Mavis Staples, 24 June 2024, Union Chapel, London
Gospel great, Mavis Staples, began singing with The Staples Singers in 1950, aged 11. From 1963, the group began supporting the civil rights movement with Pops Staples saying of the Rev Dr Martin Luther King Jr, ‘If he can preach it – we can sing it.’ From 1968, through Stax Records, they became soul stars known for their ‘message songs’; songs that were both politically and religiously charged. Since the last Staple Singers album in 1984, Mavis’ solo career has soared by mining the seam of R&B/Gospel developed by her father Pops and taken forward by Mavis through collaborations with the likes of Ry Cooder, Ben Harper and Jeff Tweedy. Through it all the deep resonance of Mavis’ voice drenched in the stylings of Pentecostal churches has been constant; a voice that as Renée Graham noted, ‘doesn’t so much sing a song as baptize it in truth’.
Now 84, she may need assistance getting up on stage, to sit down to rest between songs with sips of hot herbal tea, and also need reminders as to what song comes next – her band are wonderfully supportive and caring – yet her voice is still, as Will Hermes has described it, ‘rich, weathered, and full of fire’. Union Chapel, venue for her second live album, is the perfect venue for her – a ‘second home’ as she described it – as she, in herself, characterises all that church should be about – love and liberation, justice and joy – and yet so often is not. She performs in front of Union Chapel’s imposing pulpit, being the ultimate preacher, bringing church to chapel with an inclusive vision for society that has led to calls of ‘Mavis for President’.
‘Keep on Pushing’ by The Impressions is the track which brings the band and Mavis out on stage; a civil rights anthem about perseverance and finding strength to get through the tough times. The gig gets underway with a Staple Singers classic ‘If You’re Ready (Come Go With Me)’, from the wonderful Be What You Are album, a call to move towards both a more inclusive and just society in the here and now and the coming kingdom of God where all sorrow, sighing and death will be no more.
Next up is ‘I’m Just Another Soldier’, essentially an autobiographical statement about fighting hatred with love alongside the likes of Martin, John and Bobby. Then, for good measure, comes ‘Handwriting On the Wall’ from the Book of Daniel with its message of judgement for kingdoms characterised by arrogance and pride. In three songs, we have the essence of The Staple Singers in the call to travel towards inclusion, commitment to the fight required by that call, and the message of judgement for those who selfishly maintain personal power.
From those big societal themes that open proceedings, the register then shifts to the more personal and reflective. ‘Can You Get To That?’ questions relational decisions and the extent to which we reap what we sow in our personal lives, while ‘Friendship’, a song first recorded by Pops which had a posthumous release, is an ode to enduring friendships.
Her band complement Mavis perfectly, as well as demonstrating great care for her. Band leader Rick Holmstrom’s solo on ‘Friendship’ is among the gentlest, most fragile and beautiful, I have heard in concert, while at other times they work up to a cacophony that equates to the heavy riffing of the best metal bands. The interplay of voices and the exchange of verses mirrors that of The Staple Singers on ‘Respect Yourself’, where Holmstrom lives up to the ‘Pops Jr’ nickname he has been given by Mavis, and then to wonderful effect on ‘The Weight’ where guest vocalist Nathaniel Rateliff is also in tow.
Several songs – ‘City In The Sky’ and ‘Far Celestial Shore’ – look forward to life after death, ‘Way beyond the surly bonds of earth and hate and war’, with Mavis most movingly, in songs and speech, acknowledging this as the future she is personally moving towards. With these songs, we circle back to where we began as ‘Love is the only transportation / To where there’s total communication’; ‘If You’re Ready (Come Go With Me)’.
The show ends with ‘Heavy Makes You Happy (Sha-Na-Boom-Boom)’. If my description of this concert makes it sound downbeat and heavy, it was anything but! Three songs in, Mavis spoke of bringing joy, happiness and positive vibrations. This is the transformation that she, and Gospel music generally, achieve; the transformation of struggle into salvation. ‘It’s more than just a feeling–it’s a philosophy’; a philosophy that Mavis Staples lives in concert with every fibre of her being.
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Jonathan Evens
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