I'll Take You There

October 21, 2013
Chicago Tribune music critic Kot lets popular music icon Mavis Staples, lead singer of the Staples Singers, have her say in this rousing, chatty bio of 60 years of performing. Written with the cooperation of Mavis and family, this down home tale begins with Mavis’s ambitious father, Pop Staples, breaking away from a hardscrabble life in the Mississippi Delta, gathering his young family around him to start an upward climb through the Southern gospel circuit of the ’50s and ’60s, featuring Mavis, the skinny little girl with the grown-up voice. Along the way to stardom and sales of more than 30 million records, Mavis and her musical brood, based on Chicago’s South Side, crosses paths with such legends as Mahalia Jackson, Sam Cooke, Lou Rawls, and Aretha Franklin, while making their indelible mark with inspiring songs about the civil rights struggle. Teasing the reader with Mavis’s abbreviated romance with Bob Dylan, her teaming with the reclusive Prince, and her recent association with Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy, Kot’s effort remains clear and respectful and takes us deep into the golden age of Mavis and her marvelously talented group.

Starred review from November 15, 2013
Never forgetting their down-home southern roots even as musical styles changed, the Staple Singers for decades maintained an integrity that strongly appealed to fans and musicians. Music journalist Kot chronicles the amazing story of a family that went from a hardscrabble life in Mississippi to Chicago's church circuit to worldwide fame, merging the genres of roots, gospel, and soul. Pops' distinctive guitar playing and Mavis' big voice became their signatures. They rode the chitlin' circuit in a Cadillac, with Pops carrying a gun in his attach' case along with their earnings. Kot details their friendships with scores of artists, including Mahalia Jackson, Aretha Franklin, Curtis Mayfield, Bob Dylan (who proposed to Mavis), Johnny Cash, Ray Charles, Bonnie Raitt, and Prince. Drawing on interviews with Mavis and other musicians, Kot details the creative process behind the hits Heavy Makes You Happy, Respect Yourself, and I'll Take You There. With an exuberance that matches the Staples' sound, Kot portrays their ups and downs through gospel, the message music of the civil rights era, R & B pop music, the disastrous move to disco, and, finally, trying to find themselves again. Meanwhile, Mavis' career as a solo artist culminated in a 2011 Grammy for best Americana album. This is a moving tribute to a very talented family and one gracious woman, in particular.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)