The Staple Singers were an American

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...

, and R&B singing group. Roebuck "Pops" Staples (December 28, 1914 – December 19, 2000), the patriarch of the family, formed the group with his children Cleotha (April 11, 1934 – February 21, 2013), Pervis (November 18, 1935 – May 6, 2021), and

Mavis Mavis is a female given name, derived from a name for the common Old World song thrush. Its first modern usage was in Marie Corelli's 1895 novel ''The Sorrows of Satan'', which featured a character named Mavis Clare (whose name was said to be "rat ...

(b. July 10, 1939). Yvonne (October 23, 1937 – April 10, 2018) replaced her brother when he was drafted into the U.S. Army, and again in 1970. They are best known for their 1970s hits " Respect Yourself", "

I'll Take You There "I'll Take You There" is a song written by Al Bell (using his real name Alvertis Isbell), and originally performed by soul/gospel family band the Staple Singers. The Staple Singers version, produced by Bell, was released on Stax Records in Febru ...

", "

If You're Ready (Come Go with Me) "If You're Ready (Come Go with Me)" is a song by the Staple Singers. Released from their album '' Be What You Are'', the single spent three weeks at number one on the ''Billboard'' magazine's Hot Soul Singles chart in 1973. It peaked at number ...

", and " Let's Do It Again". While the family name is Staples, the group used "Staple" commercially.

History

First child to Roebuck "Pops" Staples and his wife Oceola Staples, Cleotha was born in Drew, Mississippi, in 1934. Two years later, Roebuck moved his family from Mississippi to

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. Roebuck and Oceola's children, son Pervis and daughters, Mavis and Yvonne, were born in Chicago. Roebuck worked in steel mills and meatpacking plants while his family of four children grew up. The family began appearing in Chicago-area churches in 1948. Their first public singing appearance was at the Mount Zion Church, Chicago, where Roebuck's brother, the Rev. Chester Staples, was pastor. They signed their first professional contract in 1952. During their early career, they recorded in an acoustic gospel-

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fo ...

style with various labels:

United Records United Records was a record company and label founded in Chicago by Leonard Allen and Lew Simpkins in 1951. United issued records by such artists as Tab Smith, Jimmy Forrest, Gene Ammons, Memphis Slim, Roosevelt Sykes, the Four Blazes, the ...

Vee-Jay Records Vee-Jay Records is an American record label founded in the 1950s, located in Chicago and specializing in blues, jazz, rhythm and blues and rock and roll. The label was founded in Gary, Indiana in 1953 by Vivian Carter and James C. Bracken, a ...

(their "

Uncloudy Day Uncloudy Day, also known as Unclouded Day, is a gospel song. Originally popular in church hymnals, it has come to be recorded many times over the years since, including being an early attention-getter for future star act the Staple Singers. In 1 ...

" and "

Will the Circle Be Unbroken? "Will the Circle Be Unbroken?" is a popular Christian hymn written in 1907 by Ada R. Habershon with music by Charles H. Gabriel. The song is often recorded unattributed and, because of its age, has lapsed into the public domain. Most of the ch ...

" were best sellers), Checker Records,

Riverside Records Riverside Records was an American jazz record company and label. Founded by Orrin Keepnews and Bill Grauer, Jr, under his firm Bill Grauer Productions in 1953, the label played an important role in the jazz record industry for a decade. Riverside ...

, and then

Epic Records Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America Sony Corporation of America (SONAM, also known as SCA), is the American arm of the Japanese conglomerate Sony Group ...

in 1965. "Uncloudy Day" was an early influence on

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

, who said of it in 2015, "It was the most mysterious thing I'd ever heard ... I'd think about them even at my school desk ... Mavis looked to be about the same age as me in her picture (on the cover of "Uncloudy Day") ... Her singing just knocked me out ... And Mavis was a great singer—deep and mysterious. And even at the young age, I felt that life itself was a mystery." The move to Epic yielded a run of albums, including the live in-church '' Freedom Highway'' album produced by

Billy Sherrill Billy Norris Sherrill (November 5, 1936 – August 4, 2015) was an American record producer, songwriter, and arranger best known for his association with country artists, notably Tammy Wynette and George Jones. Sherrill and business partner Gl ...

; the title track of which was a civil rights movement protest song penned by Pops Staples. It was on Epic that the Staple Singers developed a style more accessible to mainstream audiences, with "Why (Am I Treated So Bad)" and "

For What It's Worth "For What It's Worth (Stop, Hey What's That Sound)" (often referred to as simply "For What It's Worth") is a song written by Stephen Stills. Performed by Buffalo Springfield, it was recorded on December 5, 1966, released as a single on Atco Reco ...

" ( Stephen Stills) in 1967. In 1968, the Staple Singers signed to

Stax Records Stax Records is an American record company, originally based in Memphis, Tennessee. Founded in 1957 as Satellite Records, the label changed its name to Stax Records in 1961. It also shared its operations with sister label Volt Records. Stax was ...

and released two albums with Steve Cropper—''Soul Folk in Action'' and ''We'll Get Over'', Pervis returning for them. After Cropper left Stax, Al Bell produced their recordings, conducting the rhythm sessions at the famed Muscle Shoals Sound Studio and cutting the overdubs himself with engineer/musician

Terry Manning Terry Manning is an American photographer, composer, singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer, audio engineer, and visual artist. In a career spanning more than 50 years, he has worked with Led Zeppelin, Iron Maiden, Bryan Adams, ...

at Memphis's Ardent Studios, moving in a more

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...

and

direction. The Staple Singers' first Stax hit was "Heavy Makes You Happy (Sha-Na-Boom-Boom)" in early 1971. Their late 1971 recording of " Respect Yourself", written by

Luther Ingram Luther Thomas Ingram (November 30, 1937 – March 19, 2007) was an American R&B and soul singer-songwriter. His most successful record, "(If Loving You Is Wrong) I Don't Want to Be Right", reached No. 1 on the ''Billboard'' R&B chart and No. 3 ...

and

Mack Rice Bonny "Mack" Rice (November 10, 1933 – June 27, 2016), sometimes credited as Sir Mack Rice, was an American songwriter and singer. His best-known composition and biggest hit as a solo performer was " Mustang Sally". He also wrote " Respe ...

, peaked at number two on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' R&B chart and number 12 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Both hits sold over one million copies and were each awarded a

gold disc Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

by the

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

. The song's theme of self-empowerment had universal appeal, released in the period immediately following the intense

American civil rights movement The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional racial segregation, discrimination, and disenfranchisement throughout the United ...

of the 1960s. In 1972, "

" topped both ''

'' charts. In 1973, "

If You're Ready (Come Go With Me) "If You're Ready (Come Go with Me)" is a song by the Staple Singers. Released from their album '' Be What You Are'', the single spent three weeks at number one on the ''Billboard'' magazine's Hot Soul Singles chart in 1973. It peaked at number ...

" reached number 9 on the Hot 100 and number one on the R&B chart. After Stax's 1975 bankruptcy, The Staple Singers signed to

Curtis Mayfield Curtis Lee Mayfield (June 3, 1942 – December 26, 1999) was an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer, and one of the most influential musicians behind soul and politically conscious African-American music.

's label,

Curtom Records Curtom Records was a record label started in 1968 by Curtis Mayfield and Impressions manager Eddie Thomas. The label's name was a combination of Mayfield's first name and Thomas' last name. Mayfield had previously made attempts at a record lab ...

, and released " Let's Do It Again", produced by Mayfield; the song became their second number-one pop hit in the U.S., and the album was also successful. In 1976, they collaborated with The Band for their film ''

The Last Waltz ''The Last Waltz'' was a concert by the Canadian-American rock group The Band, held on American Thanksgiving Day, November 25, 1976, at Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco. ''The Last Waltz'' was advertised as The Band's "farewell concert a ...

'', performing on the song "

The Weight "The Weight" is a song by the Canadian-American group the Band that was released as a single in 1968 and on the group's debut album '' Music from Big Pink''. It was their first release under this name, after their previous releases as Canadian ...

" (which The Staple Singers had previously covered on their first Stax album). However, they were not able to regain their momentum, releasing only occasional minor hits. The 1984 album ''Turning Point'' featured a cover of the

Talking Heads Talking Heads were an American rock band formed in 1975 in New York City and active until 1991.Talkin ...

' "Slippery People", which reached the Top 5 on the Dance chart. In 1994, they again performed the song "

" with country music artist

Marty Stuart John Marty Stuart (born September 30, 1958) is an American country and bluegrass music singer, songwriter, and musician. Active since 1968, Stuart initially toured with Lester Flatt, and then in Johnny Cash's road band before beginning work as a ...

for

MCA Nashville Universal Music Group Nashville is Universal Music Group's country music subsidiary. Some of the labels in this group include MCA Nashville Records, Mercury Nashville Records, Lost Highway Records, Capitol Records Nashville and EMI Records Nashv ...

's ''

Rhythm, Country and Blues ''Rhythm, Country and Blues'' (a.k.a. ''Rhythm Country and Blues'') is an album featuring duets between R&B and country music artists on classic songs. It was released by MCA Records on March 1, 1994. The album debuted at #1 on Top Country Album ...

'' compilation, somewhat re-establishing an audience. The song "Respect Yourself" was used by

Spike Lee Shelton Jackson "Spike" Lee (born March 20, 1957) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. His production company, 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks, has produced more than 35 films since 1983. He made his directorial debut ...

in the soundtrack to his movie ''

Crooklyn ''Crooklyn'' is a 1994 American semi-autobiographical film produced and directed by Spike Lee and co-written with his sister Joie and brother Cinqué. Occurring in the Bedford–Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York, during the summer ...

'', made in 1994. Pops Staples died of complications from a concussion suffered in December 2000. Cleotha Staples died in Chicago on February 21, 2013, at the age of 78, after suffering from

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegeneration, neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in short-term me ...

for over a decade.

Mavis Staples Mavis Staples (born July 10, 1939) is an American rhythm and blues and gospel singer, actress, and civil rights activist. She rose to fame as a member of her family's band The Staple Singers (she is the last surviving member of that band). Durin ...

has continued to carry on the family tradition and continues to add her vocal talents to both the projects of other artists and her own solo ventures. In 2022, she released Carry Me Home, a collaboration with

Levon Helm Mark Lavon "Levon" Helm (May 26, 1940 – April 19, 2012) was an American musician who achieved fame as the drummer and one of the three lead vocalists for the Band, for which he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994. H ...

, recorded at Helm's Midnight Ramble in 2011. She appeared at

Glastonbury Glastonbury (, ) is a town and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated at a dry point on the low-lying Somerset Levels, south of Bristol. The town, which is in the Mendip district, had a population of 8,932 in the 2011 census. Glastonbury ...

in 2015 and 2019, and her 2016 album '' Livin' on a High Note'' includes a simple acoustic version of a

Martin Luther King Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist, one of the most prominent leaders in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968 ...

sermon in the track "MLK Song". Yvonne Staples died on April 10, 2018, at the age of 80. Pervis Staples died suddenly in his home in Dolton, Illinois, on May 6, 2021, at the age of 85, leaving Mavis as the band's last surviving member.

Documentary

The 2015 documentary film ''

Mavis! ''Mavis!'' is a documentary film about musician and civil rights activist Mavis Staples, directed by Jessica Edwards. The film premiered at the South by Southwest Film Festival in March, 2015, and was acquired for US broadcast by HBO. Cast Ma ...

'' recounts the history of The Staple Singers and follows

's solo career after Pops Staples's death. Directed by

Jessica Edwards Jessica Edwards is a Canadian-American filmmaker known for her documentary ''Mavis!'' about musician and civil rights figure Mavis Staples. Early career Edwards received a BFA in Cinema from Montreal’s Concordia University and a master's deg ...

, the film premiered at the 2015

South by Southwest South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in m ...

Film Festival and was broadcast by

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

in February 2016.

Awards

The Staple Singers were inducted into the

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), sometimes simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and othe ...

in 1999 and the

Gospel Music Hall of Fame The Gospel Music Hall of Fame, created in 1972 by the Gospel Music Association, is a Hall of Fame dedicated exclusively to recognizing meaningful contributions by individuals and groups in all forms of gospel music. Inductees This is an incompl ...

in 2018. They were also honored with a marker on the

Mississippi Blues Trail The Mississippi Blues Trail was created by the Mississippi Blues Commission in 2006 to place interpretive markers at the most notable historical sites related to the birth, growth, and influence of the blues throughout (and in some cases beyond) ...

in Drew, Mississippi. In 2005, the group was awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.

Discography

Early albums

* ''A Gospel Program'' (with

The Caravans The Caravans were an American gospel music group that was started in 1947 by Robert Anderson. It reached its peak popularity during the 1950s and 1960s, launching the careers of a number of artists, including: Delores Washington, Albertina Wa ...

) (Gospel/

Savoy Savoy (; frp, Savouè ; french: Savoie ) is a cultural-historical region in the Western Alps. Situated on the cultural boundary between Occitania and Piedmont, the area extends from Lake Geneva in the north to the Dauphiné in the south. Savo ...

MG-3001, 1958) * ''

'' (

Vee Jay Vee-Jay Records is an American record label founded in the 1950s, located in Chicago and specializing in blues, jazz, rhythm and blues and rock and roll. The label was founded in Gary, Indiana in 1953 by Vivian Carter and James C. Bracken, a ...

VJLP-5000, 1959) * ''Will the Circle Be Unbroken'' (Vee Jay VJLP-5008, 1960) * ''Swing Low'' (Vee Jay VJLP-5014, 1961) * ''Hammer and Nails'' (

Riverside Riverside may refer to: Places Australia * Riverside, Tasmania, a suburb of Launceston, Tasmania Canada * Riverside (electoral district), in the Yukon * Riverside, Calgary, a neighbourhood in Alberta * Riverside, Manitoba, a former rural m ...

RLP-3501, 1962) * ''The Twenty-Fifth Day of December'' (Riverside RLP-3513, 1962) * ''This Land'' (Riverside RM-3524, 1963) * ''Swing Low Sweet Chariot'' (Vee Jay VJLP-5030, 1963) * ''Amen!'' ( Epic BN-26132, 1965) * ''Freedom Highway'' (Epic BN-26163, 1965) * ''This Little Light'' (Riverside RM-3527, 1965) * ''Why'' (Epic BN-26196, 1966) * ''Pray On'' (Epic BN-26237, 1967) * ''For What It's Worth'' (Epic BN-26332, 1967) * ''What the World Needs Now is Love'' (Epic BN-26373, 1968) * ''Soul Folk in Action'' (

Stax Streaming API for XML (StAX) is an application programming interface ( API) to read and write XML documents, originating from the Java programming language community. Traditionally, XML APIs are either: * DOM based - the entire document is read i ...

STS-2004, 1968) * ''We'll Get Over'' (Stax STS-2016, 1969) Source:

Charted albums

Charted singles

References

External links

The Staple Singers
at VH1 * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Staple Singers, (The) 1948 establishments in Illinois 1994 disestablishments in Illinois African-American musical groups 20th-century African-American singers American gospel musical groups American soul musical groups Vee-Jay Records artists Riverside Records artists Epic Records artists Stax Records artists Warner Records artists United Records artists Charly Records artists Family musical groups Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winners Musical groups established in 1948 Musical groups disestablished in 1994 Mississippi Blues Trail