Mavis Staples Discusses Her Musical Career

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR: Was there ever a time that you doubted the course your life has taken?

MAVIS STAPLES, GOSPEL AND R&B SINGER: Well, no, not really. I’ve had a few stumbles, you know, but I always kept the faith that everything would be all right. So, I’ve been just fine.

AMANPOUR: And tell me how it all began for you, before you became famous and being — you know, singing with your family. Where was the first Mavis Staples performance for instance?

STAPLES: The first performance was at my uncle’s church in Chicago. Actually, my father started us singing because he was disgusted with the group that he was singing with. Well, he was singing with all male group, the “Trumpet Jubilees.” And these guys, there were six of them. They wouldn’t come to rehearsal. Pops would go to rehearsal. There might be three. The next time he go to rehearsal, it might be three. So, he was so disgusted. He came home one night and he went in the closet, pulled this little guitar out of the closet and called us children into the living room, set us on the floor in a circle and began giving us voices to sing, then he and his sisters and brothers would sing when they were in Mississippi.

AMANPOUR: Wow.

STAPLES: And — yes, yes. One night, my Aunt Katy (ph) lived with us and she came through and we were on the floor rehearsing and she said, “Shucks. You all sound pretty good. I believe I want you to sing at the church on Sunday.” And, oh, we were so happy we were going to sing someplace other than our living room floor.

AMANPOUR: It just sound so nice. What about your — the family? Who are — let’s meet the Staples, for instance. Who were the family kids around you?

STAPLES: The family was my father, Pops Staples, my sister, Cleotha Staples, my sister, Yvonne, and my brother, Pervis, and of course, me. That was the “Staples Singers.” Pops taught us the song — the very first song he taught us was “Will the Circle be Unbroken.” We sang that at my uncle’s church that Sunday and the people wouldn’t let us sit down. We didn’t know what encore meant. They kept clapping and somebody told us, “They want to hear you again.” So, we ended up singing that song three times because it was the only song that Pops had taught us all the way through. You know, so, Pops says, “Shucks. We’re going home and learn some more songs. These people like us.” And that was the beginning of the “Staples Singers.”