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A staple in the history of music
PREVIEW
MAVIS STAPLES
Barbican
BORN the day the Second World War started, Miss Mavis Staples is now 68, and, unsurprisingly, something of a fighter.
She’s run with all the right circles, beginning with civil rights hero Martin Luther King, who was best mates with her dad, through to Ray Charles, (‘Brother Ray’ to her), who once showed her he could drive around the block (“I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t seen it!” she says of the occasion).
She’s also worked with the best in the business, from Prince to Booker T, Stax Records, Ry Cooder and Curtis Mayfield, while her voice has been sampled by Salt-N-Pepa, Ice T and Ludacris.
Clearly, she has a pedigree, ignoring the momentary blip that was National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, which she did a song for. Everyone’s got to have something to repent for, I guess.
Either way, Ms Staples has proved her worth, starting out in 1969, when she sang with her family in The Staple Singers through to today, when she’s still winning awards.
A key part of the civil rights movement, she and her sisters were singing freedom songs from the start, fighting for black rights.
If she doesn’t give you a lesson in soul when she plays the Barbican in April, she’ll give you a history overhaul. Forget what you learned at school, she’ll teach you all you need to know.
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