Customer Reviews

We'll Never Turn Back

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It saddens me that there is a negative cabal giving this beautiful CD negative votes. They have not listened to this CD. This CD is one to savour.

"This is a soulful, soulful album. Mavis Staples has a voice that is so full of faith and conviction that it just pours right out of the speakers and into your ear. About halfway through the album, you want to stand up and scream, "THANK YOU, JESUS!!! THANK YOU!" And, really... it doesn't get much better than that. Any album that can make me like a version of "Jesus Is On the Main Line" as much as the Bad Livers` is a standout in my book." Thom Jurek

Mavis Staples with the assistance of Ry Cooder has produced a CD that is ageless. It is a CD that will be revered and listened to through the next millineium. She, is of course, a memeber of the Staple Singers, most often rememmbered for Pop Staples and his guitar and leadership. But, this CD, even at the age of 67 has given Mavis Staples a new life.

'We'll Never Turn Back' is a CD of songs associated with the 1960s civil-rights movement. "It's 2007, and there are still so many problems in the world," she writes of why she's revisiting songs such as 99 and ½ and Eyes On the Prize. Mavis has the Freedom Singers, join her. We'll Never Turn Back`s opening song 'Down in Mississippi' "As far back as I can remember," Staples sings, "I either had a plow or a hoe...", working in the hot Black Belt sun. Danger was everywhere--someone would go to jail for shooting a rabbit out of the hunting season, but "the season was always open on me...". Water fountains were segregated; so were "washaterias". The traditional "Eyes on the Prize" is a spiritual with Ladysmith Black Mambazo's backing vocals. The Freedom Singers begin on the album's fourth song, 'In the Mississippi River,' with Charles Neblet. The rock version of "This Little Light of Mine" makes it a new song. Mavis sings pure Southern soul in her vocal. On the popping gospel '99 1/2 Won't Do,' she goes down into the groove for inspiration and finds it there. Ry Cooder and his son, Joachim provide the back-up of great music that helps make this CD great. The longest song is 'My Own Eyes,' which Mavis wrote. It is an emotional time, recounting her journey through the civil rights movement as inspired by Dr. King. She raises her voice to sing "I saw it with my own eyes/So I know it's true," I have no doubt. Mavis indicts politicians on the failure in New Orleans. The final song is 'Jesus Is on the Main Line'and Mavis lets the graininess in her voice shine through.

"Producer Ry Cooder keeps it all sounding dark and dangerous, while Staples avoids cheap slogans and hollow platitudes to soulfully deliver the straight goods on growing up under Jim Crow in Mississippi and the horrors of post-Katrina New Orleans while questioning why people are dying in a rich man's war. Her great success is making these protest songs personal, and she does it in a most profoundly moving way. This is powerful stuff." Will Hermes

Mavis Staples with her father and Dr Martin Luther King started her long fight for freedom for her people many years ago. "It has been almost 50 years, how much longer will it last? Why are we treated so bad?" sings Mavis Staples. She knows the fight is long from over. Katrina was testimony to what needs to be done. She "Saw It with my Own Eyes' and we can hear the sadness and longing and need for truth from Mavis Staples own voice. She brings reality to the light. When will we all listen?

Heartily, highly recommended. Listen everyday. prisrob 06-17-07

Have A Little FaithCD
A Piece of the Action CD
Soul to Soul (DVD with Soundtrack CD) DVD

I almost wish I could think of something negative to say about this album, just to be different. But it is transcendent. No longer the angel-voiced young girl of her early years in gospel or the sassy soul sister of the "Respect Yourself" days, Mavis is a mature woman who's seen a lot in her 60-odd years ("With My Own Eyes"). Her burnished contralto is all mid-range and lows, but if the instrument itself isn't what it once was, like Billie Holiday, Frank Sinatra, and more recently Joni Mitchell, what's lost in vocal range is more than made up for in expressiveness and nuance. No filler here, every cut is a gem. My two favorite moments in an album filled with great moments: Mavis' spoken anecdote about inadvertently integrating a Mississippi "wash-a-teria" in "Down in Mississippi" (it had been a long while since I'd last heard the term "wash-a-teria" -- that's laundromat for those of you who don't know the South); and in "I'll Be Rested", her personal vision of heaven, a combination gospel jam session and civil rights movement reunion including Dr. King and Emmett Till, Clara Ward and Marion Williams, and Mavis' own father, Pops Staples, guitar in hand. Mavis has been one of my favorite singers since the Staple Singers' epochal "Hammer and Nails" album back in 1962 (Is that album EVER going to be released on CD?); and my only hope is that this amazing collection brings Mavis a bit of the popular acclaim she so richly deserves. Better forty-five years late than never.

What Mavis has chosen to do in this album is to reinterpret a number of classic anthems from the Civil Rights movement as well as including several compositions of her own, all of which are impeccably rendered by an extraordinary voice which may have lost some of its youthful shine but has gained a weary wisdom and lost none of its fierce commitment to tell it like it is, without frills but plenty of class.

Whether or not you share Staples' beliefs or consider yourself a long time fan of the Staples Singers, this is a phenomenal set of songs. If Mavis' voice wasn't enough the album is permeated by the magic of Ry Cooder's production who could not have been a better choice to give these songs, both, their gravitas and their groove. His guitar work in "Down In Mississippi" alone can justify buying this record. This is Cooder at his best, laying a sound as dense and ominous as a Louisiana swamp or as angelic as Gospel longings, as the songs require.

Another musician worthy of note is drummer Jim Keltner, Ry's compadre for so many years, who inhabit these songs with a powerful beat that will resonate in your chest even after the album's over. Along with his work in aforementioned "Down In Mississippi"--my pick from this album for one of the best songs of 07--he's exceptional in "Eyes On The Prize" or the slow shuffle of "In The Mississippi River."

All in all, this is not only a great album but a necessary one. What these songs may reawaken or introduce you to are words that have not lost their significance nor their relevance. Listen to Mavis sing those tracks already spoken for or "I'll Be Rested," "We'll Never Turn Back" or "On My Way." She'll show how much she knows about moving your soul and your body.

If you're of a certain age, this CD is an invitation to time-travel back to the 1960s. Not the `60s of war protest. Or the `60s of sex, drugs and music. This is the `60s that came before that, when Bob Dylan was too young to shave, and Southern blacks stood up to fire hoses, and white kids rushed South to stand and die with them. Freedom. Equality. "Black and white together." That long ago, oh so innocent time.

I try not to go back there. It's too depressing. As with so many issues, my generation made a promise and kept about half of it. And the result is that for all the "progress" that's been made, not a single one of us would trade our troubles to be poor and black in rural Mississippi.

So let's go to the music. Roebuck "Pops" Staples was Bob Dylan when Dylan was still Zimmerman --- from the earliest days of the Civil Rights Movement, his lyrics thundered from the mountain like Martin Luther King's sermons. And his music was irresistible. Pops wrote songs that, along with his stinging guitar, made you want to jump up to testify with your body. And in his daughter Mavis, he had an incomparable asset: a gospel shouter with the firepower of Aretha Franklin.

To hear the Staple Singers was to know that there wasn't anybody who would turn you `round. That it's a slow train, but it's definitely moving on. That like a tree planted by the water we shall not be moved.

Now Mavis Staples has revisited that music. And the dozen songs she's selected for "We'll Never Turn Back," make for the most passionate CD of her long career. To hear them is to be wrenched from the present to her childhood in Mound Bayou, Mississippi:"Every Sunday we would go to church, And this church --- a little wooden church up on the hill, no organist, no piano, no music and when you sang, you would hear feet patting on that wooden floor and people clapping their hands --- this church had such a good sound. Makes you move, you know? Because it has Soul in it, the spirit of the people."

If you don't listen too closely, here's your smart choice for the gospel purchase of the year. But why slot this into a narrow category? The producer is Ry Cooder, and there hasn't been someone as sensitive to ethnic music at the controls since the glory days of Atlantic and Stax. So "We'll Never Turn Back" is not just great gospel --- it's also a fantastic soul CD. And, with "99 and ½," it offers a dance cut that could give even a bigot visions of three hundred million Americans jiving to glory.

But this is much more than archival music enjoying brilliant production. It's a blunt attack on all the racism that endures. The day this CD was released, I read an article about health --- or lack of it --- in Mississippi. This is a state with the highest infant-mortality rate in America. More teen pregnancies than any other state. And improvement isn't likely. When Haley Barbour, former Chairman of the Republican National Committee, became Governor in 2004, he promised to cut Medicaid. He has succeeded; 54,000 non-elderly Mississippi residents --- most of them children --- were removed from Medicaid in the 2005 and 2006 fiscal years.

Mavis Staples sings bluntly about politicians and their lies, about promises broken and justice denied. She names the martyrs. And she doesn't tolerate dissent: This is, she says, what I've seen with my own eyes.

The ultimate greatness of this CD is that it acknowledges hardship but refuses to submit to it. The music's so strong and her voice is so thrilling you really feel there's an inevitability to the cause of equality. And if you doubt that, there's no way to refute her faith. "This joy I have - the world didn't give it to me," Mavis Staples has said. Believe it.

What a wonderful heartfelt album as Mavis Staples looks back on the Civil Rights Movement in this beautiful collection of songs that evokes the spirit of that time once again. The focus is on Mississippi, much the same way Nina Simone did in Mississippi Goddam. On My Way stood out strongly in my mind, speaking of the great journey at his been for her and her family as they came to personify the Civil Rights Movement with their gutsy rhtythm and blues. The songs have a contemporary edge, as in This Little Light of Mine, noting some of the reversals in attitude that have occurred in recent years, but the music speaks for itself in reminding us what a long road it has been. She has the wonderful accompaniment of Ry Cooder (who produced the album), his son Joachim, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, to name a few. Cooder brings a sound to his guitar reminiscent of his experiences with Ali Farka Toure in 99 and 1/2, which references recent painful incidents like Hurricane Katrina. The songs are all drawn on traditional spiritual and blues songs, coaxing you along with their gentle rhythms and grace. Perhaps the most heartfelt song is My Own Eyes, which builds slowly and beautifully to a powerful end, recalling the story of the march on DC. Toward the end of the album, she sings to all those who died during the struggle in I'll Be Rested, also noting her father and mother who passed away recently. So good to hear Mavis Staples back in the spotlight, sounding as strong as ever.

Mavis Staples says of her early days singing with the Staple Singers: "When we started our family group, The Staple Singers, we started out mostly singing in churches in the south. Pops saw Dr. Martin Luther King speak in 1963 and from then we started to broaden our musical vision beyond just gospel sings. Pops told us, "I like this man. I like his message. And if he can preach it, we can sing it."

This album focuses on songs in that spirit. The songs take us back to the 1960s, but they remain relevant today. Indeed, Staples says: "With this record, I hope to get across the same feeling, the same spirit and the same message as we did with the Staple Singers--and to hopefully continue to make positive changes."

The backing group includes some estimable veterans, such as Ry Cooder and Jim Keltner. "Down in Mississippi" features good rhythm and is well and expressively sung. The focus of this song is the problems in Mississippi, including blacks being able to drink only at water fountains labeled "For colored only." The story of the singer helping to integrate Mississippi and the pride her grandmother feels in her.

"We Shall not Be Moved" begins with the repetitive phrase "We shall not be moved." Each verse, a new line is added and the cumulative effect is profound. Key lines:

"We shall not be moved
Like a tree planted by the water
We shall not be moved
The union is behind us
We shall not be moved
We're fighting for our freedom"

The power of repetition, propelled by the smooth and expressive voice of Staples makes this a riveting tune. The beat is simple and instrumentation is spare.

"In the Mississippi River" tells the tale of Civil Rights activists being thrown into the Mississippi River. Key line:

"Into the river they go,
They don't get out alive."

The backing vocals weave together with Mavis Staples' voice to powerful effect. One fragment remains in my memory, as the agents of death noted that killing these people "ain't no crime."

Finally, as one additional example, "We'll Never Turn Back."

"We've been mute and we've been scorned
We've been talked about. . . .
But we'll never turn back
Until we walk in peace."

A simple song, but with a powerful message, well sung by Staples.

This is a wonderful, powerful CD that hearkens back to the grim days of the 1960s, when the forces of reaction and racism met the voice of equality and civil rights. The songs testify to what was at stake and the price sometimes paid for fighting for equality (note the roll call of martyrs and those "who put their lives on the front line and died just trying to live and breathe" in "I'll Be Rested"). A must buy recording, in my view.

This is a wonderful mix of traditional (Eyes on the Prize, We Shall Not Be Moved etc.) and original recordings (My Own Eyes, I'll Be Rested etc.). Traditional renditions, Gospel, Soul, Folk, R&B all combined with wonderful, soulful singing with excellent collaboration from Ry Cooder, Jim Keltner etc.

Along with the exceptional music, this CD should make all of us appreciate how far we've come and still need to go (in many areas of life). One of the best CDs of 2007 to date.

Should make you want to clap your hands and sing.

This is a recording of a once in a lifetime music/magic/spiritual collaboration between one of the great voices of the past 50 years in gospel/pop/blues and one of the great guitarists in blues/rock/world beat.
There was magic when Mavis sang with her Dad, Pops; one of the great guitar influences on rock and blues. With all due respect, there's just as much going on here; only new and different.
Pop's songwriting, guitar and voice were shoulders that Bob Dylan ("If I had a Hammer"/"Wish I had Answered") the Stones ("May be the Last Time", "Shana boom boom") and Ry himself stood upon along with everyone else who was influenced by them.
There's something greater here than just the sum of the artists talents before they made this recording. Something came out of this collaboration that was great, in and of itself. Listen to the clips on here and you'll hear it.
This is as good as any record I've ever heard. The best.

The record label that has been responsible for a few of the most important roots records in the past decade now brings back Mavis Staples to glory. Although the record is now produced by Ry Cooder, the same approach is used as John Henry chose for Solomon Burke, sparse and stripped down. One of the things that immediately strikes is how well Mavis' voice has stood the test of time. Where Solomon's voice is showing cracks these days, her voice still rings out as a bell.

We'll Never Turn Back in a funny sense doesn't live up to it's title, it does turns back in to time. Here Mavis performs a string of old spirituals that have been important through out her career and have had a strong connection to the civil rights movement. Songs like Eyes on the Prize, We Shall Not Be Moved and Turn Me Round are deeply embedded in our sub-conscious. Nobody really owns these songs, everybody does. That made these songs so apt for the movement, they were communitarian.

Ry Cooder allowed the songs to drift from their original arrangement just enough to let them sound fresh and ever so recognizable. Some off the traditional songs have had some lyrics added without compromising their inherent strength. The original compositions on the album blend in and appear to have been here just as long. Nowhere does this album become a Ry Cooder album, even though it has his own unmistakable touch, it is Mavis who carries the album. Ry Cooder shows us again what an excellent side man he can be to just about any artist.

What is shocking in some sense to this album is the strong connection these songs seem to have to this day and age. With the Patriot Act, Iraq, Katrina and the ever growing divide between the haves and the have-nots, questions about our civil rights are as urgent as ever. That's why the new songs touching the same subjects seem to just blend in with those songs that sometimes have been here for ages. We'll Never Turn Back sounds urgent, even though one gets that impression at first the album is not a reminder calling out from the past, it's a mirror reflecting today.

Mud gave me this to listen to as he knew I really liked Ry Cooder.
From the first track I was gob-smacked.
This was the Ry I had come to know and love on his early albums: very sparse arrangements, deep bass, Jim Keltner on drums and of course the slide master, Ry himself.

What about Mavis you ask???
Sure, I'd heard of the Staples Singers and knew a couple of their hits from the 70's ("Respect Yourself" , "I'll Take You There" ) but that was about it. I was in for a surprise.
Mavis "owns" the old gospel numbers as if they were her own personal themes. She also injects new indignation at the issues of today as she did in the 60s civil rights movements. The voice and conviction are strong and the message is clear: "Have a look around yourself. Get your act together. Hallelujah!"