Mavis Staples is, among many things, persistently hopeful. On her latest album, she sings, “I walk the line, walk it for us. See me out here trying to find some love and trust.”
It's a search that's driven the music of Mavis and her family for over sixty years. It's put her at the center of some of America's most transformative musical and historical moments. As she takes the stage at Madison's Majestic Theater on Saturday, she'll still be searching, still trying to spread some understanding and help us live the message she's been singing for a lifetime.
The story of the Staples family begins at the wellspring of popular music. As a child growing up in the 1910s near Mississippi's massive Dockery Plantation, Roebuck “Pops” Staples was inspired to pick up a guitar by watching Charlie Patton, the mysterious figure known as the founder of the Delta Blues. A man of deep faith, Pops adapted the driving blues guitar sound to the gospel world, giving his music a distinct feel when he started singing hymns with his children in 1948. He alternated lead vocals with Mavis, who demanded attention with a deep voice capable of raspy cries. Rounded out with impeccable harmonies, The Staple Singers became one of the day's most popular gospel groups.
By the time the family had their first recording session for United Records in the mid 1950s, the civil rights movement was gaining energy, and the black church was central to the ideas and organizing power that would propel it. Despite this, very few gospel artists recorded songs that explicitly supported the movement or decried segregation. The Staple Singers would be the exception. After attending one of Martin Luther King Jr.'s services, an inspired Pops declared to his children, “If he can preach it, we can sing it.”
From then on, they became the musical embodiment of King's message, often appearing as an opening act before his speeches. Mavis took a determined lead on civil rights anthems such as “Long Walk to D.C.” and “When Will We Be Paid”, her vocals ensuring that songs of nonviolence and understanding remained full of resolve. It brought the Staples to a national audience, including a young Bob Dylan, who collaborated with the family and unsuccessfully proposed marriage to Mavis while standing in a cafeteria line.
In the wake of King's 1968 assassination, soul music followed the nation's lead and took a dark turn toward pessimism and anger. The Temptations were retreating to “Cloud Nine” and Marvin Gaye was trying to find out “What's Going On”. The Staple Singers, however, countered with a creed of righteous living and hope, with Stax releases like “Respect Yourself” and the instantly recognizable, number-one hit “I'll Take You There”.
Mavis' decades-long solo career has taken her from groovy, danceable R&B to a folk flavored style with a renewed societal focus. Her voice has grown deeper and grittier, but her message remains largely unchanged from her earliest days. As a summer roiled with violence and racial tension has left many feeling increasingly divided, it's a message we can use. Soul music has its queens and its godfathers, but perhaps what it needs now is a wise grandmother with a beaming smile and a rock salt laugh, encouraging us to straighten up and start treating each other with a little bit of love and trust.
Mavis Staples performs at the Majestic Theater on Saturday, September 10th. Acoustic guitarist William Tyler opens. Doors open at 7:30pm for the 8:30pm show. Information and tickets can be found at majesticmadison.com
