OUR WEEKLY NOD TO AMAZING ALBUMS
GIVES A GOOD CAHOOT
The Staple Singers did nothing less than modernize gospel music. They are the next evolutionary step after Ray Charles and Aretha Franklin, all churchgoers that etched humanity into hymns and gave hips to hallelujahs. Compacting the pulpit into danceable bursts, The Staple Singers - Roebuck "Pops" Staples and his children Mavis, Pervis, Cleotha and Yvonne - were Black protest music with a backbeat, beloved by Martin Luther King Jr. and more sanctified than rascally, hedonistic Sly Stone.
This week in 1971, "I'll Take You There," from the landmark soul-gospel album Be Altitude: Respect Yourself, was the No. 1 Billboard Pop Hit in the country. Like much of this record, that single remains endlessly captivating - seductive and uplifting, simple in its construction but dotted with fantastic touches that secure it in your memory.
I know a place
Ain't nobody cryin'
Ain't nobody worried
Ain't no smilin' faces
Mmm, no, no
Lyin' to the races
Help me, come on, come on
Somebody, help me now
If Heaven was in their minds, the Devil was in Pop's guitar, a sound so salacious that panties spontaneously drop every time the solo on "I'll Take You There" comes in. He's aided throughout Be Altitude by the earthy fellows in the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section and the Memphis Horns. It's legendary bassist David Hood, father of Drive-By Truckers' Patterson Hood, you hear working like a moonshine lit snake charmer on "I'll Take You There" and "Respect Yourself," a song so amazingly put-together that it survived even the taint of Bruce Willis' blasphemous 1987 cover.
What continues to amaze about Be Altitude is how one never feels preached to; a true Christian spirit of inclusiveness pervades. There's great warmth to the multi-voiced invitation into their "house," with Mavis providing pat-your-foot-on-the-rock solidity and Pops' odd, reedy vocals keeping some Baptist wildness running in the hallways. With a distinctly secular groove and a steeple high backdrop, Be Altitude is empowering fun, both a snapshot of its era and a beacon for future generations to follow in the darkness.
Be Altitude: Respect Yourself track list:
1. This World (Friedman, Shapiro)
2. Respect Yourself (Ingram, Rice)
3. Name the Missing Word (Banks, Crutcher, Jackson)
4. I'll Take You There (Isbell)
5. This Old Town (People in This Town) (Covay, Pickett, Stevenson)
6. We the People (Jones, Smith)
7. Are You Sure (Banks, Jackson)
8. Who Do You Think You Are (Jesus Christ the Superstar)? (Staple)
9. I'm Just Another Soldier (Banks, Jackson)
10. Who (Barry, Bloom)
Jump back to 1972 for a cool ass live take on "Respect Yourself."
Here, the Staples move the Lord's music from the chapel to the saloon with The Band at The Last Waltz.
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