Mavis Staples, with her sisters and father Roebuck (Pops) Staples, was a gospel singer and musical voice of the civil-rights movement. She later turned to blues and R&B, but with 2007's We'll Never Turn Back and last year's Live: Hope at the Hideout, the dusky-toned contralto is back singing freedom songs. And while she may have been snubbed by not being asked to sing at U.S. President Barack Obama's inauguration, she's still having a ball.
It was odd seeing all those Detroit singers at the inauguration concert, and yet no Mavis Staples and no Etta James, both Chicago gals.
Everyone asked me about that. Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin and Beyoncé all sang, but they weren't in the civil-rights movement. Bettye LaVette definitely wasn't - she was a pretty tough girl back then. At first it hurt me, not being invited. But later I heard that Obama's people didn't even know about Etta James. So I thought if they're that young, and they don't know about Etta, maybe they missed out on the Staples Singers. In the end, I was happy for Obama. I got over it.
You once said Obama reminded you of singer Sam Cooke, is that right?
Yes. Obama walks like Sam. His features are like Sam's. If he breaks out and starts singing, I'd be too thrilled, because Sam is back through Obama! But Obama, he's kind of clumsy - he can't bowl, he can't golf. So I don't feel like he can sing. But he's got that swagger, just like Sam. And, like Sam, he's easy on the eyes.
Your father once described the Staples Singers' music as danceable message music. You're still doing that, aren't you?
I'm having a great time. What I'm singing now, what I've always sung, is home for me. I will always be a gospel singer and a message singer. The beat really started with I'll Take You There, which started people dancing to our music. That was in the seventies, and it's worked since then. I don't see any need for me to change it.
Mavis Staples, with opening act James Hunter, plays Massey Hall on Saturday at 8 p.m. $49.50 to $69.50, 178 Victoria St., 416-872-4255.
Brad Wheeler