Mavis Staples lays down live tracks at Hideout
In another time and another place of dusty roads and fertile cotton fields, the Hideout could have been a Delta juke joint. But on Monday, the best urban roadhouse this side of the Lakeside Lounge in New York was the setting for the recording of a Mavis Staples live album. The 80-minute session drew mostly from “We’ll Never Turn Back,” last year’s evocative debut for the Anti- record label.
The setting was appropriately dense and humid. Strings of golden lights dangled from the rafters, and one ceiling fan spun around like the moral compass of the Staple Singers songbook. Maybe the rural-by-the-Chicago River setting is why it was so effortless for lead guitarist Rick Holmstrom to channel the haunting tremolo guitar of Mavis’ father, Pops Staples.
(Marty Perez/For the Sun-Times)
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Mavis Staples live!
From the swampy opening cover of Buffalo Springfield’s “For What It’s Worth” (also covered by the Staple Singers in 1967) through J.B. Lenoir’s “Down in Mississippi” (first produced by Ry Cooder on Pops’ “Peace to the Neighborhood” in 1992), Holmstrom and Staples’ band played closer to the groove than last summer’s show at Symphony Center. A native of Fairbanks, Alaska, Holmstrom established the connection between Pops’ beloved Fender Stratocaster and modern-day disciples like John Fogerty in the chug of “This Little Light” and the traditional “Keep Your Eyes on the Prize.” (Fogerty will be the first to tell you Pops’ sound is all over early Creedence hits such as “Born in the Bayou.”)
Holmstrom led the same “We’ll Never Turn Back” band that’s been on the road with Staples for over a year: minimalist drummer Stephen Hodges, bassist Jeff Turmes and background singers Yvonne Staples, Chavonne Morris and Donny Gerrard, lead singer of Skylark, who had the 1973 hit “Wildfire.” In fact, a “Wildfire” cover would have broken up the pacing better than Holmstrom’s instrumental salute to Brian Setzer.
At this juncture of her career, Staples’ vocals draw more from her gospel roots instead of the power of a full-tilt soul singer. Her santicfing shouts on “Freedom Highway” were one of the evening’s highlights, and she approached Robbie Robertson’s “The Weight” with the rustic dignity of her hero, Dorothy Love Coates. The evening’s encores included a stark cover of “I’ll Take You There,” where Staples was accompanied only by Holmstrom’s soulful guitar. It was the only major Staple Singers hit the group covered.
Hideout owners wisely kept tickets to the sold-out show to a comfortable minimum; less than 200 people were in attendance, including Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy. The vibe was arguably hip, and although Staples sang from “We’ll Never Turn Back” I saw the classic North Side tamale vendor turned back as he tried to move past the soundboard.
But anyone who was hearing this American treasure in concert for the first time learned precious lessons about where we have been and where we are today. After dealing “Freedom Highway” Staples stood tall and shouted, “My mind is made up, my heart is fixed.” And she smiled.
She was not alone.
Staples says she hopes to release the results of Monday night's recording by Christmas.
