A sonic exploration and tonal analysis of contemporary creative music in a myriad of improvisational/composed settings, textures, and expressions.
Welcome to Sound Projections
I'm your host Kofi Natambu. This online magazine features the very best in contemporary creative music in this creative timezone NOW (the one we're living in) as well as that of the historical past. The purpose is to openly explore, examine, investigate, reflect on, studiously critique, and take opulent pleasure in the sonic and aural dimensions of human experience known and identified to us as MUSIC. I'm also interested in critically examining the wide range of ideas and opinions that govern our commodified notions of the production, consumption, marketing, and commercial exchange of organized sound(s) which largely define and thereby (over)determine our present relationships to music in the general political economy and culture.
Thus this magazine will strive to critically question and go beyond the conventional imposed notions
and categories of what constitutes the generic and stylistic definitions of ‘Jazz’, ‘classical music’, ‘Blues.’
'Rhythm and Blues’, ‘Rock and Roll’, ‘Pop’, ‘Funk’, ‘Hip Hop’, etc. in order to search for what individual
artists and ensembles do cretively to challenge and transform our ingrained ideas and attitudes of what
music is and could be.
So please join me in this ongoing visceral, investigative, and cerebral quest to explore, enjoy, and pay
homage to the endlessly creative and uniquely magisterial dimensions of MUSIC in all of its guises and expressive identities.
Saturday, February 9, 2019
The Staple Singers (1948-1994): Legendary, iconic, and innovative singing group
The Staples' story goes all the way back to 1915 in Winona, Mississippi, when patriarch Roebuck "Pops" Staples entered the world. A contemporary and familiar of Charley Patton's, Roebuck
quickly became adept as a solo blues guitarist, entertaining at local
dances and picnics. He was also drawn to the church, and by 1937 he was
singing and playing guitar with the Golden Trumpets, a spiritual group
based out of Drew, Mississippi. Moving to Chicago four years later, he
continued playing gospel music with the Windy City's Trumpet Jubilees. A
decade later Pops Staples (as he had become known) presented two of his daughters, Cleotha and Mavis, and his one son, Pervis, in front of a church audience, and the Staple Singers were born.
The Staples recorded in an older, slightly archaic,
deeply Southern spiritual style first for United and then for Vee-Jay. Pops and Mavis Staples shared lead vocal chores, with most records underpinned by Pops' heavily reverbed Mississippi cotton-patch guitar. In 1960 the Staples signed with Riverside, a label that specialized in jazz and folk. With Riverside and later Epic, the Staples attempted to move into the then-burgeoning white folk boom. Two Epic releases, "Why (Am I Treated So Bad)" and a cover of Stephen Stills' "For What It's Worth," briefly graced the pop charts in 1967.
In 1968 the Staples signed with Memphis-based Stax. The first two albums, Soul Folk in Action and We'll Get Over, were produced by Steve Cropper and backed by Booker T. & the MG's. The Staples were now singing entirely contemporary "message" songs such as "Long Walk to D.C." and "When Will We Be Paid." In 1970 Pervis Staples left and was replaced by sister Yvonne Staples. Even more significantly, Al Bell took over production chores. Bell took them down the road to Muscle Shoals, and things got decidedly funky.
Starting with "Heavy Makes You Happy (Sha-Na-Boom Boom)" and "I'll Take You There," the Staples counted 12 chart hits at Stax. When Stax encountered financial problems, Curtis Mayfield signed the Staples to his Curtom label and produced a number one hit in "Let's Do It Again." The Staples
went on to continued chart success, albeit less spectacularly, with
Warner, through 1979. One more album followed on 20th Century Fox in
1981. After a three-year hiatus, they signed a two-album deal with
Private I and hit the R&B charts five more times, once with an
unlikely cover of Talking Heads' "Slippery People."
The Staple Singers found a new audience in 1994 when they teamed with Marty Stuart to perform "The Weight" on the Rhythm, Country & Blues LP for MCA. Sadly, Pops passed away on December 19, 2000, shortly after suffering a concussion due to a fall in his home. Cleotha died in February 2013 after a decade with Alzheimer's disease. Throughout the 2000s and early 2010s, Mavis released excellent solo material for the Alligator and Anti labels. In 2015, Concord released a four-disc Staples box set, Faith and Grace: A Family Journey 1953-1976. Yvonne Staples died of colon cancer at her home in Chicago in April 2018 at the age of 80.
An interviewer once asked Roebuck “Pops” Staples, leader of the
world-famous Staple Singers, if they were originally from Chicago. “Well,” Pop explained, “Cleo is originally from Mississippi, but I’m from Maine.” The reporter seemed a bit puzzled. “You didn’t know that, did you?” Pops added in his syrupy country drawl. “No, I didn’t,” the perplexed writer answered. “Yep. I’m from Maine-the main part of Mississippi,” Pops said as he burst into laughter. Staples and his three singing daughters – Mavis, Yvonne, and
Cleo-have come a long way from the main part of Mississippi. From their
gospel beginnings through the folk-rock era to their soul music peak,
the Staple Singers have traveled a long, artistically-rich road into the
mainstream of American music. Roebuck Staples was born in 1915 in Winona, Mississippi, where he
grew up with hard times and the blues, his singing and guitar style
influenced by country bluesmen Barbecue Bob and Big Bill Broonzy. But
Roebuck found the Lord and joined a jubilee quartet called the Golden
Trumpets. Roebuck, his wife Oceola, and their two children, Cleotha and Pervis,
moved north to Chicago in 1936, where Yvonne and Mavis were born a few
years later. Singing in a Southern quartet style usually performed by all-male,
adult groups, the Staple Singers began appear-ing at local churches in
1948. Mavis, then age seven, handled the bass parts. By 1954, Pops, Mavis, Cleo, and Pervis (Yvonne replaced him many
years later) landed a contract with Chicago’s United label, cutting a
num-ber called “Sit Down Servant.” Pop’s thin, winsome tenor shared the
lead with Mavis’s deep, throaty tones, as they have done ever since,
although her unique contralto had not developed the emotional edge it
was soon to have. The record failed to catch on, though, per-haps
because Pops’ reverberating down-home guitar, which would become
an-other trademark of their style, was overshadowed by a rinky-tink
piano. The Staple sound did click in a big way when their haunting 1957
Vee-Jay recording of “Uncloudy Day” became a nationwide gospel hit.
Others followed, including “Will the Circle Be Unbroken,” “Help Me,
Jesus,” and “Swing Down Chariot (Let Me Ride”), established the Staples
as one of America’s top gospel attractions. They were signed to Bill Grauer and Orrin Keepnews’s Riverside jazz
label in 1962 when the folk music boom was in full force. The group was
beginning to pick up college bookings, in addition to their religious
dates. While at Riverside, they were the first black artists to re-cord
material by Bob Dylan. Their following continued to expand when they moved to the Epic
label, where they became identified with so-cial protest songs like
“Freedom High-way” and “Why? (Am I Treated So Bad),” both penned by
Pops, and Ste-phen Stills’s “For What It’s Worth.” (The latter two were
produced by rock and roll legend Larry Williams.) When the Staples joined Stax in 1968, they were working alongside
major rock acts at places like the Fillmore West and East. The first two
Stax albums, produced by Steve Cropper, continued in the folk vein, but
their third, The Staple Swingers, offered a bold new direction of hip
soul “mes-sage” songs. It was produced in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, by Al
Bell, as was their next, Be Altitude: Respect Your-self. Be Altitude
broke the Staple Singers wide open. “Respect Yourself,” written by Mack
Rice and Luther Ingram, reached the Number Two position on Billboard’s
soul chart, while Al Bell’s “I’ll Take You There,” with its infec-tious
reggae-like beat, hit Number One soul and pop. There were more hits at Stax-“Oh La De Da,” “If You’re Ready (Come Go
with Me),” and “Touch a Hand, Make a Friend”-before they moved on to
Warner Bros., where they scored with Curtis Mayfield’s soundtrack to
Let’s Do It Again. Changing their name to “The Staples” and adopting
a more secular image, the group cut albums produced by fellow
Chicagoans Curtis Mayfield and Eugene Record. Pops Staples died December 19, 2000.
The Staple Singers delivered music with a message.
The Staples’ evolved from gospel music to soulful pop, delivering
hits in both genres. The family group’s music was a vehicle for social
activism, positive change and love
Biography
The Staple Singers have been called “God’s greatest hitmakers.” Steeped in the music of the church, this singing family from
Mississippi crossed into the pop mainstream without compromising their
gospel roots. Fronted by patriarch Roebuck “Pops” Staples, the Staple
Singers have left an imprint of soulful voices, social activism,
religious conviction and danceable “message music” across the decades
since the release of “Uncloudy Day” in 1956. The clan’s musical
signatures have been Pops Staples’ gospel-based songwriting and bluesy
guitar, Mavis Staples’ rich, raspy vocals and the supple, ringing
harmonies of Cleotha and Yvonne Staples. All three women are the
daughters of Pops and Oceola Staples. Until 1969, son Pervis also
belonged to the group, which was configured as a quartet for more than
half a century, with Pops and Mavis joined by Cleotha, Yvonne and/or
Pervis. By force of conviction and the rollicking rhythm & blues
underpinnings of their music, the gospel-based Staples cracked the Top
40 eight times from 1971 to 1975. Two singles reached Number One: the
funky, inspirational “I’ll Take You There,” which was the highlight of
their tenure on Stax Records, and “Let’s Do It Again,” a film-soundtrack
song recorded for Curtis Mayfield’s Curtom label. Beyond these
watermarks, the Staple Singers have enjoyed a lengthy history that dates
back to the late Forties. Pops Staples was born in 1914 in Winona, Mississippi. He took up
guitar at an early age and soon became very adept at playing the blues.
By 1937 he was playing with the Golden Trumpets, a spiritual group based
in Mississippi. In 1941 he and his wife, Oceola, moved north to
Chicago. There Pops played in another group, the Trumpet Jubilees. Then,
after having three daughters and a son, the Staples formed a family
gospel group and began singing in churches around the upper Midwest.
They became regulars on a Sunday radio show and cut their first single,
"These Are They"/"Faith and Grace," for Pops’ label Royal Records in
1953. Another record for a local label ("Won’t You Sit Down,” on United)
led to a contract with the Chicago-based Vee-Jay Records. The Staple
Singers stayed at Vee-Jay from 1956 to 1962, a tenure that included
their breakthrough single, “Uncloudy Day.” Moving to the New York-based Riverside label, the Staple Singers
adopted a more folk-oriented sound, recording contemporary,
message-oriented songs by the likes of Woody Guthrie and Bob Dylan.
Their late-Sixties tenure on Epic Records found them moving further in
this direction, as the Staples recorded protest songs (Buffalo
Springfield’s “For What It’s Worth") and inspirational material
("Marching Up Jesus’ Highway") in a folk-gospel style. In 1968 the Staple Singers signed with the Memphis-based Stax label. Their first two albums for Stax, Soul Folk in Action (1968) and We’ll Get Over (1970), were
produced by Steve Cropper and featured Booker T. and the MG’s as the
back-up band. Those albums featured such “message” songs as “Long Walk
to D.C.” and “When Will We Be Paid.” Then in 1970 Pervis Staples left
the group, and he was replaced by his sister Yvonne. More significantly,
Al Bell became the group’s producer, and the Staple Singers’
message-oriented material moved to a funkier setting. The Staple Singers’ run of Top 40 hits began in 1971 with “Heavy
Makes You Happy (Sha-Na-Boom Boom).” That song reached Number
Twenty-Seven on the pop chart and Number Six on the R&B chart. The
group’s next two singles for Stax—“Respect Yourself” and “I’ll Take You
There”—both went gold. “Respect Yourself” reached Number Twelve on the
pop chart and Number Two on the R&B chart. A new height was reached
when “I’ll Take You There” topped both the pop and R&B charts. In
regards to their crossover from pure gospel to folk and soul-flavored
material—a source of controversy within the religious community—Pops
Staples explained to Essence magazine: “We’ve always tried to
make affirmative, happy music that makes a positive point. Our aim is to
get across a message while we’re entertaining people.” Overall, the
group scored twelve hits while at Stax. After the demise of Stax, the Staples moved to Curtis Mayfield’s
Curtom label in 1974. The label change resulted in the Staple Singers’
second Number One hit, “Let’s Do It Again,” a disco-era favorite.
Another single, “New Orleans,” reached Number Twelve on the R&B
chart. Both songs were from the film Let’s Do It Again (1975). Moving on to Warner Bros., where they remained till the end of the
decade, the group shortened its name to the Staples. (As a side note,
guitarist George Benson—who played in the Staples’ band—launched a
successful solo career with Pops Staples’ help at Warner Bros.) While at
Warner Bros., the group scored two R&B hits, 1976’s “Love Me, Love
Me, Love Me” and 1978’s “Unlock Your Mind.” In 1976 the Staples also
collaborated with the Band, performing “The Weight” in The Last Waltz (1978). The Staples’ final hit came in 1984, when they covered the Talking Heads’ song “Slippery People.” At Stax, Mavis and Pops Staples had recorded solo albums, and they
continued to do so for Warner Bros. and other labels. In
1987 Prince signed Mavis Staples to his Paisley Park label and produced,
played on and wrote much of the material for two memorable solo discs, Time Waits for No One (1989) and The Voice (1993). In 1994 Pops Staples’ Father Father won a Grammy for the Best Contemporary Blues Album. More recently, Mavis has been collaborating with Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy. He produced her 2010 solo album, You Are Not Alone. That
album won a Grammy in 2011 for Best Americana Album. It was Mavis’
first Grammy award. Tweedy also produced her 2013 album, One True Vine. Mavis has also received honorary doctorates from the Berklee College of Music and from Columbia College in Chicago. Pops Staples died in 2000 as a result of a concussion, and Cleotha
Staples died in 2013 after suffering from Alzheimer’s disease for about a
decade The Staple Singers received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement award in 2005. Inductees: Cleotha Staples (vocals; born April 11, 1934, died
February 21, 2013), Mavis Staples (vocals; born July 10, 1939), Pervis
Staples (vocals; born November 6, 1935), Roebuck "Pops" Staples (vocals,
guitar; born December 28, 1914, died December 19, 2000); Yvonne Staples
(vocals; born October 23, 1938, died April 10, 2018)
[August 2018 update: In addition to his duties at "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert," Jon Batiste has signed to Verve Records and will release his first solo album, Hollywood Africans,
on September 28. The collection spans both Batiste's own original
compositions and some standards too, like Louis Armstrong's "What a
Wonderful World." And one of Batiste's favorite singers and human
beings, Mavis Staples, will be a part of New York's AmericanaFest at Lincoln Center's Damrosch Park on August 11, along with Joe Henry. Both Batiste and Staples were at the 2018 Newport Folk Festival too, with Staples joining Mumford and Sons for their surprise set.]
Since "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" debuted on CBS in September 2015, Jon Batiste, the show's charismatic music director, pianist and melodica master, and his group, Stay Human, have been an indelible part of America's television nightscape.
The multifaceted Batiste, who has also moonlighted as a comedian and
actor when not playing effusive New Orleans-sparked jazz and rock, is an
integral factor in the show's razor-sharp intelligence and
sophisticated cool. But the young Kenner, Louisiana-raised,
Juilliard-educated, New York-based musician had an impressive,
illustrious career long before Colbert and the late night talk show
circuit, releasing his first album, Times in New Orleans, at
the precocious age of 17. He's collaborated with Prince, Wynton Marsalis
and Questlove and is associate artistic director of Harlem's National
Jazz Museum.
And like this week's FUV Essentials, Mavis Staples and the Staple Singers, Batiste hails from a very musical family, the Batiste Brothers Band
(inspiring his character and others in HBO's "Treme"). Activism,
altruism and human rights also play a significant role in the young
artist's professional and personal life. He warmly defines his art as
"social music" — as he explained on "The Colbert Report" back in 2014. "Music is really about a shared experience," said Batiste. "A genuine human exchange."
Not surprisingly, Mavis Staples and Batiste quickly found their way
to each other — the pair have performed together and Batiste co-wrote
the song "Tomorrow" with Aloe Blacc (who wrote about Stevie Wonder for FUV Essentials) for her 2016 album Livin' on a High Note. She discussed their collaboration with Colbert when a guest on the show in February 2016 (with Batiste joining in).
Batiste kindly took time from his demanding schedule to write about Mavis, Pops and the Staple Singers for FUV Essentials — and it's a Batiste-style "love riot" of admiration, enthusiasm and inspiration.
Jon Batiste: Five Essential Mavis and Pops Staples Songs:
Her
voice is always so honest. This single is from early in her career as a
solo artist and displays her ability to tell a story with an uncanny
depth of feeling. The redemption in her voice is palpable. I also love
how tight and compact the arrangement is. A must listen for true Mavis
fans.
This
recording transports me to another time and place. This is a posthumous
release and has a supernatural quality to it. It's trancelike and makes
one consider repentance.
Mavis
has a way of making you feel good about life. When she says everything
is gonna be okay, you really believe it. This recording has such a
joyous aura to it and it transports you home, no matter where you're
from. The wisdom in her voice is healing. Love it!
Mavis
and her family are truly sanctified, anointed by God to sing and uplift
souls. Put this record on and have an instant revival. The power and
love that is present in this recording is so moving that it makes me
cry. You can almost hear the pews shaking. This was movement music.
Revolution music.
If
an alien from another planet landed on earth and asked "what is music?"
this record would in the top ten of what I'd use as an example. Here we
witness what happens when a stellar song is performed by the perfect
artist for it. No one could have sung this song better than Mavis. It's
her soul personified.
For die-hard Mavis fans this is an obvious choice but for the novice
I'd recommend this is a first listen. My dad would play this song for me
when I was a kid and it's always been a part of the fabric of my
childhood. It was also the first song that I performed with Mavis when
we first met. This song obviously has a special place in my heart and is
truly a timeless classic.
There are quite a few examples of women who first found their voice
in the church. Gospel roots were behind the rightfully celebrated pipes
of Aretha Franklin, Whitney Houston, Mary J. Blige, Katy Perry, Faith
Hill. These women made their mark at the top of the charts for pop,
R&B, soul and country. But a list of Mavis Staples’ fans and peers falls solidly in the rock
world. Just over the past few years, her collaborators included Arcade
Fire, Gorillaz,
M. Ward, Son Little, and her producer and friend Jeff Tweedy of Wilco.
These are rock stars who challenge assumptions, make some cacophonous
noise, and generally shake things up. They’re not in the studio making
things pretty, auto-tuning vocals, and reaching hard for mainstream
airplay. Staples shakes things up. She got it from her Dad, Roebuck "Pops"
Staples, who raised his talented children to stand up for what is right.
They started in the gospel tradition, but by the mid-’60s were civil
rights activists in their own right, marching with Dr. Martin Luther
King, Jr. and performing contemporary music to inspire the movement (“For What It’s Worth”).
As the Staple Singers — Pops, Mavis, and her siblings Cleotha,
Yvonne, and Pervis — the family had hits through the mid-’70s on Stax
Records, with Booker T. and the MGs as the studio band. They played with
progressive artists like Bob Dylan (who famously asked Pops for Mavis’
hand in marriage), which then led them to appear in the Band’s epic
1976-78 concert film, "The Last Waltz." Their performance of “The Weight” is ingrained in the minds of millions.
As a solo artist, Mavis Staples' career has included working with producers Prince and Ry Cooder (“Down in Mississippi”)
as well as Tweedy, winning the ears and hearts of a few generations
along the way. Never one to sit still, her presence has lit up benefit
concerts and collaborative albums on a regular basis, her growly alto
unmistakeable in the mix, even amid the guitars and percussion of her
rock star friends.
So why do these artists want to work with Staples? She was there at
the start of popular music carrying a progressive message, her voice has
carried significance. Of course the respect is unbounded. But it’s her
big heart and her sharp mind that begs for a personal, creative
connection. She has a lot to say, and with these compatriots, her
message reaches far and wide.
A perfect example is her 2016 album, Livin' on a High Note.
Produced by M. Ward, the album features songs written specifically for
Staples by Nick Cave, Valerie June, Justin Vernon, tUnE-yArds, Neko
Case, Ben Harper and other fans. It is full of joy, hope and a
collective spirit. (Full album stream video below.)
It took until age 72 for Staples to nab her first Grammy award: Best Americana Album for You Are Not Alone.
("This has been a long time coming," she said at the time. No kidding.)
And if you’re looking for some extra inspiration to wake up your own
activist spirit, find the 2015 documentary Mavis!and see how that moves you.
The love at FUV for Staples is strong, and she kindly reciprocates.
She joined us — along with the Head and the Heart, Josh Ritter and Dawes
— for 2011’s Holiday Cheer benefit concert. In 2014 she was WFUV's "Artist of the Year," receiving our Sound & Vision award and performing at our annual gala.
Always a welcome guest in our Studio A, we look forward to her next
journey (rumor has it she’s working with Jeff Tweedy again). In the
meantime, celebrate with us the voice, the love, and the spirit of FUV Essentials artist Mavis Staples.
The Staple Singers performing in 1986 in their hometown
of Chicago, Illinois. Yvonne, right, died April 10, 2018 at the age of
80. Paul Natkin/WireImage Yvonne Staples, a member of the renowned soul, gospel and R&B
group The Staple Singers, died Tuesday in Chicago at the age of 80,
representatives for her sister and band mate Mavis Staples confirmed to
NPR Music. No cause was given, and the Staples family has yet to issue a
statement. Yvonne, born in Chicago in 1937, began singing in
church choirs in the '40s along with her siblings Mavis and Pervis, but
was not initially a performer in The Staple Singers, led by their
father, Pops. "I was eight years old and Pops bought an old black Underwood typewriter, and that's how I started," Yvonne said in an interview
with the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, when asked about her business
background in the family, a capacity that she would continue in for the
better part of her life. After her brother Pervis was drafted into the
army, Yvonne became a background singer for the group in addition to a
business manager — just before the group's songs began to ascend the
charts. The Staple Singers began incorporating a rising social
consciousness into their work in the '60s, becoming a favorite of Dr.
Martin Luther King, Jr. At the same time, they faced situations of harrowing racism while touring in the South. In the early '70s, The Staple Singers had a string of hits including two No. 1 singles, "I'll Take You There" and "Let's Do It Again." Lauryn Hill inducted The Staple Sisters into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1999, and the group was given a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2005 Grammys.
Inductees:
Roebuck "Pops" Staples (vocals, guitar; 12/28/15 – 12/19/2000); Cleotha
Staples (vocals; 4/11/34 - 2/21/2013); Mavis Staples (vocals; born
7/10/39); Pervis Staples (vocals; born 11/35); Yvonne Staples (vocals;
born 10/23/38) The Staple Singers have been called "God's greatest
hitmakers." Steeped in the music of the church, this singing family from
Mississippi crossed into the pop mainstream without compromising their
gospel roots. Fronted by patriarch Roebuck "Pops" Staples, the Staple
Singers have left an imprint of soulful voices, social activism,
religious conviction and danceable "message music" across the decades
since the release of "Uncloudy Day" in 1956. The clan's musical
signatures have been Pops Staples' gospel-based songwriting and bluesy
guitar, Mavis Staples' rich, raspy vocals and the supple, ringing
harmonies of Cleotha and Yvonne Staples. All three women are the
daughters of Pops and Oceola Staples. Until 1969, son Pervis also
belonged to the group, which was configured as a quartet for more than
half a century, with Pops and Mavis joined by Cleotha, Yvonne and/or
Pervis.By force of conviction and the rollicking, rhythm & blues
underpinnings of their music, the gospel-based Staples cracked the Top
40 eight times from 1971 to 1975. Two singles reached Number One: the
funky, inspirational "I'll Take You There," which was the highlight of
their tenure on Stax Records, and "Let's Do It Again," a film-soundtrack
song recorded for Curtis Mayfield's Curtom label. Beyond these
watermarks, the Staple Singers have enjoyed a lengthy history that dates
back to the late Forties.Pops Staples was born in 1915 in Winona,
Mississippi. He took up guitar at an early age and soon became very
adept at playing the blues. By 1937, he was playing with the Golden
Trumpets, a spiritual group based in Mississippi. Then, in 1941, he and
his wife, Oceola, moved north to Chicago. There, Pops played in another
group, the Trumpet Jubilees. Then, after having three daughters and a
son, the Staples formed a family gospel group and began singing in
churches around the upper Midwest. They became regulars on a Sunday
radio sow and, in 1953, they cut their first single, "These Are
They"/"Faith and Grace," for Pops' own label, Royal Records.Another
record for a local label ("Won't You Sit Down," on United) led to a
contract with the Chicago-based Vee-Jay Records. The Staple Singers
stayed at Vee-Jay from 1956 to 1962, a tenure that included their
breakthrough single, "Uncloudy Day."Moving to the New York-based
Riverside label, the Staple Singers adopted a more folk-oriented sound,
recording contemporary, message-oriented songs by the likes of Woody
Guthrie and Bob Dylan. Their late-Sixties tenure on Epic Records found
them moving further in this direction, as the Staples recorded protest
songs (Buffalo Springfield's "For What It's Worth") and inspirational
material ("Marching Up Jesus' Highway") in a folk-gospel style. Then, in
1968, the Staple Singers signed with the Memphis-based Stax label. Their
first two albums for Stax, Soul Folk in Action and We'll Get Over, were
produced by Steve Cropper and featured Booker T. and the MG's as the
back-up band. Those albums featured such "message" songs as "Long Walk
to D.C." and "When Will We Be Paid." Then, in 1970, Pervis Staples left
the group, and he was replaced by his sister Yvonne. More significantly,
Al Bell became the group's producer, and the Staple Singers'
message-oriented material was emplaced in a funkier setting.The Staple
Singers' run of Top 40 hits began in 1971 with "Heavy Makes You Happy
(Sha-Na-Boom Boom)." That song reached Number 27 on the pop chart and
Number Six on the R&B chart. The group's next two singles for Stax –
"Respect Yourself" and "I'll Take You These" – both went gold. "Respect
Yourself" reached Number 12 on the pop chart and Number Two on the
R&B chart. A new plateau was reached when "I'll Take You There"
topped both the pop and R&B charts. As regards their crossover from
pure gospel to folk and soul-flavored material – a source of controversy
within the religious community – Pops Staples explained to Essence
magazine: "We've always tried to make affirmative, happy music that
makes a positive point. Our aim is to get across a message while we're
entertaining people." Overall, the group scored 12 hits while at
Stax.After the demise of Stax, the Staples moved to Curtis Mayfield's
Curtom label in 1974. The label change resulted in the Staple Singers'
second Number One hit, "Let's Do It Again," a disco-era favorite.
Another single, "New Orleans," reached Number 12 on the R&B chart.
Both songs were from the film Let's Do It Again.Moving on to Warner
Bros., where they remained till the end of the decade, the group
shortened its name to the Staples. (As a side note, guitarist George
Benson – who played in the Staples' band --launched a successful solo
career with Pops Staples' help at Warner Bros.) While at Warner Bros.,
the group scored two R&B hits, 1976's "Love Me, Love Me, Love Me"
and 1978's "Unlock Your Mind." In 1976, the Staples also collaborated
with the Band, performing "The Weight" in The Last Waltz. The Staples'
final hit came in 1984, when they covered the Talking Heads' song
"Slippery People." At Stax, Mavis and Pops Staples had recorded solo
albums, and they continued to do so for Warner Bros. and other labels.
In 1987, Prince signed Mavis Staples to his Paisley Park label and
produced, played on and wrote much of the material for two memorable
solo discs, Time Waits for No One and The Voice. In 1994, Pops Staples'
Father Father won a Grammy for the Best Contemporary Blues Album.More
recently, Mavis has been collaborating with Wilco's Jeff Tweedy. He
produced her 2010 solo album, You Are Not Alone. That album won a Grammy
in 2011 for Best Americana Album. It was Mavis' first Grammy award.
Tweedy also produced her 2013 album, One True Vine. Mavis has also
received honorary doctorates from the Berklee College of Music and from
Columbia College in Chicago.Pops Staples died in 2000, as a result of a
concussion he had suffered, and Cleotha Staples died in 2013, after
suffering from Alzheimer's disease for about a decade.The Stapes Singers
received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement award in 2005. https://www.azcentral.com/story/entertainment/music/2017/03/01/mavis-staples-interview-staple-singers/98534222/
Mavis Staples Interview: Staple Singers, Elvis Presley, Martin Luther King, Jr., and that one time in Memphis
When
Mavis Staples was a little girl, her father used to stand her on a
chair when she performed so that the crowds who flocked to hear the
Staple Singers could get a decent look at the source of that powerful
vocal.
By the time she finished high
school, they were touring on "Uncloudy Day," the first of many gospel
standards that would go on to define the Staples' place in music
history.
As the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, which
inducted the Staple Singers in 1999, would one day celebrate that place
in music history, "Fronted by patriarch Roebuck “Pops” Staples, the
Staple Singers have left an imprint of soulful voices, social activism,
religious conviction and danceable “message music” across the decades
since the release of 'Uncloudy Day' in 1956.
And
Mavis is still adding to her legacy, headed to Scottsdale on Monday,
March 6, in support of last year's "Livin' on a High Note," her latest
collection of life-affirming, gospel-flavored soul music. After
recording two albums that Wilco's Jeff Tweedy produced, she recorded
"High Note" with another "youngster," as she'd call him, M. Ward,
singing songs provided by the likes of Nick Cave, Justin Vernon, Neko
Case and Merrill Garbus of Tune-Yards.
We caught up with Staples to talk about the new album,
her recent work with Arcade Fire and what it was like growing up on the
road with her family – Pops Staples and Mavis' siblings Cleotha (or
Cleedy, as she calls her), Pervis and Yvonne – while becoming a
prominent voice in the civil-rights movement.
It's
when she talks about the old days that her voice becomes more animated,
laughing at the memories, even while telling a story she's probably told
a million times before, that features her playing a getaway driver and
ends with "I had never been so happy to see a jail."
Question: I’m really enjoying your new album. It’s got a nice energy to it.
Answer: Thanks. I was happy to get those youngsters to write for me.
Q: You’ve been working with youngsters and relative youngsters a lot in recent years. What’s the appeal for you?
A: Well, just the fact that they have
followed my family. I am so much older than them, but they all seem to
know me. They’ve followed our work. ... You know, it keeps me young to
be around young people. I really love the Arcade Fire kids. They’re like
family. I’ve adopted the little girl. I call her Tinkerbell. She’s
always moving. She even had me dancing on stage. She came and got me and
I fell in. But I was doing dances from the ‘70s and she was doing the
Running Man or somebody (laughs). But I kept up with her.
Q: I love that song you did with them, “I Give You Power.”
A: I
like that song. We did that at their home in New Orleans, and I was so
amazed. We started in the living room and then we ended up in the studio
they have put together in a smaller building out behind the house. They
called it a coach house or something. I said, “Well, how you gonna
catch it?” They said, “Don’t worry, Mavis. We’re getting it.” And it
really was an amazing session. I had a day off in New Orleans, and they
have this beautiful house. Then, after the session, we had a nice lunch,
and I said, “OK, you ready to get back to work?” And they said, “Oh
Mavis, it’s done. We don’t need anymore.” I love them.
But
I have a lot of young friends. Kelly Hogan, this little girl Elle King.
And these days, we have a lot of young people. I think you call them
the millennials. I’m just so happy to see them at our shows. It’s good. I
can say that I have sang long enough to have my hippie friends from the
’60s and then the new generation. I get some babies, too. I had one
little kid about seven years old walk up to me and say “Mavis, you
rock.” (Laughs.) That just did me all the good. A little bitty kid. But
I’m so blessed that I can still be here to bring the music and have new
generations of fans. My Pops would be so proud.
Q:
Now, you were still in high school when you guys released “Uncloudy
Day.” What was it like growing up in that environment, making records,
touring with your family as a kid?
A: That
was fun for me. The best thing is I didn’t miss any of my childhood. I
hear Michael Jackson, the way their father kept him rehearsing all the
time, day in and day out. I could go out to play. I went to my prom.
When we recorded that first record, “Uncloudy Day,” I was a freshie in
high school. I was 13 or 14 years old. I just enjoyed it so much. I
would love to call down and order room service. My voice was so heavy, I
would call to order breakfast, and the lady would say, “Yes, Mr.
Staples. What else can we get you?” I said, “I’m a lady.” (Laughs.)
People
would actually bet that I was not a little girl singing that song. I
was singing female bass. The disc jockey would say, “This is little
Mavis Staples. She’s 13 years old.” And we would get to places and
they’d say, “Listen, these people are betting that your daughter’s not a
little girl. They say it’s got to be a man or a big fat lady.” So we
would mess with them. The place would be packed and they had bet their
money. We would sing “Uncloudy Day” all the way down in harmony and when
my part would come, my brother would pretend that he was gonna step up
to the mic, and you could hear all over the audience, “I told you it
wasn’t that little girl.” And I would ease over and sing. Boy, the place
would go up. One man got right up in my face, he was so mad at me. He
said, “Little girl, I bet my whole paycheck on you.” And Pops told him,
“Well, you shouldn’t bet.” So we would have fun.
When
I was a little girl, before we started recording, they would have to
stand me on a chair so that people could see me. (Laughs.) People would
come around crying, putting money in my hands. I’d get back home and ask
my mother, “Mama, what did I do to those people to make them cry?” I
thought I had hurt their feelings. And Mama said, “Oh no, baby, no. You
make them happy when you sing. They (are) happy tears.” I had to learn
when people would give me money, I would put it on the piano and when
we’d get ready to go, my money was gone. I’d say, “Mama, my money.” So
she sewed these pockets on my little dresses, so when I got money in my
hand, I’d just put it in my pocket. There was a thief in the temple,
like that song Prince sang. (Laughs).
Q: What do you think it was about “Uncloudy Day” that it took off the way it did?
A: It
was the style. See, Pops, he gave us voices to sing that his sisters
and brothers would sing in Mississippi. All the other gospel singers
were hooping and doing what the other one was doing. And our harmonies
were so unique. Win (Butler) from Arcade Fire, when I met him, he asked
me, “Miss Staples, what can we do to get the harmonies that sing like
that?” I said, “You’ll have to get one of our records from back in the
day.” But Daddy would play his guitar, and we’d sing just the way he
showed us, three harmonies.
I credit my sister
Cleedy and my father for the Staple Singers, because Pops would have her
singing in a minor. Her soprano was different from anybody else’s. And
Pops had on his guitar a tremolo. He went to the music store one day,
and he came back with this tremolo. Elvis Presley told me one time, “I
like the way your father plays guitar. He plays a nervous guitar.” I
said, “Nervous?! That’s the first time I heard that.” But that was a
good name for it. Nervous. Our sound was so unique. And then the songs
that we would sing. We have a box out now and it has all of our music
from the very first record, and I listen and I say “Oh Lord, Lord, I
didn’t know what we were doing myself back then. That’s the best music
of my life.”
Q:
Your family was obviously heavily involved in the civil-rights
movement. Pops was friends with Martin Luther King Jr. What it was like
touring in the South with racial tensions running as high as they were?
A: You
know, our records, starting with “Uncloudy Day,” they were hot in the
South first. So that’s where we would go to work. And Pops would sit us
down and let us know, “Now, where we’re going in the South, I’m gonna
tell you, everybody don’t love you like they love you in Chicago.” We
were about to face not a different crowd because our audience was black
but we were going on an adventure where we would have to deal with
prejudice.
And when we got down South, man, it was
so discouraging. We would see signs on the water fountains. White only.
We couldn’t stay in the hotels. And I said, “Why Daddy?” He said,
“Mavis, you’re not white.” We were lucky that in some places like
Jackson, Miss., some of the black people who had a bigger house would
have rooms. And that’s where we would have to stay.
One
time, me, Yvonne and Cleedy, we told daddy we wanted to go downtown. He
said, “Now, don’t y’all start nothin’.” And then in the next breath he
said, “But don’t y’all take nothin’.” So we saw these shoes in the store
and our sister, Cleedy, she was our spokesperson because she was the
oldest, she went in and said, “We’d like to have those shoes in three
different sizes.” And we were going to sit to try them on and the woman
said, “Wait a minute, if you want to try them on, you have to go over
behind that curtain.”
Now, this was an old raggedy
sack curtain. So Cleedy said, “Well, we can’t take these.” And right
away, when you say or do something like that, their answer is, “Y’all
aren’t from around here, are you?” Cleedy said, “Oh yes, we’ve been
living here all our lives. We live on Church Street.” That’s where we
were staying. We went back and we told Pops what happened and he said,
“Yeah, I know, I’m sorry, y’all. Wait ‘til you get home to get some
shoes.”
We
went to jail down there. Pops beat up a white man in the service
station in Memphis. This guy called me the N-word. I was the night
driver. So I pulled in to fill up to continue driving. And when I asked
him for a cash receipt, that’s when he looked at me with a snarl and the
N-word. “You have to come over there if you want a receipt.” Pops said,
“Pull over there, Mavis.” So I pulled over there, Daddy went in to get
the receipt and I saw this boy, he was a tall young guy, shaking his
finger in Pops’ face, and Pops, I’m sure he asked him, “Why you call my
daughter a name like that?” And that’s when I saw Pops clock him.
(Laughs.)
He hit him so hard and they fought and
they fought. There was blood, because Pops had his ring on his pinky.
And boy, they fought into the grease part of the service station and
Pops slipped down because he had his slippers on. By that time, that
boy, he was trying to get a crowbar to hit Pops. And Cleedy was bammin’
him on his back. Her little fists was going. So he didn’t know. He
looked in the car and thought this was an old man. You know, Pops had
gray hair from the time he was 18 years old and he didn’t know my
brother was on the backseat covered up. He was gonna drive next.
And
when this guy got away from Cleedy and started running, I knew he was
going for a gun. I said “Pervis, they fighting.” And Pervis, he looked
like he came out from under those coats like Superman coming out of that
telephone booth. (Laughs.) He got in there and he came down on him. And
that’s when he started running.
I’m driving the
getaway car. (lLaughs.) I’ll never forget. We were on the corner of
Third and Union, and Daddy said, “Drive, Mavis.” They got back in the
car, huffin’ and puffin’. I said, “Daddy, I can’t. I’m too scared.” He
said, “Mavis, drive.” And I started driving. I got to the bridge that
connects Memphis and West Memphis, Ark.. And that’s when I saw all these
lights. Pops said, “Just keep driving, Mavis.” And once I got across
that bridge, Pops told me to stop. So I stopped and they jumped out of
these three cars. Shotguns. Dogs were barking. It was horrible.
This
guy, he told them that we didn’t pay for our gas and we had beat him up
and robbed him. I’ve never been so scared in my life. Pops kept telling
them, “These are my children. We sing gospel music. You can call WDIA.
We sing on Stax Records.” He was telling them everything. And he told
dad, “Shut up, boy.” He kept calling Pops a “boy.” That was making my
flesh crawl. They had us standing on the highway, our hands over our
heads. Cars were zooming past us. Dogs were barking. They handcuffed us,
our hands behind our backs, and put us in different cars. I just knew
they were taking us out to the woods. I knew this was our last day. I
was praying. And they took us to jail. I had never been so happy to see a
jail. (Laughs.)
We walked in there and they had
this black man mopping the floor. He looked up and he said, “Poppa
Staples, what you doing here?” And Pops just walked on past him. Then,
here we come. “And your children.” (Laughs.) Man, it was something. To
make a long story short, Pops sent Cleedy out there with the receipt.
That’s what saved us. The receipt was bloody. But that man said we
didn’t pay for our gas. And don’t you know, the next time we were in
Memphis, the chief of police from West Memphis, and 10 or 15 police,
they came out, and they were all dressed in their uniforms. And Pops
looked over there and said, “Well, chief, it’s mighty nice of you to
come out here, but who’s minding the town?” (Laughs.)
But
Dr. King, Lord have mercy, when I saw those “coloreds only” signs
coming down, when we could stay in the Holiday Inn. We never did go to
the back door of the restaurant. If you wanted to go to a restaurant,
you would have to go to the back door. We’d go to the grocery store and
get us some cold cuts. But Pops went to Dr. King’s church and heard his
message. He went back to the hotel and he called us to his room and
said, “Listen, you all, I like this man’s message. And if he can preach
it, we can sing it.”
That was it. From that time
on, we wrote “Freedom Highway,” “Why (Am I Treated So Bad),” “Touch a
Hand, Make a Friend.” Any time we could march, we would be marching. The
last time we saw Dr. King was in Chicago. He called Pops and wanted
Pops to come down to this restaurant. So Pops took me and my mother.
Coretta (Scott King) was there. I think about that time a lot because
that was the last time to be that close with him. He was a great man.
Q: How did it feel to be given a powerful voice in the struggle because of your music?
A: It was the best feeling in the world. We were
helping Dr. King. We were helping the black community. We were doing
something positive. And we found out, you know, that all whites wasn’t
bad. I just thought everybody white was bad when we first started going
down there. But we had so many whites to march with us. And then we met
the hippies. They were beautiful. Just about love.
And
I felt so good that the Lord gifted me. Because I don’t know no music.
My voice is my gift. And Pops had me using it in the right way. I had
many offers to sing pop, to sing rhythm and blues. Pops said “Mavis,
this record company want to give you a million dollars.” I said, “No
daddy, I want to sing with the family.” And I did. I never wanted to
branch out by myself. But I’ve had to now. It’s my mission. I’ve been
left here to do it. And I’m grateful.
Q:
When you look at where we are today, after the election, does it feel as
though we’ve lost some ground in terms of civil rights? And given your
experience, what do you think can be done?
A:
It’s hard to say. This is so dismaying. So disheartening to see what’s
happening. But I tell everybody, “We stay strong. We stay positive, keep
our heads up, love one another, spread love. The Devil can’t win when
you have God on your side.” I’ve been so disappointed and I’ve said, “No
Mavis, you can’t give up. You have to stay strong and stay up.” I try
not to see the news. But I’m glad to see that it’s turning around. Like,
that women’s march, man. That just made me feel so good. And I think if
we continue, like I say, the Devil is a liar. He cannot win. And that’s
all we’re seeing is a bunch of devils. So we have to pray and just look
out for one another. Keep your chest out, stick your head up and walk
tall.
Reach the reporter at ed.masley@arizonarepublic.com or 602-444-4495.Twitter.com/EdMasley.
Mavis Staples at Arizona Musicfest
When: 7:30 p.m. Monday, March 6.
Where: Highlands Church, 9050 E. Pinnacle Peak Road, Scottsdale.
"Respect Yourself": The Power of The Staple Singers
Daniel Hautzinger
June 8, 2018
Sears
and Roebuck grew up on a plantation in the Mississippi Delta, but when
Roebuck was 21 he left his brother and moved to Chicago, the city that
headquartered their namesake. There he begat a brood of melodious
children, naming one of them after not a mail-order company like himself
but a songbird, perhaps having had a premonition of Mavis’s fantastic
deep voice. The children sat in a circle on the floor and learned the
harmonies Pops – that’s what they called him – gave them, and soon their
voices were ringing out in churches, then in halls, then at civil
rights marches, until the whole country knew this band of vividly named
musicians – Pops, Mavis, Cleotha, Pervis, and Yvonne Staples – as simply
The Staple Singers.
The Staples performed songs that combined the influences
of Pops’ birthplace and adopted home: the Delta blues of legends like
Charley Patton, who often played outside the general store near Pops’
Mississippi home, and the uplifting gospel that grew out of the churches of Chicago. After all, the two genres aren’t too far apart, as Rev. Jesse Jackson points out in this clip from a 2002 episode of WTTW’s Chicago Stories
about The Staple Singers (you can also hear their friends Harry
Belafonte and Bob Dylan reflecting on Mavis, Pops, and the Staples in
the clip):
Pops’ first job in Chicago, after he arrived in 1935,
was in the stockyards, where he made four cents a day shoveling
fertilizer and working the hog-kill. At home, at 506 E. 33rd
Street, he taught his children to sing and harmonize. Their first
performance was at Mount Calvary Baptist Church, where they sang “If I
Could Hear My Mother Pray Again” three times – it was the only song they
knew, but the crowd kept calling them back for encores.
After gaining popularity in churches around Chicago –
and learning more songs – the Staples were signed by local record label
Vee-Jay and had their first hit in 1956 with “Uncloudy Day,” which
featured signature elements of their sound: Pops’ tremolo guitar,
Mavis’s unearthly voice, and her siblings’ harmonies. A young Bob Dylan
was entranced by the song, calling it “the most mysterious thing I’d
ever heard… [Mavis’s] singing just knocked me out.”
And
Dylan wasn’t the only prominent fan. As the civil rights movement took
off in the 1960s, the Staples became involved with and befriended Martin
Luther King, Jr. Pops had always fought against segregation, refusing
to eat in the backs of restaurants in the South. (Instead, the Staples
would make sandwiches in their car when on tour.) So when he heard Dr.
King preach in Montgomery, Alabama in 1963, he decided to begin to write
“message songs.” As he told his children after hearing King’s sermon,
in Mavis’s recollection, “Listen you all, I really like this man’s
message. And I think that if he can preach that, we can sing it.”
Thus came songs like King’s personal favorite “Why? (Am I
Treated So Bad),” “I’ll Take You There,” and “Respect Yourself.” The
Staple Singers traveled with King, performing concerts to raise money
for the civil rights movement. And Pops encouraged other songwriters to
write music that addressed the times, too: “If you want to write a song
for us, read the headlines,” he’d tell them.
Greg Kot's biography of Mavis Staples is the current selection for "One Book, One Chicago"
In the late ‘60s, the Staples signed with Stax Records in Memphis, where
they incorporated more contemporary soul influences such as a grooving
rhythm section. (Just listen to that buoyant bass line on “I’ll Take You
There.”) They continued to record into the 1980s, garnering countless
fans, from the Jackson 5 to Natalie Merchant to Bebe Winans.
Mavis has had a late-career blossoming in the 2010s,
with a slew of albums produced by Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy as well as guest
appearances on songs by Arcade Fire and Gorillaz, among others. She’s
the headliner of this year’s Chicago Blues Festival,
where she performs on Sunday, June 10 at Millennium Park’s Jay Pritzker
Pavilion, even though she turns 79 next month. The journalist Greg
Kot’s biography of her, I’ll Take You There, is the Chicago
Public Library’s current “One Book, One Chicago” selection. Harry
Belafonte would probably extend what he said of her family’s group in
the 2002 Chicago Stories episode to Mavis today: “When you listen to The Staple Singers, I think you hear black art at its finest, finest expression.”
he Staple Singers were an American gospel, soul and R&B singing group. Roebuck "Pops" Staples (1914–2000), the patriarch of the family, formed the group with his children Cleotha (April 11, 1934 – February 21, 2013),[1] Pervis (b. 1935), and Mavis (b. 1939). Yvonne (October 23, 1937 – April 10, 2018)[2][3] replaced her brother when he was drafted into the U.S. Army, and again in 1970. They are best known for their 1970s hits "Respect Yourself", "I'll Take You There", "If You're Ready (Come Go with Me)", and "Let's Do It Again". While the family name is Staples, the group used "Staple" commercially.
History
First child to Roebuck "Pops" Staples and his wife Oceola Staples, Cleotha was born in Drew, Mississippi in 1934.[4] Two years later, Roebuck moved his family from Mississippi to Chicago.[1] Roebuck and Oceola's children, son Pervis and daughters, Mavis and Yvonne, were born in Chicago.[4] Roebuck worked in steel mills and meat packing plants while his family of four children grew up.[5] The family began appearing in Chicago-area churches in 1948.[2]
Their first public singing appearance was at the Mount Zion Church,
Chicago, where Roebuck's brother, the Rev. Chester Staples, was pastor.[6] They signed their first professional contract in 1952.[7] During their early career, they recorded in an acoustic gospel-folk style with various labels: United Records, Vee-Jay Records (their "Uncloudy Day" and "Will the Circle Be Unbroken?" were best sellers), Checker Records, Riverside Records, and then Epic Records in 1965. "Uncloudy Day" was an early influence on Bob Dylan,
who said of it in 2015, "It was the most mysterious thing I'd ever
heard... I'd think about them even at my school desk...Mavis looked to
be about the same age as me in her picture (on the cover of "Uncloudy
Day")...Her singing just knocked me out...And Mavis was a great
singer—deep and mysterious. And even at the young age, I felt that life
itself was a mystery."[8] The Staples move to Epic saw a run of albums, including the live in-church Freedom Highway album produced by Billy Sherrill;
the title track of which was a civil rights movement protest song
penned by Pops Staples. It was on Epic that the Staple Singers developed
a style more accessible to mainstream audiences, with "Why (Am I
Treated So Bad)" and "For What It's Worth" (Stephen Stills) in 1967. In 1968, the Staple Singers signed to Stax Records and released two albums with Steve Cropper—Soul Folk in Action and We'll Get Over, Pervis returning for them.[9] After Cropper left Stax, Al Bell produced their recordings, conducting the rhythm sessions at the famed Muscle Shoals Sound Studio and cutting the overdubs himself at Memphis's Ardent Studios,[10] moving in a more funk and soul direction.
The Staple Singers' first Stax hit was "Heavy Makes You Happy (Sha-Na-Boom-Boom)" in early 1971. Their late 1971 recording of "Respect Yourself", written by Luther Ingram and Mack Rice, peaked at No. 2 on the BillboardR&B chart and No. 12 on the Billboard Hot 100. Both hits sold over one million copies and were each awarded a gold disc by the RIAA.[11] The song's theme of self-empowerment had universal appeal, released in the period immediately following the intense American civil rights movement of the 1960s. In 1972, "I'll Take You There" topped both Billboard charts.[12] In 1973, "If You're Ready (Come Go With Me)" reached No. 9 on the Hot 100 and No. 1 on the R&B chart.
After Stax's 1975 bankruptcy, The Staple Singers signed to Curtis Mayfield's label, Curtom Records, and released "Let's Do It Again",
produced by Mayfield; the song became their second No. 1 pop hit in the
U.S., and the album was also successful. In 1976, they collaborated
with The Band for their film The Last Waltz, performing on the song "The Weight"
(which The Staple Singers had previously covered on their first Stax
album). However, they were not able to regain their momentum, releasing
only occasional minor hits. The 1984 album Turning Point featured a cover of the Talking Heads' "Slippery People" (it reached the Top 5 on the Dance chart). In 1994, they again performed the song "The Weight" with country music artist Marty Stuart for MCA Nashville's Rhythm, Country and Blues compilation, somewhat re-establishing an audience. The song "Respect Yourself" was used by Spike Lee in the soundtrack to his movie Crooklyn, made in 1994.
In 1999, The Staple Singers were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Pops Staples died of complications from a concussion suffered in December 2000. In 2005, the group was awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. Cleotha Staples died in Chicago on February 21, 2013 at age 78, after suffering from Alzheimer's disease for over a decade.[13]Mavis Staples
has continued to carry on the family tradition and continues to add her
vocal talents to both the projects of other artists and her own solo
ventures. She appeared at Glastonbury in 2015, and her 2016 album Livin' on a High Note includes a simple acoustic version of a Martin Luther King sermon in the track "MLK Song".[14] Yvonne Staples died on April 10, 2018 at age 80.[15]
Documentary
The 2015 documentary film Mavis! recounts the history of The Staple Singers and follows Mavis Staples' solo career after Pops Staples' death. Directed by Jessica Edwards, the film premiered at the 2015 South by Southwest Film Festival and was broadcast by HBO in February, 2016.
Taking You Higher: The Staple Singers’ ‘Be Altitude: Respect Yourself’
Widely regarded as
The Staples Singers’ greatest album, ‘Be Altitude: Respect Yourself’ was
released in 1972 and lifted the group above the competition.
Be Altitude. Rise above your everyday
tribulations. Let yourself fly. Its name echoed the Beatitudes, Jesus’
eight blessings during the Sermon On The Mount, according to the Gospel
Of Matthew. But so you get the message that they want you to soar, the
sleeve to Be Altitude: Respect Yourself found The Staple
Singers smiling while posing in a jet engine. People, get ready, there’s
a plane a coming; you don’t need no boarding pass, you just play the
record.
Be Altitude. Rise above your everyday
tribulations. Let yourself fly. Its name echoed the Beatitudes, Jesus’
eight blessings during the Sermon On The Mount, according to the Gospel
Of Matthew. But so you get the message that they want you to soar, the
sleeve to Be Altitude: Respect Yourself found The Staple
Singers smiling while posing in a jet engine. People, get ready, there’s
a plane a coming; you don’t need no boarding pass, you just play the
record. Be Altitude: Respect Yourself is widely regarded as The Staple Singers’ greatest album,
which is saying something. The group had risen from gospel music during
the first half of the 60s, when they helped soundtrack the Civil Rights
era and were regarded by white fans as a folk group. They went more
R&B in the mid-60s while covering right-on material the hippie
counterculture recognised. Signed to Stax in ’68, this family quartet
steadily shifted towards a more mainstream soul, with Mavis Staples
becoming a keynote voice in US black music. From 1971, the group were
produced by Al Bell, co-owner of Stax, who set about making them chart,
erm, staples. He succeeded without losing the group’s essential gospel
soul, their sense of the times they were living in, and the sheer
humanity of their work. Be Altitude: Respect Yourself, their second album with Bell in the console room, is a masterpiece.
There are hits here. "I'll Take You There" brings you the promise of a better
life – or afterlife; it as a US No.1. ‘Respect Yourself’ was a
grooving, chunky advisory that made No.12, and ‘This World’ went Top 40.
But the coherence of the album was absolute: this wasn’t a sprinkling
of hits with filler. ‘This Old Town (People In This Town)’, ‘We The
People’, ‘Are You Sure’, and Pops Staples’ moody showcase ‘Who Do You
Think You Are (Jesus Christ The Superstar)?’ were all powerful
statements. ‘I’m Just Another Soldier’ took a standard gospel concept
and brought it into the 70s with blasts from the Muscle Shoals horns.
‘Name The Missing Word’ opened like smooth uptown soul, dropped to a
downbeat swamp groove and added Pops’ cutting bluesy guitar to deliver
an utterly contemporary dissertation on what they believed was missing
from modern life. The album closes with the ballad ‘Who’, in which Mavis
sounds like she’s right there in the room with the listener. A proper, cohesive album in a form of music where LPs were, even in 1972, often an afterthought to a hit single, Be Altitude: Respect Yourself
gave off soul heat, gospel fire and bluesy-rock credibility. It’s an
adult, thoughtful record, though the kids needed some of its advice. Its
influence was profound, especially on reggae, which recognised kinship
in its downbeat rootsiness and covered its songs profusely, with Rita
Marley, Dave Barker and Lee Perry
borrowing its material. But The Staple Singers didn’t need the
admiration of other artists to be great: they knew what they had – just
look at that album title. They rose above, and playing this album can
help you do so too. Be Altitude: Respect Yourselfcan be bought here.
Why is NME writing about Mavis Staples in 2018? That’s a
reasonable question, and it deserves an honest answer. We’ll get into
that in a moment, but first I should say: Don’t worry, she’s not dead.
Mavis Staples is alive, and despite being only a year shy of her 80th birthday
she’s in such rude health that when she played the Ford Amphitheatre in
Los Angeles this weekend her performance was alternately spellbinding
and ass-kicking. Her voice sounded strong and pure and righteous, and
she moved exuberantly around the stage and cracked jokes between songs.
There is no sound on earth more joyful than Mavis Staples singing,
except maybe Mavis Staples laughing.
So no, she’s not dead. She’s alive, and kicking ass at 79, and that’s
worth writing about. We shouldn’t have to wait until people die to
celebrate them. A cynic might argue that the real reason I’m writing about Mavis
Staples right now is that earlier this year I went to the Stax studio in
Memphis and ever since then I’ve been so utterly, overwhelming obsessed
with the Staple Singers that I used my music writer privileges to blag a
ticket to see her, and now I feel duty-bound to write about it. That’s
not a very romantic answer, but it’s true in a literal, workaday sense
so let’s get that out of way now at the outset. But it’s also true that Mavis Staples deserves to be written about
and talked about and most of all listened to more than she is. She’s not
entirely forgotten, of course. Just last week, on the Beats 1 show of
my former NME colleague, Matt Wilkinson (a man who Google claims is 50
years old, despite his boyish good looks), Spiritualized’s Jason Pierce
picked out the Staple Singers’ gospel classic ‘Uncloudy Day’ as his very
first choice of the ‘5 Best Songs on Apple Music’: “I remember hearing
this from another room and it sounding like it had dropped out of the
sky,” Pierce told the 50 year-old DJ. “I’d never heard anything like
it.” The sound of Mavis Staples’ voice over the radio has been having that
effect for years. Bob Dylan once told an interviewer that when he first
heard the Staple Singers doing ‘Sit Down Servant’ on the radio when he
was 12 years old it made him “stay up for a week.” Years later, Dylan
proposed to Mavis. She turned him down. The Band loved her so much they recruited the Staple Singers to sing
‘The Weight’ with them for The Last Waltz. There’s a moment that always
gives me goosebumps right at the end of that recording when the music
finishes and Mavis – lost in the moment and apparently unaware that
she’ll be heard by the microphone – murmurs: “Beautiful!” She’s not
wrong.
BRONZEVILLE — Gospel legend Mavis Staples — and her onetime boyfriend, also a famous singer
— will officially open the new Wintrust Arena Friday, a building that
could cast a shadow on the Staples' childhood home in Bronzeville. As the frontwoman of the Staple Singers, Staples and her family band
became perhaps the most influential gospel act in American history as
well as civil rights era icons. Though they made it to the top of the
recording industry and toured the world, their story is tied to Chicago,
particularly the South Side. Here are some of the South Side landmarks linked to the Staple Singers: Dirty Thirties: Staples and her siblings grew up at
506 E. 33rd St. in an area of Bronzeville they called the "Dirty
Thirties," according to "I'll Take You There: Mavis Staples, the Staple
Singers And the March Up Freedom's Highway," which is the year's One Book, One Chicago title. The neighborhood would be noteworthy if it was just the home base of
the Staples family, but Staples and her siblings grew up with legendary
singers Sam Cooke and Lou Rawls, among other successful, less famous
musicians. The neighbors all attended Doolittle Elementary, 535 E. 35th
St., and Dunbar High School, 3000 S. King Drive. Singing filled the
neighborhood, Mavis said. 'I was fortunate enough to see the horses and wagons ... the iceman, the coalman, the ragman," Mavis told Timeout Chicago
in 2011. "My brother [Pervis] and Sam Cooke would work on the
watermelon man's wagon and they would sing a song like, 'H-e-e-y-y-y
watermelon here, get your red, ripe, juicy watermelon, man.'" The family lived in many places throughout the South Side, including
at 649 E. 89th St. and later on 103rd Street. They even lived at 14th
Street and Ashland Avenue for a spell while the kids were growing up,
according to the biography. The homes welcomed some of music's biggest
luminaries, including Stevie Wonder, Ray Charles and Mahalia Jackson.
Progressive Baptist Church [DNAinfo Joe Ward]
Progressive Baptist Church: Roebuck "Pops" Staples,
the family patriarch, held a number of jobs before his family band took
off, including at the Stockyards. He managed to get a side gig as a
gospel singer at Progressive Baptist Church at 3658 S. Wentworth in
Armour Square. Around that time, Pops began teaching his kids Mavis,
Pervis, Cleotha and Yvonne how to sing in four-part harmonies. 87th and Vincennes: The Staples had known Martin
Luther King Jr. since 1963, but three years later the group's local
legacy of activism was secured. It was at an unnamed restaurant at this
Auburn Gresham intersection that King asked the group to sing at King's
Operation Breadbasket events as a way to draw crowds and publicity. King's stay in Chicago did not go smoothly, as the civil rights
leader was hit in the head with a rock during a demonstration at
Marquette Park. But Operation Breadbasket was a success, as it led to
2,000 new jobs for black Chicagoans, according to the Staples' book.
Operation Breadbasket also launched Jesse Jackson's career in Chicago. Perv's House: Pervis Staples was the most restless
member of the group and departed the family band in the early '70s to go
into business for himself. He had a number of ventures, including
Perv's Music, an artist management firm and studio at 8125 S. Cottage
Grove Ave.
Perv's House, captured here by photographer Michael Abramson in 1976, was one of the most happening nightlife spots on the South Side. [Courtesy Michael Abramson Estate]] But his most successful business was Perv's House, a sprawling
nightclub at 914 E. 79th St. that was one of the most popular nightlife
spots on the South Side. "Perv's House was the Cadillac of the clubs I visited — like a
Playboy Club for the South Side," photographer Michael Abramson wrote in
his book "Light: On the South Side." Lollapalooza: Staples had worked with music
visionaries such as Prince and Stax Records founder Al Bell, but one
of her most memorable projects as a solo artist came from her
collaboration with Wilco's Jeff Tweedy. Tweedy, himself a Chicagoan, saw Staples at a show at the Hideout in
2008 and soon after agreed to help produce her next album. The two met
at a Hyde Park restaurant, but Tweedy showed up late and disheveled,
according to the Staples biography. "Is he shy, or scared that he's on the South Side?" Mavis was quoted as saying of the meeting. Mavis and Tweedy produced 2010's "You Are Not Alone," a successful
album that led her to play a triumphant, and somewhat improbable,
homecoming show at Lollapalooza. Mavis Staples and Bob Dylan will headline the first concert at
Wintrust Arena, 200 E. Cermak Road, Friday night. Tickets can be bought here. The King Library at 3436 S. King Drive will host a walking tour of Bronzeville's gospel history at 11 a.m. Saturday.
THE
MUSIC OF THE STAPLE SINGERS: AN EXTENSIVE VIDEO OVERVIEW, A CROSS SECTION OF
RECORDINGS, MUSICAL ANALYSIS AND COMMENTARY, PLUS VARIOUS INTERVIEWS
WITH STAPLE SINGERS:
Kofi Natambu, editor of and contributor to Sound Projections, is a writer, poet, cultural critic, and political journalist whose poetry, essays, criticism, reviews, and journalism have appeared in many literary magazines, journals, newspapers, and anthologies. He has written extensively about music as a critic and historian for many publications, including the Black Scholar, Downbeat, Solid Ground: A New World Journal, Detroit Metro Times, KONCH, the Panopticon Review,Black Renaissance Noire, the Village Voice, the City Sun (NYC), the Poetry Project Newsletter (NYC), and the African American Review. He is the author of a biography Malcolm X: His Life & Work (Alpha Books) and two books of poetry: The Melody Never Stops (Past Tents Press) and Intervals (Post Aesthetic Press). He was the founder and editor of Solid Ground: A New World Journal, a national quarterly magazine of the arts, culture, and politics and the editor of a literary anthology Nostalgia for the Present (Post Aesthetic Press). Natambu has read his work throughout the country and given many lectures and workshops at academic and arts institutions. He has taught American literature, literary theory and criticism, cultural history and criticism, film studies, political science, creative writing, philosophy, critical theory, and music history and criticism (Jazz, Blues, R&B, Hip Hop) at many universities and colleges. He was also a curator in the Education Department of Detroit’s Museum of African American History. Born in Detroit, Michigan, Natambu currently lives in Berkeley, California with his wife Chuleenan.
Greg Kot's biography of Mavis Staples is the current selection for "One Book, One Chicago"
Perv's House, captured here by photographer Michael Abramson in 1976, was one of the most happening nightlife spots on the South Side. [Courtesy Michael Abramson Estate]]
