Track listing 2 Artwork 3 Personnel 4 Production

[edit] Track listing

1. "Oppression" (Harper) – 2:58
2. "Ground on Down" (Harper) – 4:53
3. "Another Lonely Day" (Harper) – 3:43
4. "Please Me Like You Want To" (Harper) – 4:55
5. "Gold to Me" (Harper) – 5:00
6. "Burn One Down" (Harper) – 3:31
7. "Excuse Me Mr." (Harper, Plunier) – 5:24
8. "People Lead" (Harper) – 4:13
9. "Fight for Your Mind" (Harper) – 4:06
10. "Give a Man a Home" (Harper) – 3:35
11. "By My Side" (Harper) – 3:34
12. "Power of the Gospel" (Harper) – 6:02
13. "God Fearing Man" (Harper) – 11:49
14. "One Road to Freedom" (Harper) – 4:14

[edit] Artwork

The Fight For Your Mind artwork features the use of military roundels from African nations to represent each track on the album. The track coressponding to each roundel is:

• Angola - Opression
  

  

  African Military roundels in the Fight For Your Mind artwork
• Cameroon - Ground on Down
• Central African Republic - Another Lonely Day
• Chad - Please Me Like You Want To
• Uganda - Gold to Me
• Jamaica - Burn One Down
• Egypt - Excues Me Mr
• Niger - People Lead
• Ghana/Guinea - Fight For Your Mind
• Kenya - Give a Man a Home
• Nigeria - By My Side
• Somalia - Power of the Gospel
• Ivory Coast - God Fearing Man
• Ethiopia - One Road to Freedom

Harper has continued to use roundel inspired artwork his other albums.

[edit] Personnel

• Ben Harper - acoustic guitar, vocals, weissenborn
• Brett Banduci - viola
• Danielle Charles - violin
• Oliver Charles - drums
• Bob "Stiv" Coke - tabla, tambourine, tamboura, sarod
• Timothy Loo - cello
• Leon Mobley - percussion
• Juan Nelson - bass
• Ervin Pope - organ, Hammond organ

[edit] Production

• Producers: Ben Harper, Bob "Stiv" Coke, J.P. Plunier
• Associate Producer: Jeff Gottlieb
• Assistant Producer: Jeff Gottlieb
• Engineer: Bradley Cook
• Assistant engineers: Ryan Boesh, Todd Burke, Paul Naguna
• Mixing: The Dub Brothers, Femi Jiya, Eric Sarafin
• Mastering: Eddy Schreyer
• String arrangements: Ben Harper, J.P. Plunier
• Design: Tom Dolan
• Art direction: Tom Dolan, J.P. Plunier
• Photography: Bob "Stiv" Coke, Jeff Gottlieb
• Research: Ben Elder