YouTube Gold: The Staple Singers Join The Band Onstage

The Staple Singers, including Pervis, Roebuck ‘Pop’ and Mavis Staples, studio portrait, USA, 1955.The Staple Singers kind of peaked out in the 1970’s but they had had a long career by then, dating back to the early ‘50’s.

They were an influence on Bob Dylan, who loved them, and as the years moved on, their sound changed a lot. They recorded “I’ll Take You There” with the Swampers in Muscle Shoals in 1972 and it became a huge, enduring hit.

When The Band announced their breakup and planned the Last Waltz concert and film, director Martin Scorsese included a version of “The Weight,” perhaps The Band’s greatest song, as accompanied by the Staple Singers.

Mavis Staple was the dominant presence in…