Tag: Mavis Staples

New Documentary Celebrates the Life and Music of Mavis Staples

Mavis Staples film

A new documentary — Mavis! — explores the life and music of Mavis Staples of The Staples Singers. Jessica Edwards directed the film about the gospel and soul singer, who is also known for her civil rights work and her musical family.

HBO picked up U.S. rights to the documentary after the movie’s world premiere at the SXSW Film Festival. Mavis! includes performance footage as well as interviews of people like Bob Dylan and Bonnie Raitt. Check out the trailer for Mavis!

Mavis! debuts on HBO on February 29, 2016.

Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    Van Morrison Reworks Songs as “Duets”

    Van Morrison Duet Album

    Van Morrison is taking some of his lesser known songs and reworking them with new singing partners on the upcoming album, Duets: Re-Working the Catalogue (2015). On the album, Van Morrison teams with artists such as Michael Bublé, George Benson, Steve Winwood, Taj Mahal, Mavis Staples, Bobby Womack, and Natalie Cole.

    One of the tracks on the upcoming album is “Irish Heartbeat,” which first appeared on the album Inarticulate Speech of the Heart (1983). In the new version, Mark Knopfler joins Van Morrison on the song. Give it a listen below.

    Duets: Re-Working The Catalogue hits stores on March 23, 2015.

    What do you think of Van Morrison’s duet? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    Late Night With Jimmy Fallon’s Last Waltz

    Fallon The Muppets
    Media largel focused on Jay Leno’s exit from The Tonight Show, but at the same time, Jimmy Fallon was winding down Late Night With Jimmy Fallon. The focus was understandable, considering that NBC was merely moving Fallon down the hall to take a seat behind the desk at The Tonight Show. Last night on Late Night, Jimmy Fallon had an appropriately subdued farewell show that recognized a chapter was ending, not a book. Still, the show featured a number of nice moments. One of the highlights, which illustrated Fallon’s intelligence and respect for history, was going out with a nod the The Band‘s famous last bow, The Last Waltz (1978).

    Before Late Night closed with Fallon walking down the hall to The Tonight Show studio, the final musical performance on a show known for music featured Fallon playing drums with the Muppets as the group performed “The Weight.” The video recreated the look of The Band’s own performance of the song in The Last Waltz, the Martin Scorsese directed documentary about The Band’s final show. Fallon, always respectful of his audience’s intelligence, made no reference to The Last Waltz, recognizing folks would either get the reference or just enjoy the song. Check it out.

    The filming of the musical performance even echos the look and lighting of The Last Waltz performance, starting with the opening shot of Fallon playing drums and singing in the place of the late great Levon Helm. Check out the song from The Last Waltz, a performance that also featured Mavis Staples and The Staple Singers.

    Earlier in his final Late Night show, Fallon also told a little Muppet history, explaining how many years ago when Jim Henson and Frank Oz had visited the studio, the two had painted characters on some exposed pipes. Fallon discussed how when he took over the show, they had remodeled so the paintings could be seen by more people.

    In the Late Night time slot, Fallon already has set a high bar for himself as he transfers to the earlier more high-profile show. From fun performances like this one of “The Weight,” incorporating a classic music and movie reference that respected the intelligence of his audience, I am betting Fallon will be hosting The Tonight Show for a long time.

    What do you think of Fallon taking over The Tonight Show? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    “I’ll Take You There”: Inspired by Murder and a Jamaican Riff

    The song “I’ll Take You There” by the Staples Singers originated out of a songwriter grieving his murdered brother.

    Staples Singers Cleotha I'll Take You There Cleotha “Cleedy” Staples, the eldest daughter of Roebuck “Pops” Staples who sang in the Staple Singers, passed away February 21, 2013. Cleotha, who had Alzheimer’s, was 78.

    The Staple Singers — which also included Cleotha’s sisters Mavis, Pervis and Yvonne — started in the 1940s and recorded many memorable songs like “Respect Yourself” and “Uncloudy Day.” But when most people hear the name of the group, the first song that comes to mind is the classic “I’ll Take You There.”

    The song first appeared on the album Be Altitude: Respect Yourself (1972). In 1972, “I’ll Take You There” went to number one on both the Billboard R&B Singles chart and the Billboard Hot 100 chart. In this TV performance excerpt, you can see Mavis Staples to your right singing lead while Cleotha is on your far left of the singers. Pops is playing guitar.

    The uplifting song comes from a tragic story. Stax vice-president Al Bell began writing “I’ll Take You There” after attending the funeral of his second brother who was murdered.

    According to Bell, after returning from the funeral, he sat on the hood of a bus in his father’s back yard and began hearing the bass line and then the words. He then gave the song to the Staple Singers, who were a gospel act at the time.

    Regarding the music, Wikipedia points out that the opening to “I’ll Take You There” comes from a Jamaican instrumental reggae tune from Harry J All Stars called “The Liquidator.” The tune is now often used before football matches (that’s “soccer” for us in the states). Check it out.

    It is a cool opening riff that helped make “I’ll Take You There” so memorable. But it is also the blending of the voices of the Staple Singers including Cleotha Staples that explains why we still listen to the song more than forty years later. RIP Cleotha Staples.

    What is your favorite song by the Staples Singers? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    Cover Songs: Wilco, Mavis Staples, and Nick Lowe cover “The Weight”

    In December, three music heavyweights got together backstage at the Civic Opera House in Chicago and jammed on The Band’s classic song, “The Weight.” Wilco, Nick Lowe, and Mavis Staples took turns on the verses.

    Staples is no stranger to the song, having performed the song with her family and The Band on Martin Scorsese’s classic rock film, The Last Waltz.

    The song’s writer, Robbie Robertson, as well as other members of The Band have commented on the song’s meaning through the years and the fact that the characters in the song are named after people they knew. For an interesting detailed analysis of the lyrics — such as “Who was Crazy Chester?,” check out this article from Peter Viney. For example, it is “Fanny,” not “Annie” in the chorus, and the Nazareth is in Pennsylvania. The Dallas Observer has a recent short article about the song “The Weight,” including some discussion of how the song abides along with links to some other versions.

    What do you think of the jam version of “The Weight”? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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