The Staple Singers

Few singing families are more revered than the Staple Singers, whose music is rooted in the church but has gone far beyond to influence many other musicians from different genres. Under the tutelage of their legendary patriarch Pops Staples, they first began appearing in Chicago churches in 1948 and began their recording career with a series of acoustic, gospel-driven recordings for a variety of labels from 1952. However, it was after being signed to mainstream label Epic in 1965 that they gained a broader following with poppier tracks like Why (Am I Treated So Bad) and For What It's Worth; going on to join the Stax label and collaborate with Steve Cropper and Booker T. and The M.G.'s and embrace a funkier sound. They had a major pop hit in 1971 with R&B arrangements of Respect Yourself, If You're Ready and I'll Take You There, which became anthems of the American civil rights movement. They also worked with Curtis Mayfield (on the US Number 1 hit Let's Do It Again) and sang The Weight with The Band in the movie The Last Waltz. With the great singing of Mavis Staples the focal point, the group continued to adapt through the 1980s, achieving another hit with a cover of Talking Heads' Slippery People. Although they effectively stopped touring in 1994 and Pops Staples died in 2000, Mavis Staples and her extraordinary voice in particular has remained in big demand for collaborative efforts.