TOMORROW NIGHT ON THE CATHOLIC CHANNEL: MAVIS STAPLES DISCUSSED

Tomorrow night I make my first guest appearance on SiriusXM's Catholic Channel in two months. Longtime readers of No Expiration know that usually, every month or so, I am a guest of Father Dave Dwyer on his Busted Halo Show.

Tomorrow night, I'm going to talk about Mavis Staples.  Her album, You Are Not Alone, was my second favorite album of 2010, and over the past few years, I've become a big fan of the woman.

Unlike the other artists I've discussed on Busted Halo in the past, Mavis doesn't always write her own songs, but her voice is so incredible that she brings a kind of ownership to them anyway.  Some of the songs I suggested for tomorrow night are traditional gospel, and she adds her own lyrics to them.

I was planning on talking about Mavis on my next visit to the show - but after seeing the President's speech tonight, I felt that it gives some of Mavis' songs a bit more weight, and I'll discuss that too. It's such a great thing about music, how it can adapt to your needs sometimes.  When I talked about You Are Not Alone on The Morning Jolt with Larry Flick a few months ago, it was also pre-planned... and then just happened to be after Tyler Clementi too his own life. The song felt like it was written for him, and I wished he could have heard it. But tonight, during the President's incredible speech, it felt like the right song for tonight also (as did The Staple Singers' "Respect Yourself").

BEST OF 2010 - #2 - MAVIS STAPLES "YOU ARE NOT ALONE"

I love this album. When Mavis Staples was planning a follow-up to her Ry Cooder produced We'll Never Go Back, it must have been a bit daunting. But she hooked up with Jeff Tweedy of Wilco, and the resulting album, You Are Not Alone, is one of the highlights of both of their careers.

The title track, written by Tweedy, is the best thing he's ever done, in my opinion.  It's my favorite song of 2010, and one of my favorite songs of all time.

I wrote about this album a few months ago. I like it even more now than I did then.  I think the album had a great marketing hook - indie rocker produces gospel legend (and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer as a member of The Staple Singers, thank you very much). But I think this album transcends any of that - and I don't think Tweedy wanted to just be part of a contrived project. This actually adds a significant chapter to the legacy of a truly legendary artist. And by the way, it also adds to one of contemporary music's best writers.  What else do I need to say about this album?  It's a classic.

MAVIS STAPLES "YOU ARE NOT ALONE"

Mavis Staples' album You Are Not Alone is one of the albums I was really looking forward to this year, and it doesn't disappoint. I loved her last two albums, 2007's We'll Never Turn Back (produced by Ry Cooder) and 2008's Live: Hope At The Hideout.

You Are Not Alone was produced by Jeff Tweedy of Wilco, and I think it holds up to some of his finest work.   The title track, which he wrote, is I think his greatest song.  Listening to it brings a tear to my eye. Obviously, he wrote it a while ago, but hearing it just makes me think of Tyler Clementi and other young men and women who despair because they feel like they don't fit in.

That's the thing about a great song, it could have been written at anytime, about anything.  And it seems to fit many different situations.  But I think Mavis sings it better than Tweedy ever could (with all due respect).

Anyway.  The rest of the album has updates on some Staples Singers songs, and an incredible cover of Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Wrote A Song For Everyone." Now, you know I love me some Creedence, but I'll say that her version might be better than the original.  It's a wonderful album, if you love rootsy gospel music, you need to check this one out.

YOU ARE NOT ALONE: JEFF TWEEDY PRODUCES MAVIS STAPLES

Earlier this year, I wrote about Wilco's Jeff Tweedy producing the upcoming album by Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Mavis Staples. It's one of the records I'm most excited about. 

Mavis has been singing since 1950 - back then, she was in the family band, The Staple Singers. Their big hits were "Respect Yourself" and "I'll Take You There." She's also been making solo records since 1969.  A couple of years ago, she signed to Anti- Records, the label owned by punk label Epitaph. Anti- has also put out albums by Tom Waits, Solomon Burke, Bettye Lavette, Merle Haggard and Joe Strummer.  It's probably one of the coolest record labels of all time. Needless to say, they let artists do their thing, and don't try and make them trendy or contemporary.  The results are always great. Teaming Mavis with Jeff Tweedy was especially inspired. A recent press release (announcing the 9/14 release date and the title, You Are Not Alone) contains this Tweedy quote:

"I have almost everything she's ever recorded, and I dug back through very thoroughly when I was given this job to do.  I thought that if I refreshed myself about where she's been, it would help her figure out where she wanted to go. I wanted to be sure that we were making a record that she really wanted to make."  He wrote the title track for her.  The press release says that the song could apply to anyone - a lover, a sibling, a friend - but Mavis got teary eyed singing it, she had her father, Pops Staples, in mind when she sang it. 

So it sounds like it is going to be a great album, hopefully it will get a lot of attention for Mavis. That said, the album will have a hard time living up to her last one, 2006's We'll Never Turn Back, produced by Ry Cooder.  That is a classic which you should check out, and I also highly recommend 2008's Live: Hope At The Hideout.

JEFF TWEEDY TO PRODUCE MAVIS STAPLES

A press release that just came out announcing some of Wilco's 2010 plans (tour, working on new songs) also happened to mention that frontman (and one of No Expiration's Best Of The '00s artist) Jeff Tweedy is going to produce Mavis Staples' next album. Like her last two,  2007's classic We'll Never Turn Back and 2008's Live: Hope At The Hideout which is up for a Grammy this year, it will be coming out on Epitaph imprint Anti- Records this year.

It's an interesting combo, and it reminds me of Joe Henry's production projects.  Like Jeff with Uncle Tupelo and Wilco, Joe was part of the roots-heavy "alt.country" scene, and then moved into doing more abstract music. But as a producer, Joe has worked on great albums by Solomon Burke and Bettye Lavette, among others. Hopefully this collaboration will be just as good as those.