Freedom Highway

The Staple Singers

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 2, 1991)
• Original Release Date: July 9, 1991
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Sony
• ASIN: B0000027JX
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #155,441 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com essential recording

Recorded in the late 1960s, the strong gospel soul hymns and idealistic moral gospel folksongs on Freedom Highway represent the Staple Singers' artistic apex. Pops Staples's reverb-saturated guitar hangs alone in the air while Mavis and the other family members' voices encircle it with warm sounds and defiant words. All this music is 100 percent amazing--from Pops's poignant delivery of "Be Careful Of The Stones That You Throw" to the group's terrific, invigorating civil rights anthem "Freedom Highway" and a cover of Buffalo Springfield's "For What It's Worth" that adds new dimensions of meaning to the hippie hit. Too poppy to be considered mainstream gospel but not as watered- down as the group became in their mid-1970s pop phase, the Staple Singers' late-'60s music easily ranks alongside the era's hit makers, far outstripping their talent with little flash and pure, lovely sounding conviction. --Mike McGonigal

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Where is the "ORIGINAL" Freedom Highway???, December 21, 2000

By	---- J. M. Donabie (Scarborough, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This CD is a fine Staple Singers CD; BUT IT IS NOT THE ORIGINAL "FREEDOM HIGHWAY RELEASED ON EPIC RECORDS!" I really get upset with record companies who try to re-write history. The original "Freedom Highway" was recorded live at a church in Chicago on Epic Records. It was the best and in my mind is the best "live" gospel album I have ever heard. Legacy put out this CD with the same title as the original and only put on a couple of tracks from it. Come on Legacy! You're great at what you do. Please, Please, Please release the original Freedom Highway!

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good album--but why not reissue the original one?, July 19, 2000

By	"cory131" (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews

This is indeed the Staple Singers at their peak, a period crowned by the live recording of "Freedom Highway." But originally that song opened a whole album recorded live in a church, complete with Pops Staples' comments between songs, the handclapping and responses of the congregation, and so on. Hey, Epic Records: reissue the complete original "Freedom Highway" (with bonus tracks, if anything was left out!)! And if you ever see the original LP for sale, grab it! A real gem!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Unique Gospel, July 24, 2002

By	Steven R. Seim "Steve Seim" (Beaver Dam, WI United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The Staple Singers had one of the more original sounds in gospel. Not the spiritual doo-wop of the quartets, and not the organ and vocal gymnastics of the choirs. Instead, the Staples were a family with great vocal styles and clear, "bright" guitar. It's the gospel version of Mississippi Delta country-blues - think of a sanctified John Lee Hooker on tour with his daughters. "Freedom Highway" is an excellent recording, and one of the best examples of the Staples' early sound.