Pops Staples
Encyclopedia
Roebuck "Pops" Staples was a Mississippi
-born Gospel
and R&B
musician.
A "pivotal figure in gospel in the 1960s and 70s," he was an accomplished songwriter, guitarist and singer. He was the patriarch and member of singing group The Staple Singers
, which included his son Pervis and daughters Mavis
, Yvonne, and Cleotha.
, the youngest of 14 children. When growing up he heard, and began to play with, local blues guitarists such as Charlie Patton
, who lived on the nearby Dockery Plantation
, Robert Johnson, and Son House
. He dropped out of school after the eighth grade, and sang with a gospel group before marrying and moving to Chicago in 1935.
There he sang with the Trumpet Jubilees while working in the stockyards, in construction work, and later in a steel mill. In 1948 Roebuck and his wife Oceola Staples formed The Staple Singers to sing as a gospel group in local churches, with their children. The Staples Singers first recorded in the early 1950s for United
and then the larger Vee-Jay Records
, with songs including "This May Be the Last Time" (later covered by The Rolling Stones
) and "Uncloudy Day".
In the 1960s the Staples Singers moved to Riverside Records
and later Stax Records
, and began recording protest, inspirational and contemporary music, reflecting the civil rights and anti-war movements of the time. They gained a large new audience with the 1972 US # 1 hit "I'll Take You There
", followed by "Respect Yourself", "If You're Ready (Come Go With Me)", and other hits. Pops Staples also recorded a blues album, Jammed Together, with fellow guitarists Albert King
and Steve Cropper
.
After Mavis left for a solo career in the 1980s, Pops Staples began a solo career, appearing at international "blues" festivals (though steadfastly refusing to sing the blues), and tried his hand at acting. His 1992 album Peace to the Neighborhood won a Grammy
nomination, and in 1995 he won a Best Contemporary Blues Album Grammy
for Father, Father.
In 1986, Roebuck played the role of Mr. Tucker, a voodoo witch doctor, in the Talking Heads
film True Stories
, during which he performed "Papa Legba". He appears as himself in the 1997 Barry Levinson
film Wag the Dog
, singing "Good Old Shoe" with Willie Nelson
.
In 1998 he received a National Heritage Fellowship
from the National Endowment for the Arts
, and in 1999 the Staple Singers were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
.
He died after suffering a concussion in a fall at his home, just a few days short of his 86th birthday. After his death, his daughters Yvonne and Mavis gave one of his guitars to country and gospel musician Marty Stuart.
(1967), Ry Cooder
, Sandy Bull
, and Bonnie Raitt
have expressed their respect for Staples.
Mississippi
Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...
-born Gospel
Gospel music
Gospel music is music that is written to express either personal, spiritual or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music....
and R&B
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
musician.
A "pivotal figure in gospel in the 1960s and 70s," he was an accomplished songwriter, guitarist and singer. He was the patriarch and member of singing group The Staple Singers
The Staple Singers
The Staple Singers were an American gospel, soul, and R&B singing group. Roebuck "Pops" Staples , the patriarch of the family, formed the group with his children Cleotha , Pervis , Yvonne , and Mavis...
, which included his son Pervis and daughters Mavis
Mavis Staples
Mavis Staples is an American rhythm and blues and gospel singer, actress and civil rights activist who recorded with The Staple Singers, her family's band.-Biography:...
, Yvonne, and Cleotha.
Biography
Roebuck Staples was born on a cotton plantation near Winona, MississippiWinona, Mississippi
Winona is a city in Montgomery County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 5,482 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Montgomery County....
, the youngest of 14 children. When growing up he heard, and began to play with, local blues guitarists such as Charlie Patton
Charlie Patton
Charlie Patton , better known as Charley Patton, was an American Delta blues musician. He is considered by many to be the "Father of the Delta Blues", and is credited with creating an enduring body of American music and personally inspiring just about every Delta blues man...
, who lived on the nearby Dockery Plantation
Dockery Plantation
Dockery Plantation was a cotton plantation and sawmill on the Sunflower River between Ruleville and Cleveland, Mississippi. It is widely regarded as the place where Delta blues music was born. Blues musicians residents at Dockery included Charlie Patton, Robert Johnson and Howlin' Wolf...
, Robert Johnson, and Son House
Son House
Eddie James "Son" House, Jr. was an American blues singer and guitarist. House pioneered an innovative style featuring strong, repetitive rhythms, often played with the aid of slide guitar, and his singing often incorporated elements of southern gospel and spiritual music...
. He dropped out of school after the eighth grade, and sang with a gospel group before marrying and moving to Chicago in 1935.
There he sang with the Trumpet Jubilees while working in the stockyards, in construction work, and later in a steel mill. In 1948 Roebuck and his wife Oceola Staples formed The Staple Singers to sing as a gospel group in local churches, with their children. The Staples Singers first recorded in the early 1950s for United
United Records
For "United Records", see United Records United Records was in business from July 1951 to December 1957. It was operated by Chicago businessman Leonard Allen, initially in collaboration with Lew Simpkins...
and then the larger Vee-Jay Records
Vee-Jay Records
Vee-Jay Records is a record label founded in the 1950s, specializing in blues, jazz, rhythm and blues and rock and roll. It was owned and operated by African Americans.-History:...
, with songs including "This May Be the Last Time" (later covered by The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in London in April 1962 by Brian Jones , Ian Stewart , Mick Jagger , and Keith Richards . Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early line-up...
) and "Uncloudy Day".
In the 1960s the Staples Singers moved to Riverside Records
Riverside Records
Riverside Records was a United States record label specializing in jazz. Founded by Orrin Keepnews and Bill Grauer under his firm Bill Grauer Productions, Inc. in 1953, the label was a major presence in the jazz record industry for a decade...
and later Stax Records
Stax Records
Stax Records is an American record label, originally based in Memphis, Tennessee.Founded in 1957 as Satellite Records, the name Stax Records was adopted in 1961. The label was a major factor in the creation of the Southern soul and Memphis soul music styles, also releasing gospel, funk, jazz, and...
, and began recording protest, inspirational and contemporary music, reflecting the civil rights and anti-war movements of the time. They gained a large new audience with the 1972 US # 1 hit "I'll Take You There
I'll Take You There
"I'll Take You There" is a number-one single written and produced by Al Bell and performed by soul/gospel family band The Staple Singers, released on Stax Records in February 1972...
", followed by "Respect Yourself", "If You're Ready (Come Go With Me)", and other hits. Pops Staples also recorded a blues album, Jammed Together, with fellow guitarists Albert King
Albert King
Albert King was an American blues guitarist and singer, and a major influence in the world of blues guitar playing.-Career:...
and Steve Cropper
Steve Cropper
Steve Cropper , also known as Steve "The Colonel" Cropper, is an American guitarist, songwriter and record producer. He is best known as the guitarist of the Stax Records house band, Booker T...
.
After Mavis left for a solo career in the 1980s, Pops Staples began a solo career, appearing at international "blues" festivals (though steadfastly refusing to sing the blues), and tried his hand at acting. His 1992 album Peace to the Neighborhood won a Grammy
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
nomination, and in 1995 he won a Best Contemporary Blues Album Grammy
Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Blues Album
The Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Blues Album was awarded from 1988 to 2011. From 2001 to 2003 the award recipients included the producers and engineers as well as the artists...
for Father, Father.
In 1986, Roebuck played the role of Mr. Tucker, a voodoo witch doctor, in the Talking Heads
Talking Heads
Talking Heads were an American New Wave and avant-garde band formed in 1975 in New York City and active until 1991. The band comprised David Byrne, Chris Frantz, Tina Weymouth and Jerry Harrison...
film True Stories
True Stories (film)
True Stories is an American film that spans the genres of musical, art, and comedy, directed by and starring David Byrne of the band Talking Heads. It co-stars John Goodman, Swoosie Kurtz, and Spalding Gray. Byrne has described the film as, "A project with songs based on true stories from tabloid...
, during which he performed "Papa Legba". He appears as himself in the 1997 Barry Levinson
Barry Levinson
Barry Levinson is an American screenwriter, film director, actor, and producer of film and television. His films include Good Morning, Vietnam, Sleepers and Rain Man.-Early life:...
film Wag the Dog
Wag the Dog
Wag the Dog is a 1997 black comedy film starring Dustin Hoffman and Robert De Niro, co-starring Anne Heche, Denis Leary and William H. Macy about a Washington spin doctor who, merely days before a presidential election, distracts the electorate from a sex scandal by hiring a Hollywood film producer...
, singing "Good Old Shoe" with Willie Nelson
Willie Nelson
Willie Hugh Nelson is an American country music singer-songwriter, as well as an author, poet, actor, and activist. The critical success of the album Shotgun Willie , combined with the critical and commercial success of Red Headed Stranger and Stardust , made Nelson one of the most recognized...
.
In 1998 he received a National Heritage Fellowship
National Heritage Fellowship
The National Heritage Fellowship is a lifetime honor presented to master folk and traditional artists by the National Endowment for the Arts. Similar to Japan's Living National Treasure award, the Fellowship is the United States' highest honor in the folk and traditional arts...
from the National Endowment for the Arts
National Endowment for the Arts
The National Endowment for the Arts is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created by an act of the U.S. Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government. Its current...
, and in 1999 the Staple Singers were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is a museum located on the shore of Lake Erie in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It is dedicated to archiving the history of some of the best-known and most influential artists, producers, engineers and others who have, in some major way,...
.
He died after suffering a concussion in a fall at his home, just a few days short of his 86th birthday. After his death, his daughters Yvonne and Mavis gave one of his guitars to country and gospel musician Marty Stuart.
Influence
Musicians as diverse as Cannonball Adderley, with his live album Why Am I Treated So Bad!Why Am I Treated So Bad!
Why Am I Treated So Bad! is a live album by the Cannonball Adderley Quintet, recorded at the Capitol studios in Los Angeles in 1967.The song "I'm on My Way", was written by his nephew Nat Adderley, Jr., who at the time was an 11-year-old living in Teaneck, New Jersey.- Track listing :#...
(1967), Ry Cooder
Ry Cooder
Ryland Peter "Ry" Cooder is an American guitarist, singer and composer. He is known for his slide guitar work, his interest in roots music from the United States, and, more recently, his collaborations with traditional musicians from many countries.His solo work has been eclectic, encompassing...
, Sandy Bull
Sandy Bull
Alexander "Sandy" Bull was an American folk musician who was active from the late 1950s until his death.Born in New York City, he was the only child of Harry A. Bull, an editor in chief of...
, and Bonnie Raitt
Bonnie Raitt
Bonnie Lynn Raitt is an American blues singer-songwriter and a renowned slide guitar player. During the 1970s, Raitt released a series of acclaimed roots-influenced albums which incorporated elements of blues, rock, folk and country, but she is perhaps best known for her more commercially...
have expressed their respect for Staples.
Discography
- 1969 – Jammed Together
- 1992 – Peace to the Neighborhood
- 1994 – Father Father