Mavis Staples
Mavis Staples
Mavis Staplesis an American rhythm and blues and gospel singer, actress, and civil rights activist. She has recorded and performed with her family's band The Staple Singers, and also as a solo artist...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionSoul Singer
Date of Birth10 July 1939
CityChicago, IL
CountryUnited States of America
change dr grateful great king lives saw signs struggle
We've had a great change. Dr King saw to that. I was so grateful to see the 'colored only' signs come off the water fountains and bathrooms in the south. But the struggle lives on.
There are songs that I have to play!
cd love might
I don't know which way I'm going. My next CD might be country, might be Dylan, might be Mick Jagger. I don't know. I love a challenge.
disco
I can't just turn over and sing disco or rock.
both family side voice
I get my voice from my mother's side of the family. My mother and my grandmother both had strong voices.
family harm pops stick strongest taught unit
Pops always taught us that family is the strongest unit in the world. If you stick with your family, nobody can break you, nobody can harm you. You'll always have your family.
alive bank calling chance legacy money nobody sing stop took
I've got to sing for Pops; I've got to keep my father's legacy alive because he started all of this. So I started calling people, and nobody would give me a chance, but I didn't let that stop me. I took money out the bank and I started making me a record, and I did it in this guy's basement.
god music
The devil ain't got no music. All music is God's music.
cool father hear loved sing wished
Pops, he was a singer's singer. I loved to hear my father sing. He just was so laid-back and cool. I always wished I could sing like Pops.
dropped sang
I sang with my father for over 50 years, and now all of a sudden he's gone, and I just dropped out.
jeff kids pins seen wired worked
The kids today have these fresh faces. It's like they're on pins and needles, waiting to see what I'm going to do. They've never seen me. In the 1960s, those were hippies. They were wired up already. The kids today know me because I've worked with Jeff Tweedy and other young producers.
best church heard life music
The best music of my life I heard at my grandmother's church, this little wooden church up on a hill.
bring coming dressing gospel lift motivate truth
When I come out of my dressing room, I go to my heart and say a little prayer and go out on stage. There I am, coming to lift you up and to motivate you. I want to bring joy. It's gospel, and gospel is the truth. It's what I do. I'm going to bring you the truth and lift up your spirit.
cappella embarrass front singing teacher
My high-school a cappella teacher would embarrass me in front of the choir. 'Mavis, you're in the basement. Mavis, you're singing with the boys.' I said, 'Mr. Finch, my voice isn't soprano. I can't sing up there with the girls.' So I just got out of the choir.