The Staple Singer’s “Respect Yourself” gets a lyric video decades later as a new box set is being prepared for release this month. The group consisting of father Pops Staples and daughters Cleotha, Yvonne and Mavis were gospel and soul stars of the ’60s and ’70s. “Respect Yourself” was their signature commercial hit that happened during their time on Stax Records. Luther Ingram and Mack Rice wrote the song in 1971 after the Civil Rights Movement with the idea that Black people needed to embrace self-empowerment. The video has images of the movement with ones of the current Black Lives Matters protests. The visual is coming out right before the release of a seven-CD box set celebrating The Staple Singers and their time on Stax Records. Come Go With Me: The Stax Collection spans 1968-1974 and comes out November 13th. The collection was released earlier this year digitally and on vinyl. All six of their Stax albums have been remastered and the seventh CD is live recordings, non-album singles and the 1972 Wattstax music festival. There is a booklet of archival photos and liner notes from curator Levon Williams and writer Dr. Langston Wilkins. The box set is available for pre-order now and the digital and vinyl formats are in stock. 

[youtube id=”ng7CTno4EL8″] Mavis Staples started singing with her family as a little girl in church under the tutelage of her father, Roebuck “Pops” Staples. Mr. Staples assembled his wife Cleotha, daughters Mavis and Yvonne and his son Pervis into The Staple Singers in 1948. The Chicago singing group is where Mavis learned to be a professional by singing for Martin Luther King, Jr. and having their first hits in the ’50’s with “Uncloudy Day” and “Will The Circle Be Unbroken.” In the late ’60’s they signed to Stax Records and made a full movement from gospel to soul. “I’ll Take You There” featured Mavis as the lead vocalist, was written and produced by Al Bell, who was the co-owner of Stax Records, was recorded at the famed Muscle Shoals studios and had horns and strings arranged and recorded by Johnny Allen in Detroit. The song became one of their signature tunes and put Mavis and The Staple Singers into the American pop canon. Mavis started making solo records in the late ’60’s with the single “Crying In The Chapel.” She recorded an album for Curtis Mayfield’s Curtom label in the ’70’s and was the solo voice of “Melody Cool” for Prince’s Grafitti Bridge soundtrack. He  also produced two albums for her on his Paisley Park label in the ’90’s. In 2011, she won a Grammy award for Best Americana Album for her You Are Not Alone album. Staples released her 14th studio album, Livin’ On A High Note in February of 2016 and the HBO documentary, Mavis! will air Monday night at 9PMEST.

[youtube id=”YXR65pJvQf8″] [youtube id=”0cZyA8991V0″] Mavis Staples was Stephen Colbert’s musical guest last night and she sang “Take Me Back” from her new album Livin’ On A High Note. In the interview portion, she talks about her family, The Staple Singers singing before Dr. King’s speeches and how their gospel music became soul.  And she ends the interview with an acapella performance.