Mavis Staples came on stage with a huge choir – one that the
director of the Kennedy Center Honors said is the highlight of his year each
year. He said that Mavis has been the soundtrack
of the civil rights movement. He then
added that Martin Luther King had once asked Bob Dylan to marry them?! HA at his last remark: “Meditation is great, but
how about Mavis Staples?!”
Mavis’ audience prompts riled us up: “Say it louder.
Say it clearer. Things gotta change around here.” Amen!!! The gravel in her voice made it that much
better.
“This next song is the very first song our father taught us --
in 1949.” Apparently it’s “Will The Circle Be Unbroken.” It features
this indelible line: “Undertaker, please drive slow.” By far the best part of the song is the way
she ends it: with a guttural laugh-note-laugh. It feels so real. This 80-year-old
commands us all.
“Take A Load Off, Annie”: Wilco flashback!! Lol at
some guy who involuntarily shouts, “Damn, Mavis!”
“I Take You There”: she done took us there!!!! “My
family, the Staples family, has been doing there for 70 years. And I’m
not close to done!” Thank God for that.
Grade: A
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