If you have come to this page through a frame,
Click here to break out of it.

Mavis Staples Interview 1/2

| Interview Part 2 | Back to Mavis' Home Page |

They just don't make 'em like Mavis Staples no more. During the more than forty years she's been the lead singer of her family Gospel/Folk/Soul group the Staple Singers, there has been numerous attempts to describe her remarkable and utterly soulful voice. Throaty, thick, supple, sexy, deep, passionate and husky, to name a few, but perhaps Prince, who had the pleasure of working with Mavis on two of her solo albums, best summed it up when he simply dubbed her "the epitome of Soul". Add distinctive, because no one else sounds like Mavis. She is also one of the nicest people alive, radiating warmth and with a great sense of humor, as I discovered over a lengthy interview in August '97, about a month after the Staple Singers performed at the Lollipop festival. It is held annually at Lida, a large open air area in Tullinge, which is located a couple of miles outside Stockholm. Despite a sound system that left a lot to wish for (the massive speaker-rack to the right of the stage died several times), the Staples put on a show that won't be forgotten for a very long time. 82-year old Pops, looking sharp in his white suit and a neat matching cap, opened with "Why Am I Treated So Bad" and what followed were all the Staples' classics from their Stax period, such as "If You're Ready (Come Go With Me)", "Touch A Hand", "Are You Sure" and "Respect Yourself". On the phone from her home in Chicago, Illinois the talkative Mavis was enthusiastic about the event. "Ohh, I loved the Lollipop Festival! Yes, indeed. I had a wonderful time. It was good to be there with Johnny Cash and John Fogerty and then all of the people in Sweden... It was our first time to be there and that was really pleasurable. I just wish we could have been there a little longer, because we really fell in love with it; all of the people are just beautiful, you walk down the street and people smile and speak to you.. It was just a really pleasurable time there."

Maria "Funkyflyy" Granditsky: In most reviews and articles I've read, the focus is often on you, Mavis. But you're always quick to credit the unique sound the Staple Singers have to Pops, Cleotha and Yvonne. Does it make you feel uncomfortable when people put so much of the emphasis on you, since you obviously feel that it's a team effort?

Mavis Staples: Yeah! but I've stopped that, though. I used to feel uncomfortable because I felt like I was hogging the show sometimes. But what really made me feel bad was the way people would come into the dressing room, walk past my two sisters and run to me. I didn't like that. Some people gloat on that, some people.. I've never been about that "Star Thing". So, when they would walk pass Yvonne and Cleo and run to me and go "Ohhh, Mavis, ohhh, Mavis", I'd say "wait just a moment. This is my sister Cleotha and this is my sister Yvonne." I'd make them speak to them, before I let them say anything to me. I was not gonna let them disrespect my family. I used to look at my sisters when people did that, Cleo and Yvonne would have their heads down; "nobody wants to talk to us, everyone wants to talk to Mavis". But they got over that because they saw that Mavis was not about being any better than them. And if I hadn't handled things the way I have done over the years, this could have been disaster. We could never have stayed together as long as we have! I am out front and I do the bulk, but I couldn't do it without them. I need the Staple Singers, I need Yvonne and Cleotha to back me and Pops needs us when he's singing. It's a unit, that's how we've always looked at it. People want to single me out and they know my name better than they know theirs. Our father taught us "there are no big I's and little you's". You're just as good as anyone else. Don't ever think you're any better than anyone else, but don't ever think anyone is any better than you. I said that to Prince one time. In "Melody Cool", I sing "ain't no big I's and little you's" and he stopped the machine and said "what did you say, Mavis?". So, explained it to him. In other words, I'm not so big over you, everybody is the same". Like I said, I never wanted that "Star Trip". I'm just everyday people and I'm just a people person. I just wanna be real and treat everybody right. I do everything. I take my own clothes to the cleaner, I do my own grocery shopping. A lot of my friends have people do that for them, but I'd rather do it myself because if I have to send someone else to do that, how am I gonna communicate with the people? How am I gonna know what the people need? When I go out and people hear my voice, they say "aren't you that Mable Staple?" and I say "yes, ma'am" (laughs). I just enjoy talking with people. That way I'm communicating with the people that I wanna write songs to. If I stay in the house, then I'll lose contact with people! I enjoy doing everything that's normal. But even my peers, Gladys and Aretha, they don't understand me (laughs).

(Laughs) Mavis, you've recorded seven solo albums, simultaneously with the Staple Singers. Has anyone ever tried to persuade you to actually leave the Staple Singers?

Yeah! Even back when we were still singing strictly Gospel, Vee-Jay Records and several companies offered me a million dollars. A million dollars back in the Sixties was filthy rich, that was a lot of money. A million dollars today is not a lot of money for some people. To me, it's still a lot of money (laughs), but back then, people were offering me big money to leave my family. They tried to pull me away from the Staple Singers. I said no and I've never even thought of going solo. Even in later years, the record companies tried that. I said "I'll make a solo album, but I'm not leaving my family". This is home, I'd rather sing with the Staple Singers than any other time, by myself or with someone else.

Your very first solo album came out on Stax in 1969. It is very different from what you were recording with the Staple Singers at that time.

Yeah! Those songs were supposed to be about my life. Those are songs I wanted to sing about my life. I wanted the world to know that Mavis has another life, other than this life that I'm singing about with my family. A life beyond trying to save this world, you know? I wanted the world to know that I have a love life, I've been married, I've been heartbroken and I know what ladies go through in a lady's life. That's why I wanted to sing those kind of songs. Because some guys would have a tendency not to even come around us. They thought we were the holy-rollers! (laughs). 'Those church girls, don't talk to the church girls, they'll have you goin' to church!"

That's so true. Even today, very little is known about you as a person, about your private life. If you're married, have any kids and so on...

Exactly! But I was married, in fact, I was married for eight years to a mortician and see, that's another thing, like everything I would tell this little guy Prince, he would write about it. I told him I was married to an undertaker, so he wrote me a song called 'The Undertaker'. The song is talking about how the kids should be staying away from crack and the cocaine. But yeah, I was married to a mortician, in fact, it was the largest funeral parlor in Chicago at the time. When I got ready to start a family, I wanted to have at least six children. I love children. I had given my family two month's notice that I wanted to take a leave of absence and start my family and just as I did, this man started acting crazy. I said "well, shucks, I'm not gonna be going through this. I'm happy singing and I know I can, my brother has children, I can be happy there". But there was at one time, I wanted me a baby so bad, I was gonna have me a love child. In the 70's. The man wasn't gonna know, I wasn't gonna tell anybody who the daddy was. It was gonna be my baby. Just as I was about to do that, I had my mind set on having this baby, "I'll Take You There" hit and I just didn't have time. "I'll Take You There" was so hot, I mean, man.. We were travelling so much, I just didn't have time to have a baby.

I guess it's pretty hard to conceive a secret love child on the road, with your family around you at all times too, huh? (laughs)

(Laughs) exactly! But my life has been wonderful. We've been a part of all sources of music. We've sung Folk music, Country. Duke Ellington described our music once. He said "the Staple Singers have some of every music in it. They have the Blues in there, Pops is playing the Blues guitar and they're singing Gospel with a bluesy back-up" or however he said it. We would even win Downbeat awards, this is a Jazz magazine, and all of a sudden we started winning these Jazz awards over people like Lambert Hendricks. These are Jazz people and I said "why are we winning these Jazz awards, Daddy?" He said "I had to go back and listen to our music myself." You see, we had people like Cannonball Adderley recording out stuff. Cannonball recorded "Why Am I Treated So Bad". He did that live and he talks about Pops Staples and his daughters. It's Jazz, it's a groove and I started hearing what they were hearing. We have a very unique sound, nobody sounds like us. And all kinds of music is included in it. That's why the Jazz people and the Blues people wanna play the Staple Singers' stuff. The Blues people are our friends. We do Blues festivals, we do Folk festivals. We've met all of the Folk people. Janis Joplin was one of my best friends, Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, the Chambers Brothers, all of these people, we used to work with constantly. And the other Gospel singers or R&B singers would say "why are they calling the Staple Singers to sing Gospel on the Blues festivals?" But by then, we understood why. See, we would sing all of the Dylan songs. We would sing "Blowing In The Wind", "Masters of War" and "A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall". We've recorded all of these songs and that's another thing, Maria. I almost married Bob Dylan!

Whaat? (laughs)

(Laughs) Yeah! Yeah! Bob Dylan and I courted for about seven or eight years. We were really, really close. He told Pops one day "Pops, I'm wanna marry Mavis". Pops said "well, don't tell me, tell Mavis" (laughs). He was real shy, it took a long time for him, he would always talk to my brother at first. And then he finally started talking to me. He was very shy! And right today, he tries to pretend that he's jealous that I got with the little Prince boy. "What are you doing with him, Mavis?" I says "you didn't call me to come with you". So Bob goes "well, I couldn't find you for a long time." So I says "I know we lost contact. Bobby". But anytime we are somewhere where Bobby is in the show.. The people in the States, they know it, so they'll have me like, baby-sit Bobby.

By the way, how is your brother Pervis, and what is he doing today?

Ohh! Pervis! Pervis is out in the suburbs, he lives not far from Pops. Pervis is managing a club now and he also promotes shows. He brings shows into Chicago. He takes shows to the County Jail. He used to work at the jail and he started bringing Blues shows there to the inmates. Like on holidays and on Dr. King's birthday, he might bring Jesse Jackson in there to talk. Pervis is doing well.

The last record I have by the Staple Singers is the self-titled LP you did on Private-I Records in 1985. Was that really the last album you recorded together? If so, how come?

Yeah, that was the last one we did. Amazing, isn't it? Over here, these record companies.. I don't understand why or how they can think that a person is too old to sing. I mean, I feel like the older I get, the better. Not to mention, I have more of a story to tell now, because I've lived, I've experienced certain things and I think I have a lot more to share with the world. But, my goodness, over here, when you get into your thirties, these record companies say that you're too old. Well, the problem is not that you're too old, they want the youngsters. They want the young kids, someone that they can make a bunch of money off of and then release 'em. They'll have platinum and the record company makes all the money and then you won't hear from these kids no more. The companies don't wanna be bothered with veterans, because we know what time it is, we know the business (laughs). But we're not giving up, in fact, I'm producing another record on Pops right now and I told him "Pops, man, you're the only one can get a contract, so I'm putting the Staple Singers all over your CD". But after we finish working on Pops' record, we will be making another Staple Singers album, we'll just have to do it on our own, that's all. I told Pops "man, we can put our stuff on the Internet and sell it. We spend our own money, make our own record, because it doesn't make sense to just stop making records when you're in good health and you have good songs that you wanna share with the people." And it's time for our testimony. Mavis has to testify! I got a lot to talk about. The Lord has been good to me, you know? So, we do have plans and go into the studio, as soon as I'm finished with Pops' CD.

It's easy to forget when you see him, but it struck me that Pops is actually 82 years old. Where on earth does he get the energy to keep going, traveling around the globe, performing and giving interviews from? I doubt my grandparents would be able to do that!

Well, he's been around us. I think that we've helped to keep him young. But he takes good care of himself too. We've all been singing together now for forty-seven years and we've always been together. They say that having youth around you keeps you younger, but I don't give that all to us. I see how Pops takes care of himself. He walks every morning, he's a health conscious person. He has a health rider, I don't know if you know what that is, but it's like an exercise bike. He got that one when his back was out and that has helped. He drinks plenty of water and I really keep him up. I let him know if I see something that I think would be good for him, vitamin-wise or whatever, because I'm very health conscious too. He's more like sixty-something to me, the way he carries himself. I'll tell you another story. We all go the same doctor and me and my sisters Cleo and Yvonne, we all had a cold. So we went to the doctor to get some penicillin shots and when we were leaving there, the receptionist shook her head and said "ohh, you girls has got to do better. The doctor says that your Pops is in much better shape than you girls!" And I said (yells) "I guess he is, 'cause he's running us down. We're keeping him together and he's running us ragged!" (laughs). That tickled me so bad, but sometimes if Daddy thinks something is really wrong, we'll go with him, to let the doctors know that he has support. Because sometimes, doctors, if you're an older person like that and they don't see that your family is with you.. We let the doctors know that we're concerned. The last doctor we went to said "your father is in tip-top shape. His health is excellent". And I kinda think that Mama and Daddy, their generation, down south, in Mississippi, they were putting all the good stuff inside them, they did things helped the body. They'd get up early at four o'clock in the morning. We can't do what Pops do. Or my Mama! I could never cook a whole big meal like my mother did like for Christmas and Thanksgiving. It's not easy. She would cook a feast! I asked her "how do you do it? I would never have the strength to do all this". And she said "we're made up better than you guys were, our stock is better" (laughs). But, Pops is a jewel and all of us, we're so proud of him. We lost our mother in 1987, so we all rally around Pops so he won't feel too lonely, but then you turn around and he doesn't need us sometimes, 'cause the ladies.. He goes to church and all these ladies come and tell us "you know, your Daddy is so handsome... You tell him that I'm single". And Bonnie Raitt! She tried to set Pops up with her mother! She brought her mother to the show and said "Mavis, now you gotta help me. I'm gonna get Mom and Pops together here". I said "Bonnie, I'm not gonna be in it" and it turned out that her mother and my father, neither one of them wanted to be bothered that day! It was real cute. And I have to get on Bonnie's case sometimes because she tries to take Pops away from me. Bonnie says "oh, Mavis you take my dad and I'll take your dad". I tell her "no way, I'm keeping my Pops! Your dad don't play guitar" and then Bonnie goes "no, but he sings" (laughs). You see, I need that guitar, I need my Dad, 'cause that's what I sing by. I don't know music, I don't even know what key I sing in!

(Laughs) Mavis, you really want me to believe that?

Yeah! I truly don't know what key I'm singing in, until I hear my father's guitar. When he starts playing, I start singing. I went to California one time to do the National anthem for the L.A. Lakers and when it came time for me, the organist asked me "Miss Staples, what key will you be singing in?" I said "oh, my gosh, that's a good question." So, I had to call Pops long-distance. I said "Pops, I need a key!" I don't know what key I will sing the National Anthem in!" Pops went and got his guitar and asked me to give him the highest part of the song. So I sang and he tuned up and said "OK, Mavis, you start that off in 'A'." I went back to the organist and told him "my key is in 'A'," you know, like I was such a big thing. I had to go call Pops! (Laughs) I was kinda embarrassed, but I don't know music. I've never had any vocal lessons, but for some reason I thought I should have some, so I did mention it to Dizzie Gillespie once. I asked him where I could go and get some voice culture and he told me off so bad! He said "are you crazy? Don't you do that! You'll mess up everything if you do that. The Lord gifted you with a voice and you can already sing, what you wanna do that for?". So, I left it alone. But I listen to some people, they can hold their breath a long time, you know, and that comes from learning how to do that. I thought, "Dizzie is right, I should use my gift, the Lord has given it to me." I started singing from ear when I was eight years old so why bother with it? And some people say, like guys who read music and plays from music sheets, it leaves a lot of the Soul out. Because they are reading and they're not just playing what they feel. Most people would rather have musicians that can play from feel.

| Interview Part 2 | Back to Mavis' Home Page |

© Maria Granditsky November 1997.
All rights reserved.
No part of these pages may be reproduced or published without the prior written permission of the author. Do not save, link to, or in any way use the images on Miss Funkyflyy's Web Pages, without first obtaining a written consent from the Webmistress, Maria Granditsky.

Home - Artists - What's New - Links -  FAQ - Theme - About Me