"Mavis Staples" (1969)

Mavis Staples performed for almost two decades with her family before producer Al Bell convinced her to record solo album - The Staple Singers joined Stax Records previous year and with the help of famed Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section their music was instantly updated, now they were amongst the biggest soul aristocracy of the day. Mind you, nothing drastically changed as Staples still sang praises to the Lord and their songs were always carefully chosen to spread some kind of message, but sound definitely changed and they became more accessible to wider audiences. Gospel purists were probably not amused, but "Pops" accepted this is the way to go on with the business. Out of this Stax episode came this solo album which was perhaps experiment to steer Mavis into contemporary style and its surprising that it didn't stir more attention - ultimately it became nothing more than interesting side-project since lady had no intentions to leave the family group and by her own admission, she was not really not comfortable being alone in the spotlight.

Listening it today, it is a very good 1960s R&B album - how can it be different with one of the best voices in the business backed by such sensational musicians - the highlight is her version of Burt Bacharach ballad "A House Is Not A Home" which in her hands turns into soulful masterpiece on the very much same level like "Stay With Me" by Lorraine Ellison, one of those unforgettable deep soul recordings. Mind you, Mavis can get all funky when opportunity presents itself - her covers of songs by Otis Redding, Willie Hutch, Sam Cooke and "Son Of A Preacher Man" are top-shelf and it makes one wonder how come this album somehow fell between the cracks instead of catapulting her into first rank of greatest soul singers of 1960s - than again, perhaps it was simply eclipsed by other current works by The Staple Singers and lady herself didn't pursue that direction. "Pops" himself didn't record solo album until 1990s when he was already almost eighty and Mavis continued as part of the family band until her father and sisters passed away, when she eventually decided to continue carrying the torch and work as solo artist. The album perhaps didn't make big impact back than in the golden age of soul but its joy to hear today and is highly recommended listening. 

Mavis Staples live in concert

I am so enjoying my new civilian life on dry land - after many years of working on the ships and being away from regular, simple pleasures like going out in the evening with a friends, having a drinks, enjoying cinema or concerts (or simply having unlimited Wi Fi like everybody else, instead of looking everywhere for "Starbucks") now I am actually able to pick up where and how I will spend my free time. So when I found out that Mavis Staples is coming to Amsterdam, the decision was swift + it was a birthday present for an old friend and it worked out perfectly as a surprise (I have actually managed wonderful seats with the best view on the stage).

Before lady herself took the stage, local Dutch soul singer performed his own set - I was naturally not familiar with Alain Clark who apparently is fairly well known around here but my initial reserve actually melted very fast because the guy was very good in a mellow, acoustic way and even though his between-the-song pattern showed that he was very nervous and excited to be on the stage of such prestigious music institution as The Royal Theatre Carré (not to mention opening for legend like Mavis Staples) the music was excellent, specially as towards the end he invited his own father to perform duet "Father and Friend" which got us all in tears and it made perfect sense as lady herself sung her whole life with her own father Roebuck "Pops" Staples who was leader of wonderful The Staple Singers. 

I have just finished a book about Staple singers and was familiar with their music, but somehow in my head I always imagined Mavis as she was decades ago, this beautiful black woman with sensational voice - so it came as a shock to see now 80 years old tiny grandmother arriving on a stage, still energetic and sweet but tiny tiny in comparison with everybody around her (I wondered were Staples so small?) and out of her came this volcanic King Kong voice like Earth Mother herself - I have never ever in my life felt such a huge affection towards performer on a stage, really she was absolutely adorable and we all wanted to embrace her (in fact, audience was constantly disturbing the concert by shaking her hands and showering her with gifts). I even wondered why is she touring and going trough such exhausting schedule at this late stage in her life, but from I read in her interviews this is conscious decision to continue work of her father and as the rest of Staples eventually passed away, Mavis decided to continue carrying on their mission. Since their work was always in gospel/inspirational music it makes a perfect sense that she still wants to go on, because whatever work they did back in 1960s, the world is still not a better place - she mixed old and new material and it all sounded absolutely current (the audience lapped it up), we all loved seeing her enjoying herself and she even danced a bit, such a wonderful, wonderful person and sensational singer. So happy and honoured that I have chance to see her live. This is one of the highlights of my music life. 

"I'll Take You There: Mavis Staples, the Staple Singers, and the March up Freedom's Highway" by Greg Kot (2014)

Finally a book about unique music family that connected gospel with blues and funk - it makes one wonder why it took so long but I guess better late than never, I am all for it to celebrate artists while they are still around than talking about them posthumously. Greg Kot took a task to explain the atmosphere of the gospel world in 1940s and 1950s while setting the stage of arrival of The Staple Singers and how their success reflected changes in society and music. It might be a bit too ambitious to present such cinematic sweep that would cover both political changes and personal story of Staples, but author largely pulls it off, mainly trough first-hand interviews with musicians, collaborators and the main subject, majestic Mavis Staples herself (by the way, I am going on her concert in a few days so this was my own serious preparation for that evening). 

Staples came from the bottom - father worked in a slaughterhouse and taught his children how to sing around the kitchen table - before they made a name for themselves initially on a gospel market, than later progressed towards pop charts, never losing the connection with their roots and what made them so loved in the first place. Surely not the only gospel family around, they also had a secret weapon in the form of youngest daughter who possesses one of the most unique voices in recorded history - from the first moment it was Mavis who was a focus of the particular Staples sound and when this volcanic roar was combined with father's recognisable guitar playing and her siblings harmonies, the result was one of the most memorable sound - their later radio hits almost eclipse what was really important about Staples and that was their involvement in civil rights movement, where they were on the front line on marches and speeches. 

Kot does a good job in connecting their personal story with changes around them, though book is largely written for music lovers and might be too detailed for casual readers - its written from perspective of a music journalist who loves all these facts about recording sessions - personally I had no problem with it and it got me running for all these old albums, but some might find it a bit repetitive.  

"Rocketman" by Dexter Fletcher (2019)

Since "Bohemian Rhapsody" became such a smash hit, it was just a matter of time before Hollywood followed it with another music superstar biopic - strange enough, this movie was actually planned as far back as 2001. but obviously needed right time and now biopics are trend again, so the very same director (Dexter Fletcher) was called in again to do his magic on another rags-to-riches story. Its unfortunate that otherwise enjoyable "Bohemian Rhapsody" collected all those awards and publicity because whatever comes up next will always be perceived as obvious gimmick and sequel, because "Rocketman" is actually by far superior but will probably not receive same attention. It is fairly successful in cinema but I doubt it will actually have same effect, simply for being second in line.

To be honest, "Rocketman" was the only movie I actually wanted to see in cinema saturated with special effects and silly superheroes, but neither me or my friend expected that we will actually be so moved with the story. Because music of Elton John was always so ubiquitous, I have never actually felt the need or urge to explore his discography and my perception of him was mainly as a modern-day Liberace (flamboyant, over-the-top entertainer) thought I admit he was hugely successful and deservedly so - than again, when certain people (like Madonna or Michael Jackson) are ever-present on radio waves, it kind of puts me off and I would rather check out somebody from the third row instead. I was vaguely familiar with his life story - background session player who turned huge superstar and basically never stopped ever since - and his legendary tantrums and attention-grabbing excesses were mostly a subject of gossip magazines. Nowadays when people talk about Elton John, its mostly about his huge wealth and jet set life, which actually not interest me at all - he earned it, its his business and his life, I never had interest in other people's finances. Less discussed is the fact that he also gave millions away for Aids charities and seems to be genuinely generous person.

Back to the movie - it cleverly uses fantasy and reality, mixing up songs with scenes from subject's life in a way that I have not seen on the screen before. Because its subject is musician, music plays the large part here, though it must be noted the songs are sprinkled around outside of their chronological order, mostly like comments of the Greek choir (for example, "Crocodile Rock"  or "The Bitch Is Back" are placed in a story way before they were actually written). We follow chubby, little Reginald Dwight from his early years in a cold household with distant parents to his escape in the world of music that gave him some comfort and sense of freedom - surrounded with musicians, he finds camaraderie and connection he never experienced at home. Its not exactly "Mommie dearest" but it has similar bitterness and tone, the heart of the movie is basically childhood scars that never completely went away and I found myself moved to tears during the scenes where John simply couldn't connect with his parents (who eventually embraced his wealth and fame but that was it). Than again, everybody needs some kind of motivation so this was his curse - to escape cold, unloving home and spread his wings elsewhere. Perhaps if he was pampered and loved, he would never felt the need to get out and do something. The movie cleverly explains his team work with Bernie Taupin and in a way, they were modern-day Gershwins (the thought occurred to me during the movie) who wrote long list of pop standards trough many decades. Yes, at certain point we get to predictable excesses usually connected with superstar lives - drugs, promiscuity, etc - which probably for some audience was the main interest but I didn't really care for that and personally I always find the initial struggle far more interesting that limos and Champagne that comes later. Taron Egerton did a decent job (he even sings on the soundtrack) though his portrayal has perhaps too much anger and bitterness to be completely likable - still, it feels closer to truth than whitewashed Freddie Mercury. Not completely sure about celebrities having their own control over biopics, since it inevitably brings the question of objectivity, perhaps this kind of movies should better be done after subjects are already gone and we have different perspective - otherwise it feels like a clever marketing gimmick that brings more album sales and tours. Apparently Céline Dion is now the next one in the biopic line. 

The Staple Singers | Sit down servant

Aretha Franklin Shoop Shoop Song 1965 HQ

"Ma" by Tate Taylor (2019)

Initial plan was to check latest "Aladin" but I discovered that this movie just opened and decided to surprise my work colleague with something completely unexpected - my plan worked out perfectly, because I distracted her well enough that she didn't even realise we are not going in the cinema where we were supposed to meet but around the corner in completely different place and I warned her not to look on the posters and signs, so basically she entered the cinema hall completely unaware what exactly we are going to see. It turned out a perfect surprise, because movie was good, old fashioned fun and we both enjoyed it very much.

Director Tate Taylor and famous actress Octavia Spencer knew each other for the long time so they both enjoyed doing something completely off the wall - celebrated as she is, Spencer did found herself pigeonholed in certain kind of roles so the offer to do a horror/thriller was obviously a welcome step out of routine. She has enough of screen presence to carry the whole movie on her shoulders and honestly we are enjoying the movie as long as she is the main focus - nobody else comes close to her charisma, although both Juliette Lewis and Luke Evans are solid actors, but we are here for Spencer. Sorry guys. I have read very interesting article in "The Guardian" where author discussed the roles of black women in US movies, often sidetracked as servants and "mammy" which he says is complete fiction because in real life these women were far from being so close and familiar with their owners - perhaps I wasn't paying attention, but I don't remember when was the last time I saw black actress as a main antagonist in a mainstream movie and the best of all is that Spencer is such a great actress that this completely don't matter - she is important and interesting for her acting, a fabulous actress period. This was actually kind of role that Bette Davis and Joan Crawford used to chew on the screen and Spencer is right next to them, enjoying every minute. 

The movie itself is a silly and very entertaining in a way movies sometimes get - from time to time its completely fine to enjoy something that was not made as pretentious and serious, life-changing experience but fun for the sake of fun. Spencer is a mysterious, lonely veterinary technician (who apparently lives alone) who help some teenagers getting liquor and even befriends them, suggesting they can use her basement to party, instead of drinking hidden in bushes and such. Kids are silly as teenagers often are, excited with freedom of having their own space and they quickly embrace "Ma" as one of them, without asking any questions. Eventually things start to get really creepy because "Ma" clearly has her own agenda and she has ulterior motives behind smiling facade - the way she manipulates these kids leads to grand finale where she is presented as truly deranged and dangerous maniac but director also makes sure that we feel just a tiny bit of sympathy for her character and we understand why she became like this. Spencer has a wonderful time being serious killer and you can tell she loved it - the audience in cinema was giggling away during nastiest scenes of murder and mayhem, which made me wonder who are these people around me, but honestly it was great fun and obviously nobody took it seriously, we all understand this is not real, just cinematic fantasy. We left cinema in great spirits and laughed along the way. Campy, good natured fun. 

"Tina Turner" by Mark Bego (2003)

Turner's is a fascinating story but it has already been told many times elsewhere so initially I had some reservations about another book going trough the same well-known facts and was wondering has Bego anything new to say. At first it appeared as he covers very much the same territory that lady described herself in her book and adds some well publicised anecdotes that can easily be found everywhere - if you are fan, you are probably familiar with all of this already. Not to nitpick, but it kind of seems very easy to collect all of these stories and rehash them as new book, which looks like what Bego is doing - all of his books basically use the same approach and follow certain pattern.

However, it must be noted that somewhere halfway author actually clearly gets excited about his subject and book somehow becomes interesting because he has contagious enthusiasm for the story so you will finish it before you even notice. Nothing you won't find elsewhere but its still great read and very respectful towards lady who managed impossible feat, not one but two spectacular careers in one lifetime. Personally, I love Turner beyond words and have great affection for her so I can't rate this really low because the book is obviously labour of love. 

"Respect: The Life of Aretha Franklin" by David Ritz (2014)

When back in 1998 celebrated author David Ritz (who had previously written books about Ray Charles, Etta James and Marvin Gaye, amongst others) got  invitation from Queen herself to collaborate on her memoirs, initial excitement must have quickly vanished as it became clear that famously tight-lipped Franklin has no intentions to reveal anything about her life. The resulting book, "From These Roots" was lightweight volume that caused uproar amongst readers who noted that its subject loves herself, food and fashion - some twenty years later, Ritz decided to use his wealth of research material to write completely new book without Franklin's permission. Contrary from what I expected, its actually not juicy, dirty gossip but surprisingly clear-eyed look at her life and career, focusing on circumstances around her start and everything that made her person she became. 

We are all familiar with Franklin's golden years (late 1960s) but personally I always found more interesting to find out what happened during artist's formative period when they were still finding their place in the world. Peter Guralnick and Nadine Cohodas did wonderful job in their books about Sam Cooke and Dinah Washington, explaining the atmosphere of post WW2 music scene and what inspired people to move from gospel to pop field - Ritz approaches this subject very seriously and the story is fascinating as it follows young gospel ingénue who is initially domineered by father and husband, until later she grows confident and successful all by herself.

Personally I find this early period (1940s and 1950s) far more interesting than what happened later when world was at her feet and awards started piling up - there is a ton of interesting interviews with people involved and it seems everybody was extra patient with imperious Franklin who was blessed with genius but not the easiest person to manage (however, she could be perfectly charming and funny when she didn't feel threatened or competitive). Author is actually very respectful and the book is genuinely the most detailed book about Franklin so far.