Live in London

by Mavis Staples

Overview

Not counting I'll Take You There: An All-Star Concert Celebration, Live in London is Mavis Staples' first live album since 2008's Live: Hope at the Hideout. Since that Chicago date, Staples has made four remarkable studio LPs -- three with Jeff Tweedy, one with M. Ward -- that sensibly form the basis of this, drawn from a two-night stand at Islington's Union Chapel. Her cracking band features many of the players heard on the Chicago recording, and they still bear some likeness to either the spectral or approaching chooglin' modes of Creedence Clearwater Revival. The set list similarly stretches back decades to classic Staple Singers, yet there isn't any overlap in material -- so there's no "I'll Take You There," for instance, but there's an equally authoritative version of "Can You Get to That," an early Funkadelic pearl covered acoustically on One True Vine. Staples celebrated her 79th birthday on one of these two evenings, adding even more joy and gratitude to Benjamin Booker's "Take Us Back" and Curtis Mayfield's "Let's Do It Again" while deepening the resilience and inspiration in Tweedy and Staples' post-November 2016 freedom song "No Time for Cryin'" and Talking Heads' "Slippery People." (Veteran singer Donny Gerard is particularly great in Pops Staples' role on the latter.) Staples sounds more energized and in control here than on the 2008 set. When she beams, "It just ain't no stoppin' me, is it?" there's no evident objection from the appreciative audience. ~ Andy Kellman

Product Details

Release Date:	02/08/2019
Label:	EPITAPH
UPC:	0045778765218

Tracks

1. Love And Trust
2. Who Told You That
3. Slippery People
4. What You Gonna Do Intro
5. What You Gonna Do
6. Take Us Back
7. You¿¿¿re Not Alone
8. No Time For Cryin¿¿¿
9. Can You Get to That
10. Let¿¿¿s Do It Again
11. Dedicated
12. We¿¿¿re Gonna Make It
13. Encore: Happy Birthday
14. Touch A Hand

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Mavis Staples   Primary Artist,Vocals
Vicki Randle   Vocals (Background)
Jeff Turmes   Bass,Vocals (Background)
Stephen Hodges   Drums
Rick Holmstrom   Guitar,Music Direction,Vocals (Background)
Donny Gerrard   Vocals (Background)

Technical Credits

Billy Davis   Composer
Talking Heads   Composer
Carl Hampton   Composer
Curtis Mayfield   Composer
Carl William Smith   Composer
Gene Barge   Composer
David Byrne   Composer
M. Ward   Composer
Homer Banks   Composer
Jeff Tweedy   Composer
Rob Schnapf   Mixing,Editing
Jerry Harrison   Composer
Mavis Staples   Composer,Producer
Raynard Miner   Composer
Mark Chalecki   Mastering
Tina Weymouth   Composer
George Clinton   Composer
Chris Frantz   Composer
Ben Harper   Composer
Roebuck "Pops" Staples   Composer
Raymond Jackson   Composer
Justin Vernon   Composer
Paul Hurt   Live Sound Engineer
Sheila Sachs   Design
Ernie Harris   Composer
Benjamin Booker   Composer