The King And I

The Age

Friday February 29, 2008

Patrick Donovan

Mavis Staples feels her gospel-infused songs of protest are as relevant today as they were in the 1960s, writes Patrick Donovan.

RY COODER doesn't produce CDs for just anyone, but when gospel singer Mavis Staples came knocking, he couldn't refuse. After all, her father Roebuck "Pops" Staples, was a mentor to the multi-instrumentalist, best known for orchestrating projects such as the Buena Vista Social Club sessions and the Paris, Texas soundtrack.

"When Ry came in," says the 67-year-old Staples, "he went straight to the amplifier and ran his hand across it, saying 'Wow, Pop Staples' amplifier'. He plugged his guitar in and as soon as he started strumming and tuning up just as Pops did, I said 'Lord, I'm gonna have a good time'."

It wasn't the first time they had crossed paths; Staples remembers when Pops introduced her to Cooder at the Grammy Awards in the '80s.

"He was kind of shy and softly spoken," Staples says of meeting Cooder. "But when he went up to accept his Grammy, he said, 'I have to thank Pops Staples, he taught me to play guitar'. 'I said 'Daddy, did you teach him?' He said 'No, he just means he listened to me'."

As they started recording, Staples not only heard, but felt her father's presence in the room.

"There's a lot of Pops' licks in Ry's music," she says. "I told him: 'Ry, I swear Pops was in this studio with us.' Ry said, 'Mavis, he is here. Pops is with you'. I had joyful tears in my eyes a lot of the time."

Staples and Cooder were joined in the studio by Cooder's son Joaquin on percussion, drummer Jim Keltner, bassist Mike Elizando, Ladysmith Black Mambazo and many of the original Freedom Singers who sang alongside the Staple Singers in the '60s in the name of equality.

"I got really emotional in the studio, because they brought back so many memories to me. It's like a movie in my head being replayed. I felt like I was in church and I just wanted to shout because the songs are so powerful. I put my whole heart into what I was singing. I did what Pops told me - 'You don't have to use gimmicks or sing at the top of your voice - just be sincere and from the heart, and you will reach the people'. And Ry Cooder plays his guitar from the heart. It's such a beautiful thing."

The album, We'll Never Turn Back, is like the soundtrack to the civil rights movement of the 1960s. But it's no coincidence that Staples has brought protest anthems such as Eyes on the Prize back to life in these troubled times.

At one stage, she sings: "In the Mississippi River/Lord, Lord, Lord, Lord/In the Mississippi River/Well you can count them one by one/It could be your son." It was written about three civil rights workers who were murdered in 1965, but was suddenly relevant again after hurricane Katrina.

"Dr King brought us a long way," says Staples, who was recently awarded the Americana Music Association's Spirit of Americana Free Speech Award, "but there is so much more that needs to be done. I thought that these songs might help with what I'm seeing, because every day in the paper I see something that reminds me of the trouble in the '60s. Hurricane Katrina was so horrible, seeing these people floating in the black water, and no one coming to help them. They stuffed thousands of people in the stadium with no water and food. People were dying sitting in that place. I didn't appreciate what our so-called leaders did. A little talkin' is all. So I thought what would Dr King say and do? He would have marched. There's still lots of rumblings. A policeman in New York just shot a young black kid on the way to his wedding with 50 rounds. I believe these songs are needed right now. We can't let Dr King's dream die."

Staples is optimistic, though, about the possibility of her country being led by its first black or female president, who may keep Dr King's dream alive.

"I'm very excited, because I like Hillary too. People seem to admire and love Obama. He seems to be sincere and a purist. But I won't vote for him just because he's a black man. He has to convince me that he's really going to do what he says. But still, I think of how happy Dr King would be."

Mavis Staples plays the Point Nepean Festival on March 21 and the Prince Bandroom on March 23.

© 2008 The Age

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