Album of the Week: Mavis Staples, 'Livin' on a High Note'
by Mary Lucia
March 28, 2016
Mavis Staples is the real deal, no question about it.
Seventy years into her singing career, her voice is just as human and imperfectly perfect as you would ever want it to be. Her expressive growl swings into that baritone register that still takes me off guard every time she dips there.
Inspired by Pharell Williams's "Happy," Mavis told her hand-picked songwriters she wanted songs for Livin' On A High Note that would uplift people and make them smile, noting that she had been making people cry for so long, it was her time to make a record that was unabashedly joyous.
Normally, I don't think I would respond to messages of, "Hold your head up, tomorrow is a new day, it'll get better …," etc. In another singer's hands, I might see the material as corny or preachy, but in this case, the beauty lies in the simplicity and the understanding of just who is delivering these words of hope.
Produced by M. Ward — the master of uncluttered understatement himself — he wisely leaves space in the studio to allow Mavis's voice to travel around and shape the songs on Livin' on a High Note, which are filled to the brim with compassion and sass.
If you can judge an artist by the musical collaborators they surround themselves with, then Mavis Staples' Livin' On A High Note is proof positive of her influence and reach on a wickedly varied group of talented musicians. With contributing songwriting and playing from Benjamin Booker, Neko Case, Nick Cave, Justin Vernon and Valerie June, they all lend a spiritual and thoughtful thumbprint. On the Benjamin Booker penned "Take Us Back," Mavis sweetly recalls her early years as a teenager on the gospel circuit. Ben Harper's "Love and Trust" hits a groove that seems tailor-made for Mavis without a forced sense of modernity. Neko Case offers up a powerful addition with "History Now," asking, "What do we do with all of this history now?" Remembering Mavis sang, "I like the things about me that I once despised," she has never been afraid to address the issues of race or of self-examination.
Mavis Staples's adamant musical admirers include artists such as Bonnie Raitt, Prince, Jeff Tweedy and Bob Dylan. When you think of it, each one of those artists themselves have remained true to their carefully curated identities just as Mavis Staples has done for the entirety of her career.
As my favorite uncle would proclaim just before sinking the eight ball, "Schools out, kids!" This record is the fundamental school of Mavis Staples — and frankly, it's one of the few schools I would attend.