When Mavis Staples thinks about her late friend Levon Helm, memories of her family flood into her mind. Decades ago, when Helm and Mavis’ sister Yvonne were regularly talking on the phone about a possible joint tour of Black colleges, Mavis would feel left out. “I’d butt in and say, …
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Halfway through her star-studded 80th-birthday concert at New York’s Apollo Theater, Mavis Staples paused her half-century-plus–spanning set to take in her adoring crowd. “I’m too excited to talk!” she cried out from the Apollo stage, 63 years after first appearing at the theater as a teenager with her family band, …
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Mavis Staples gets funky with the new song “Anytime,” from her upcoming album We Get By. Produced by Ben Harper, the full project will be released May 10th. “Give me a one way ticket, somewhere I’ve never been/I’m rock, paper, scissors and I’m bound to win,” sings Staples, her inimitable …
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