Emmett Till Blog

Mavis Staples

Mavis Staples has a new CD. The Drew, Miss. (now living in Chicago) throaty singer's latest CD, "We'll Never Turn Back,"

....takes "freedom songs" from the days she spent in the thick of the civil rights movement of the '50s and '60s and delivers them with a flinty edge guaranteed to jar anyone who thinks they know these pieces well. Classic betterment songs like "Eyes on the Prize," "On My Way" and "We Shall Not Be Moved" might easily have sounded pale and antique today. But as produced by Ry Cooder, they have the kick and spontaneity of punk-soul. Staples and Cooder chiseled a brutal sound, using just a four-piece, rock-edged band to back Mavis' guttural wonder of a voice.

Staples - best known for the early-'70s pop hits like "I'll Take You There," recorded with her family group the Staples Singers - says the way she and Cooder worked ensured the music's verve. "We didn't have any rehearsals," the 66-year-old explains. "I never knew what I was going to do in the studio until the day of the recording. Then we would go in. Ry would start playing guitar, and I would start singing."

Continued

Labels: civil rights movement, civil rights music, Emmett Till, Mavis Staples, Mississippi murders