Ben Harper Unplugged and Off the Cuff: Video

Watch Ben Harper play an acoustic rendition of "Steal My Kisses" (and explain the song's origin) and chat about where he and the Innocent Criminals are at as they release their latest album, Lifeline. Plus, Harper discusses his interview with Rolling Stone associate editor Austin Scaggs, and the star-packed night the two shared in Paris.

Plus, listen to audio selections from Scaggs' interview with Harper, in which the pair cover everything from Harper's favorite songs to DJ on the tour bus to the day he realized the fame and the glory could all vanish in an instant.

In this clip Harper discusses the post-show high that keeps him and his bandmates up all night listening to Al Green and drinking.

Harper recalls the show he played in western France that launched his career.

Harper offers his opinion on botched traveling rock festival Zooma, and how the jaunt's cancellation tore him apart.

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Song Stories

“Let My Love Open the Door”

Pete Townshend | 1980

A peppy, hopeful love song, "Let My Love Open the Door" became a U. S. Top Ten hit for Pete Townshend in 1980, anchored by the kind of repeating synthesizer figures that he'd used in some of the Who's recordings in the previous decade. Although Townshend brushed the song off as "just a ditty" in Rolling Stone shortly after its release, in 1996 he revealed it was about love of the holiest sort. "It's supposed to be about the power of God's love," he remarked. "That when you're in difficulty, whether it's major or minor, God's love is always there for you."

More Song Stories entries »

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