Blind Boys were selling records in the 1950s, they did not make much money. In an interview with Ebony magazine in 2003, Fountain stated that they signed contracts that took advantage of them and that they were each paid $50 per album side and the record company kept the rest. By 1953, each member made $100 per side and, as per Fountain, "That was good money in that day. We didn't know what we were worth." 1960s and 1970s Into the 1960s the popularity of traditional gospel music was on the decline and soul music gained favor as a new type of secular black music. At the same time, rhythm and blues and rock musicians began to incorporate traditional gospel sounds into their music. The term soul was originally used by gospel musicians in the 1950s to identify the spiritual nature of their music. By the late 1960s, the term being used more commonly to describe all popular music by African Americans. During the 1960s, the Blind Boys performed at benefits for Martin Luther King Jr. and the civil rights movement. They continued to resist offers to sing more secular music. Fountain attributed their resistance to selling out to their lack of need, noting that they were happy and well-fed as they were and wanted to enjoy performing the music they sought to perform, as opposed to recording popular music solely for a paycheck. In 1969, Fountain left the group in order to pursue a solo career. Neither the Blind Boys nor Fountain found much success into the 1970s. In 1972, guitarist Samuel Butler Jr. (son of the guitarist of the Five Blind Boys of Mississippi) joined the group. Fountain returned to the group in 1977. 1980s and 1990s During their first 40 years, the Blind Boys had primarily played for black gospel audiences, mainly in churches and school auditoriums. The 1980s would mark the group's exposure to a wider audience. By the early 1980s, singer Clarence Fountain had taken the role as the group's frontman. It was at this time that the group was joined by vocalist Jimmy Carter, whose first recording with the group was on their 1982 record I'm a Soldier in the Army of the Lord. Carter sang with the Dixieland Blind Boys, as well as the Five Blind Boys of Mississippi, prior to his work with The Blind Boys of Alabama. Carter was a student