The Staple Singers

The Staple Singers – What the World Needs Now Is Love (1968/2018)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 32:37 minutes | 724 MB | Genre: Soul, Funk, R&B
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Epic – Legacy

The Staples’ story goes all the way back to 1915 in Winona, Mississippi, when patriarch Roebuck “Pops” Staples entered the world. A contemporary and familiar of Charley Patton’s, Roebuck quickly became adept as a solo blues guitarist, entertaining at local dances and picnics. He was also drawn to the church, and by 1937 he was singing and playing guitar with the Golden Trumpets, a spiritual group based out of Drew, Mississippi. Moving to Chicago four years later, he continued playing gospel music with the Windy City’s Trumpet Jubilees. A decade later Pops Staples (as he had become known) presented two of his daughters, Cleotha and Mavis, and his one son, Pervis, in front of a church audience, and the Staple Singers were born. This is a very rare Stereo The Staple Singers What The World Needs Now Is Love! Epic Records 1968 year.

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The Staple Singers – Be Altitude: Respect Yourself (1972/2011)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/88,2 kHz | Time – 49:35 minutes | 919 MB | Genre: R&B, Soul, Funk
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Craft Recordings

Includes two previously unreleased bonus tracks: “Walking in Water Over Our Head” and an alternate version of “Heavy Makes You Happy”
Originally released in 1972, Be Altitude: Respect Yourself captures the celebrated family vocal group in what was essentially the third act of their career, according to music historian Rob Bowman. The Staple Singers had initially established themselves as a gospel group in the 1950s, then merged with the folk music closely tied to the civil rights movement of the 1960s, and ultimately veered away from protest songs and toward what Mavis Staples termed “message music” in the early and mid-1970s.

One of the Stax label’s greatest triumphs. -Lloyd Bradley, BBC Review

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The Staple Singers – What the World Needs Now Is Love (1968/2018)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 32:37 minutes | 1,20 GB | Genre: Soul, Funk, R&B
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Epic – Legacy

The Staples’ story goes all the way back to 1915 in Winona, Mississippi, when patriarch Roebuck “Pops” Staples entered the world. A contemporary and familiar of Charley Patton’s, Roebuck quickly became adept as a solo blues guitarist, entertaining at local dances and picnics. He was also drawn to the church, and by 1937 he was singing and playing guitar with the Golden Trumpets, a spiritual group based out of Drew, Mississippi. Moving to Chicago four years later, he continued playing gospel music with the Windy City’s Trumpet Jubilees. A decade later Pops Staples (as he had become known) presented two of his daughters, Cleotha and Mavis, and his one son, Pervis, in front of a church audience, and the Staple Singers were born. This is a very rare Stereo The Staple Singers What The World Needs Now Is Love! Epic Records 1968 year.

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The Staple Singers – We’ll Get Over (Remastered) (1969/2019)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 34:38 minutes | 1,52 GB | Genre: R&B
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Craft Recordings

Their second Stax release was similar to Soul Folk in Action. The album’s highlight is Randall Stewart’s “When Will We Be Paid?” AllMusic Review by Rob Bowman

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The Staple Singers – This Little Light (1966/2016)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 34:08 minutes | 1,22 GB | Genre: Gospel, Soul
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Riverside Records

This 1966 release, one of four gospel-based albums the Staple Singers recorded for the Riverside label in the early 1960s, includes the powerful civil rights anthem and title track This Little Light Of Mine, a signature song for the group and Mavis Staples for years to follow. The album also contains two Bob Dylan covers.

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The Staple Singers – This Land (1963/2016)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 32:49 minutes | 1,21 GB | Genre: Gospel
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Riverside Records

While the centrepiece of this 1963 release from the Staple Singers is a classic interpretation of Woody Guthrie’s This Land Is Your Land, another notable cover here is Blowin’ In The Wind, the first time an African-American group had ever recorded a Bob Dylan song. This Land is one of four gospel-based albums the Staple Singers issued on the Riverside label in the early 1960s.

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The Staple Singers – The Staple Swingers (Remastered)  (1971/2019)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 45:08 minutes | 1,94 GB | Genre: R&B
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Craft Recordings

The best and most famous cuts from their glory years at Stax. Includes their massive hits “Respect Yourself” and “I’ll Take You There”; less famous but similar gospel-funk fusions like “Touch a Hand (Make a Friend)” and “Heavy Makes You Happy (Sha-Na-Boom Boom)”; and less expected items like a cover of “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay.” It does not, however, have their 1975 number one single “Let’s Do It Again,” which they recorded just after cutting their ties to Stax. AllMusic Review by Richie Unterberger

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The Staple Singers – Soul Folk In Action (Remastered) (1968/2019)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 32:29 minutes | 1,42 GB | Genre: R&B
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Craft Recordings

Gospel-soul pioneers the Staple Singers will have their storied Stax years commemorated with the December release by Craft Recordings of six individual albums. Featuring: Soul Folk in Action, We’ll Get Over, The Staple Swingers, Be Altitude: Respect Yourself, Be What You Are and City in the Sky.

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The Staple Singers – For What It’s Worth (1967/2017)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 25:19 minutes | 557 MB | Genre: Pop
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Epic – Legacy

The Staples’ story goes all the way back to 1915 in Winona, Mississippi, when patriarch Roebuck “Pops” Staples entered the world. A contemporary and familiar of Charley Patton’s, Roebuck quickly became adept as a solo blues guitarist, entertaining at local dances and picnics. He was also drawn to the church, and by 1937 he was singing and playing guitar with the Golden Trumpets, a spiritual group based out of Drew, Mississippi. Moving to Chicago four years later, he continued playing gospel music with the Windy City’s Trumpet Jubilees. A decade later Pops Staples (as he had become known) presented two of his daughters, Cleotha and Mavis, and his one son, Pervis, in front of a church audience, and the Staple Singers were born.

(more…)

The Staple Singers – City In The Sky (Remastered) (1974/2019)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 42:09 minutes | 1,76 GB | Genre: R&B
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Craft Recordings

City in the Sky, the final LP that the Staple Singers made with Stax Records, features the same socially conscious lyrics and powerful singing that had become their trademark before the album’s 1974 release. While the original recording didn’t have the kind of explosive singles like “Respect Yourself” and “I’ll Take You There” that helped them become legends of soul music, this is by no means a weak album. The opener “Back Road Into Town” seethes with energy and anger-tinged pride, while “Washington We’re Watching You” combines that same message of anger and pride with organ and horn-driven funk. The Staple Singers return to the gospel style that had begun their musical career nearly 20 years before with “Who Made the Man,” – perhaps the strongest song on the album, alternating between gentle invectives by Pop Staples and powerful harmonic blasts by Mavis, Cleotha, and Yvonne. Overall, the album combines a classic Stax-influenced soul sound with a strong message, making it an essential part of the Staple Singers’ catalog. AllMusic Review by Stacia Proefrock

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The Staple Singers – Be What You Are (Remastered) (1973/2019)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 52:20 minutes | 2,22 GB | Genre: Soul
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Craft Recordings

By the early ’70s, despite a roster that included the Dramatics and Isaac Hayes, Stax Records was winding down. The Staple Singers, signed to the label in the late ’60s, always provided hit singles and respected album efforts. Despite their gospel beginnings, the Staple Singers’ biggest draws became Pops Staples’ blues-based “devil’s music” guitar and Mavis Staples’ breathy and sexy vocals. Their 1972 album, Be Altitude: Respect Yourself, all but set the template for their subsequent work. Be What You Are in some respects is an often overly cautious follow-up. The first single, “If You’re Ready (Come Go With Me),” comes off as a softer take on “I’ll Take You There.” While the implications of having a narrow lyrical scope did impede the group somewhat, Be What You Are has the group mining familiar terrain with minimal wear. Tracks like “Love Comes in All Colors,” “Tellin’ Lies,” and the masterful “Touch a Hand, Make a Friend” are all strong and well-produced tracks in the group’s rural yet urbane style. The effort’s lone cover of Bill Withers’ “Grandma’s Hands,” despite Mavis Staples’ lead, comes up short due to the perfection of the Withers original. Mavis Staples also gets two solo efforts here, including Bettye Crutcher’s tough “Drown Yourself” and the spare “Heaven.” Be What You Are isn’t as strong or innovative as its predecessor, but it is a cohesive album and a must-have for fans. ~ Jason Elias

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The Staple Singers – Be Altitude: Respect Yourself (Remastered) (1971/2019)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 41:07 minutes | 1,73 GB | Genre: R&B
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Craft Recordings

The Staples’ finest single album, containing three Top Ten R&B hits, “Respect Yourself,” “I’ll Take You There,” and “This World.” The first two also were pop Top 20s, “I’ll Take You There” going all the way to number one. AllMusic Review by Rob Bowman

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The Staple Singers – What the World Needs Now Is Love (1968/2018)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 32:33 minutes | 724 MB | Genre: R&B
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Epic – Legacy

The Staples’ story goes all the way back to 1915 in Winona, Mississippi, when patriarch Roebuck “Pops” Staples entered the world. A contemporary and familiar of Charley Patton’s, Roebuck quickly became adept as a solo blues guitarist, entertaining at local dances and picnics. He was also drawn to the church, and by 1937 he was singing and playing guitar with the Golden Trumpets, a spiritual group based out of Drew, Mississippi. Moving to Chicago four years later, he continued playing gospel music with the Windy City’s Trumpet Jubilees. A decade later Pops Staples (as he had become known) presented two of his daughters, Cleotha and Mavis, and his one son, Pervis, in front of a church audience, and the Staple Singers were born. This is a very rare Stereo The Staple Singers What The World Needs Now Is Love! Epic Records 1968 year.

(more…)