Mavis Staples

Click here to read the full article. When Mavis Staples thinks about her late friend Levon Helm, memories of her family flood into her mind. Decades ago, when Helm and Mavis’ sister Yvonne were regularly talking on the phone about a possible joint tour of Black colleges, Mavis would feel left out. “I’d butt in and say, ‘Give me that phone — I want to speak to him!’” the 82-year-old singer recalls. When Helm would see the Staple Singers on the road, he’d greet Mavis’ father Pops Staples with the familiarity of a childhood friend. “Levon is the only person that...

Recorded live at Levon Helm Studios on June 3, 2011, Carry Me Home comes across as both passionate and poignant for a variety of reasons. For one thing, it represents a union of two old friends whose relationship dates back to the filming of The Last Waltz, when the Staple Singers shared the stage as part of The Band’s final hurrah. For another, it was the final time Helm and Staples performed together prior to Helm’s passing less than a year later.

When music is created between longtime friends, magic happens. That magic is palpable on the new release of an old recording from Mavis Staples and Levon Helm. In 2011 at Helm's studios in Woodstock, NY, this recording took place over the course of one night during the Midnight Rambles sessions Helm created.

The new album Carry Me Home, featuring an archival live recording of late Band singer/drummer Levon Helm and gospel/soul legend Mavis Staples performing together with their respective solo groups, was released Friday, May 20, on CD and digital formats. The album was recorded in the summer of 2011 at one...

NEW YORK (AP) — In the summer of 2011, two American iconic musicians met and jammed up a storm. Very few people heard what they created — until now. The 12-track live album “Carry Me Home” is the long-awaited record of what happened when Grammy-winning soul and gospel star Mavis Staples visited her good friend Levon Helm, the Grammy-winning drummer and singer of The Band.