Ben Harper - Welcome To The Cruel World

Welcome To The Cruel World is the debut studio album by American singer songwriter Ben Harper, originally released in February 1994 via Virgin Records.

Ben Harper 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 performances, and activism. Harper is a three-time Grammy Award winner and seven-time nominee, with awards for Best Pop Instrumental Performance and Best Traditional Soul Gospel Album in 2004 and Best Blues Album in 2013. At the 40th Blues Music Awards ceremony, Harper's joint composition with Charlie Musselwhite, "No Mercy In This Land", was named as 'Song of the Year'.

His debut album Welcome To The Cruel World established Harper as a popular roots musician in the California area, and laid the foundation for a very successful musical career. The closing track “I’ll Rise” is a song that he still uses to close his concerts on occasions, and the album also contained a hidden track, a cover of Blind Willie Jonston’s “By and By I’m Going To See The King”.

This double album 2LP record set is a 25^th Anniversary edition on black vinyl at 45 RPM, housed in a gatefold sleeve, pressed in the US via Virgin Records.