Mavis Staples
‘We’ll Never Turn Back’
Prince considers Mavis Staples "the epitome of soul". In 1965 Staples recorded ‘Freedom Highway’ with her father, brother and sister; it became the soundtrack of the civil rights movement. Mavis spent a night in a jail she still remembers the experience, as well as the advice of Dr. Martin Luther King.
While Neil Young now has a website dedicated to current protest songs, Mavis Staples has made a protest album reminiscent of her recordings from the civil rights era. Producer Ry Cooder keeps it brooding and edgy adding South Africa’s famous ‘Ladysmith Black Mambazo’ as backing on some tracks. Staples sings about growing up in Mississippi and the horror of New Orleans post-Katrina. She also challenges the fact that people are dying in a rich man’s war and pays tribute to Malcolm, X, Mahalia Jackson and her father. Sung from the heart these songs are and are very personal, and it is very moving.
Released: 2007
