SOTD: "Once Upon A Time" - Robert Bradley's Blackwater Surprise

Sometimes in life, a song just hits you. You're not always ready when it happens, but certain songs just may come along when you least expect it. During the summer of 1997, I was home from college out with some friends when I got dropped off at home around midnight. I sat down on the couch with a drink and some chips and put on MTV (there was still music being played back at that time). I don't remember what show was on (maybe "120 minutes"), but suddenly this video/song appeared and I was completely mesmerized by what was on in front of me.

The video was for a song called "Once Upon A Time" by Robert Bradley's Blackwater Surprise. I thought it was one of the most amazing, beautiful songs that I had ever heard, it completely ripped through me. I immediately wanted to find out as much info about the band as I could, but our internet was still on dial-up so it took me forever to log on to AOL and find this band. When I finally did, there was little information on them but I was able to find an email for their management group....that was a good start.

I emailed their management and after some responses & phone calls, I was able to do some promotion for them. I still remember that package showing up in my mailbox at Villanova, I was like a kid on Christmas morning ripping it open. It had several copies of the band's debut album along with a bunch of posters. I plastered them around campus and was able to get the band to come play on March 12th, 1998. Maybe thirty people showed up, but I was just so excited to hear Robert's voice in person.

If you're unfamiliar with his story, Robert Bradley was a blind street singer in Detroit who was found In 1991 at the Eastern Market by two Detroit musicians and producers, brothers Michael and Andrew Nehra. The Nehras owned and operated a recording studio, White Room Records, in Detroit. During rehearsals at their studio, the brothers noticed Bradley's voice coming in from down the street and asked him to sit in a session with them. They eventually formed a band and the rest is history. They've had some opening slots with bands like the Dave Matthews Band and Robert has recorded with Kid Rock multiple times.

I've gotten to see the band a several times over the years, the last three at the Knitting Factory in New York City. It seems like the roster is always changing, losing and adding new band members and various instruments, but Robert's voice is still as good as ever. It's hard to find tour information on these guys but I think this is the main site that they use for updates (looks like they've only got one show coming up in Michigan):

www.myspace.com/robertbradleysblackwatersurpriserbbs

It's kind of amazing, but you can't even find this song on Itunes. I guess they're not able to put their first album on the site for some reason so you can't download the song, even if you wanted to. There's also a live album that features a nine minute version from New Year's Eve 1995.....it's amazing (if you want information on it, drop me a line and I'll help you out, it may be out of print). I was able to find one version of the song on Itunes though, it's from the band "The Gaslight Anthem". Their new album is called "The '59 Sound" and if you buy the full album on Itunes, you get a bonus track......a cover of "Once Upon A Time".

I always find myself coming back to it, just a special song for me. I think it's one of those songs that's meant to be shared with a lot of people though, so I hope you enjoy: