Image by: Joshua Mellin | Umair Mohsin

Mavis Staples on Getting Back on Top at 71

From: Blank on Blank
Series: Blank on Blank
Length: 06:09

Soul and gospel legend Mavis Staples has been singing since the 1960s. Now as her career enters its sixth decade, she has just won her first Grammy for her collaboration with Jeff Tweedy of the band Wilco. Mavis opens up about the return to the top at age 71: "It’s not a comeback. I just wasn’t getting the attention. I just chalk it up to 'Mavis: you’ve been living right. You’ve been doing everything right.' And the lord is just blessing me." Read the full description.

Piece Audio

Playing: Mavis Staples on Getting Back on Top at 71
From: Blank on Blank

Mavisstaples590w400h_small

Interviewer: James Sullivan

The Scene: On the phone, October 2010

The Source: Scrubbed rough digital recording

Also in the Blank on Blank series

Wilt Chamberlain on Tall Tales (04:50)
From: Blank on Blank

"Can you imagine going through America at that time, a man of color, a little boy, 14 years old, that height? You know, I was looked upon as a freak." - Wilt Chamberlain. ...

Beastie Boys on Being Stupid (05:56)
From: Blank on Blank

"There’s a way we talk and it includes profanity. We never figured we’d be arrested for it." - Mike "Mike D" Diamond. Back in May 1985, the Beastie Boys were fresh on the ...

Jim Morrison on Why Fat is Beautiful (04:39)
From: Blank on Blank

"What's wrong with being fat? That's what I want to know. Why is it so onerous to be fat?" - Jim Morrison Interview by Howard Smith | TheSmithTapes.com | Los Angeles, 1969

Larry King on Getting Seduced (04:48)
From: Blank on Blank

"I’m playing these records. The phone rings and I pick it up: 'WAHR'. And this lady’s voice--I can still hear her voice--she goes: 'I want you.'" Larry King tells the story ...

Sam Pickering on How to Teach and Not Dead Poets Society (07:01)
From: Blank on Blank

"I looked in the mirror the other day and I said: My God, what happened to that handsome young man? Who is this grizzled b-a-s-t-a-r-d staring at me?" Interview by John ...

Art Blakey on How to Build a Band (05:46)
From: Blank on Blank

"You’re in your birthday suit up there. People can see clean through you. And your music, your actions and the vibes you bring forth to the audience come out. You cannot hide ...

David Sedaris on Breast Milk and Book Tours (07:42)
From: Blank on Blank

"People would come and defecate on the floor of the dressing room. So I just thought that was his Gap, but I came to find out that it happens in all stores across America." - ...

Brian Selznick on Einstein, God, and Reaching His Potential (06:36)
From: Blank on Blank

"So I bought the postcard, memorized it and sent it off to a friend. And I never thought about God again after that." - Brian Selznick Brian Selznick is the author and ...

Rodney King on Forgiveness and Being a Negro (06:48)
From: Blank on Blank

"I have been challenged to fight for saying 'can't we all get along.' I’ve had people say I want to kick your ass for saying that." - Rodney King Interview by Bobbi Booker ...

Amber Heard on Not Sitting Pretty and Shutting Up (06:46)
From: Blank on Blank

"It’s easier to deal with a woman who is compliant and sweet and sunny and nice and non-confrontational." Interview by Jason Feifer // NYC hotel in 2011 // digital recorder ...

Piece Description

Interviewer: James Sullivan

The Scene: On the phone, October 2010

The Source: Scrubbed rough digital recording

Transcript

David Gerlach: This is Blank on Blank. I’m David Gerlach and thank you for joining us as we partner with journalists and interviewers, writers and authors to build this archive of American interviews. Today we get proof it’s never too late to find yourself back on top. Blank on Blank contributor James Sullivan interviewed the one and only Mavis Staples. Now she’s been singing gospel and soul since the 1960s. Remember the Staples Singers?

Song: The Staples Singers “I’ll Take You There”

David Gerlach. Well five decades later at age 71 her career is reborn. Capped off with Mavis winning a Grammy for her collaboration with the country-rock music maestro Jeff Tweedy of the band Wilco. James Sullivan takes us inside his interview

James Sullivan: One of the things that I was working on at the time was the idea that there are so many senior artists in pop and rock music these days that have s...
Read the full transcript

Musical Works

Title	Artist	Album	Label	Length
I'll Take You There	The Staples Singers	The Best Of The Staple Singers.	Fantasy	00:00
You Are Not Alone	Mavis Staples	You Are Not Alone.	Anti	00:00
Freedom Highway	The Staples Singers	Freedom Highway.	Sbme Special Mkts.	00:00