“One of the great voices of soul and gospel” –Boston Globe

As the voice of the legendary Staple Singers, soul belter mavis Staples hardly qualifies as under-appreciated. But this Rock and Roll Hall of Famer and Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winner is in the midst of a glorious resurgence. 2007’s inspired We’ll Never Turn Back, focuses on gospel tunes she performed with the Staple Singers and the spiritually charged Stax/Volt anthems—”I’ll Take You There” and “Respect Yourself”—that put the family in the civil rights vanguard.

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As the voice of the legendary Staple Singers, soul belter Mavis Staples hardly qualifies as underappreciated. But this Rock and Roll Hall of Famer and Lifetime Achievement Grammy-winner is in the midst of a glorious resurgence, one of American culture’s great, unsung stories. Starting with 2004’s bracing Have A Little Faith, her first album of new material in a decade, she has delved deeply into the music that has spiritually sustained her. Staples’ latest album, 2007’s inspired We’ll Never Turn Back, focuses on the gospel she first performed as a child, and the spiritually charged protest songs that turned the Staple Singers into a musical force for change.

Though the civil rights movement flowed out of the black church, gospel singers mostly stuck with spiritual concerns—at least until Mavis’s father Pops Staples forged a close friendship with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The Staple Singers were already one of the most popular gospel ensembles when he decided that the group had to join the movement after listening to Dr. King deliver a mesmerizing sermon. “If he can preach it, we can sing it,” Pops said. The family quickly crossed over onto the pop charts with politically charged songs such as “When Will We Be Paid?” and “Long Walk To D.C.” When the group signed to Stax/ Volt in 1968, it reached an even wider audience, scoring numerous Top 40 hits, including the 1972 chart-topper “I’ll Take You There.” One way or another, Staples’ music has always been about transcendence.

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