About You Are Not Alone by Mavis Staples:
Soul Gospel Legend at the Top of Her Game: Staples Declared Best Artist at 2010's Lollapalooza Festival
Hallelujah: You Are Not Alone Might Be the Best New Album You Hear in 2010
Stellar Set Produced by Wilco's Jeff Tweedy and Features Songs by Allen Toussaint, John Fogerty, Tweedy, Randy Newman, and More
The best album you hear in 2010? You Are Not Alone will be at the top of the list. This is music that's timeless, soulful, and pertinent, performed with an energy and commitment that burns with the same level of conviction as Mavis Staples' belief in a higher power. Here's a record that will change your life and elevate your mood. Just as its two main architects intended.
When Wilco leader Jeff Tweedy and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Mavis Staples sat down to talk about what they wanted her new album to sound like, they both turned to the original spiritual roots of the Staples Singers as a backbone. Both wanted to make a record about connection, about reaching out to someone through the power of music. What they achieved is the album of Staples' career, a warm, powerful, spiritual, and fervent collection of brilliantly chosen and interpreted songs.
Produced by fellow Chicagoan Jeff Tweedy at Wilcos studio The Loft, the intimate and textured production--glorious on LP--mixes traditional gospel numbers with two new songs written for Mavis by Tweedy, plus her unique interpretations of songs by Pops Staples, Randy Newman, Allen Toussaint, John Fogerty, Rev. Gary Davis and Little Milton. Backed by Mavis smoking touring band (Rick Holmstrom, guitar, vocals; Jeff Turmes, bass, vocals; Stephen Hodges, drums; Donny Gerrard, background vocals) and featuring guest turns from Tweedy and Wilcos Patrick Sansone, with background vocals by Kelly Hogan and Nora OConnor, the album cradles Mavis exquisite voice, allowing her to stretch out emotionally on tracks like Randy Newmans Losing You and the Creedence Clearwater Revival chesnut Wrote a Song For Everyone.
The two songs Jeff wrote for Mavis meld seamlessly into the vibe and theme of the album: He would listen to my conversations, my words, and then feed off that. The songs he wrote take me places I wouldnt normally go, says Mavis.
Already one of the best‐received releases of 2010, Mavis message of joy and redemption has found the setting it has always deserved. Truly, a must-own album that will last you a lifetime. 
|
