February 23, 2010


The likes of Edwyn Collins, Cerys Matthews, Sarah Cracknell and Candi Staton are among those to contribute songs to 'Mavis', a new tribute album devoted to 70-year-old soul singer Mavis Staples.

The album has a twist though. The idea is that 12 different vocalists record songs based on the same Staples track. Producers Ashley Beedle and Darren Morris recorded an instrumental based on 'A House Is Not A Home' (a song made famous by Dionne Warwick but also recorded by Staples and written by Burt Bacharach) and sent it to the 12 vocalists to add their own interpretations.

Another singer on board with the project is Lambchop frontman Kurt Wagner, a long time fan of Staples, particularly when she performed with her family as the Staple Singers.

"They would bring the house down," Wagner said. "Whenever the Staple Singers took over it was just incredible. She had such a presence and such a way of carrying a song it was amazing.

Originally, only Wagner's track ('Gangs Of Rome') was going to be released on 7" before Beedle and Morris decided to turn the idea into a full project. Others to contribute include Ed Harcourt, Danielle Moore and John Turrell. Edwyn Collins' effort, meanwhile, is his first recorded song since suffering a cerebral hemorrhage in 2005.


http://www.spinner.com/20...ifference/

This doesn't even look good on paper. I'll check it out as a Mavis fan, but several artists covering the same song just sounds very uninteresting.

squirrelgrease said:

I have to agree. With all of the material she's sung over the years surely the could've come up with a better tribute idea.

Yeah,this is a crappy idea Makes no sense.The song "A House Is Not A Home" is more closely associated with other artists,namely Dionne Warwick and Luther Vandross.When people think of that song,they don't immediately think of Mavis Staples.

Identity said:

I got turned on to her after I noticed prince covering her songs and her Paisley Releases, Caught a show of hers once in a small nightclub and she had a bad cold but she sang her heart out. She nmight have sang Positivity and Blood is Thicker than Time that night also.

HonestMan13 said:

Y'all are probably right, but I love love love writen anthologies where authors offer their own takes on the same subject. Lesbian Nuns:Breaking Silence, for example, was a great read.

This does have the potential to be brilliant. "Don't hold your breath, cuz you just might turn blue. If your patience doesn't get the best of you. Someday I'm gonna have my cake, my love, and you ou ou."