Roebuck ``Pops'' Staples was patriarch of the gospel and rhythm-and-blues group the Staple Singers
CHICAGO, USA - 20 December 2000 - Roebuck ``Pops'' Staples, patriarch of the gospel and rhythm-and-blues group the Staple Singers that had hits such as ``Respect Yourself'' and ``I'll Take You There,'' died Tuesday. He was 85. Staples had suffered a concussion recently in a fall near his home in suburban Dolton.
He and his group gained fame in the 1960s by singing music that urged social and religious change. He was known for both his song writing and his guitar playing, in which he fused gospel with the blues.
Born to a poor Winona, Miss., family on Dec. 28, 1914, Staples dropped out of school after the eighth grade to pick cotton. Staples sang with a gospel group, the Golden Trumpets, before moving with his wife, Oceola, to Chicago in 1936, where he performed with the Trumpet Jubilees. Staples said his earliest exposure to music came in the church. It wasn't until he was in his teens that he heard the blues. He listed Bessie Smith, Ma Rainey and Blind Lemon Jefferson among his favourites.
Staples formed the group bearing his name in 1948. Originally composed of son Pervis and daughters Mavis and Cleotha, the Staple Singers began as a gospel group that performed in Chicago churches, backed by his minimalist playing. Mavis, then 7 years old, sang bass in the group. Their first recordings came in the 1950s. It was during the 1960s that the Staple Singers switched to protest, inspirational and contemporary music, reflecting the civil rights and anti-war protests of the time.
``But we just kept on singing and praying, and we let our music carry the message,'' Staples said afterward. ``When people realised that our music still had the message of love, our audience grew - old people came back, and new people kept coming.''
The Staple Singers gained a huge audience with their No. 1 hit ``I'll Take You There'' in 1972 and followed with top 40 hits ``Respect Yourself,'' ``Heavy Makes You Happy'' and ``If You're Ready (Come Go With Me).'' In 1975 on Curtis Mayfield's Custom label, the Staple Singers released ``Let's Do It Again,'' the title track of the film starring Bill Cosby and Sidney Poitier.
While the Staple Singers enjoyed success in the 1980s, ``Pops'' Staples began a solo career and tried his hand at acting. His 1992 ``Peace to the Neighborhood'' garnered a Grammy nomination, and in 1994 he released ``Father, Father,'' winning a Grammy.
by Herbert G. McCann
Associated Press Writer
and from the "All Music Guide":
The patriarch of one of music's most successful families, Pop Staples worked with everyone from Robert Johnson to Curtis Mayfield. Roebuck Staples was born December 2, 1915 in Winona, Mississippi; a close friend of Charley Patton, he also played not only with Johnson but also such legends as Son House and Robert Jr. Lockwood, becoming a top-notch blues guitarist in the process.
Increasingly drawn to the church, he joined the gospel group the Golden Trumpets in 1937, and upon relocating to Chicago in 1941, he signed on with the Windy City's Trumpet Jubilees; by the following decade, Staples was regularly performing at services in the company of his daughters Mavis and Cleotha and son Pervis, and soon they began appearing professionally as the Staple Singers.
While originally a gospel group, the family achieved their first commercial success with a more contemporary soul sound honed during the late 1960s while signed to the Stax label; by the early 1970s, the Staples even moved into funk, scoring a major pop hit with "I'll Take You There." After signing with Mayfield's Curtom label, they also found success with "Let's Do It Again." Pop Staples did not pursue a solo career prior to releasing 1992's Peace to the Neighborhood, which returned him to his blues and gospel roots. Its follow-up, 1994's Father Father, earned a Grammy for Best Contemporary Blues Album.
Jason Ankeny,
All Music Guide
