Mavis Staples - We'll Never Turn Back

We’ll Never Turn Back is the seventh studio album by American R&B, gospel and soul singer Mavis Staples, originally released in April 2007 via ANTI- Records.

Mavis Staples is an American rhythm and blues, soul and gospel singer, actress, and civil rights activist. She has recorded and performed with her family's band The Staple Singers, and also as a solo artist.

Staples was born in Chicago in 1939 and began her career with The Staple Singers in 1950. Initially singing locally at churches and appearing on a weekly radio show, The Staples scored a hit in 1956 with "Uncloudy Day". When Mavis graduated from high school in 1957, The Staple Singers took their music on the road. Led by family patriarch Roebuck "Pops" Staples on guitar and including the voices of Mavis and her siblings Cleotha, Yvonne, and Purvis, The Staples were called "God's Greatest Hitmakers."

With Mavis' voice and Pops' songs, singing, and guitar playing, the Staples evolved from enormously popular gospel singers to become the most spectacular and influential spirituality-based group in America. By the mid-1960s The Staple Singers, inspired by Pops' close friendship with Martin Luther King, Jr., became the spiritual and musical voices of the civil rights movement. The Staples sang "message" songs like "Long Walk To D.C." and "When Will We Be Paid?", bringing their moving and articulate music to a huge number of young people. They also covered contemporary pop hits with positive messages, including Bob Dylan's "A Hard Rain's a-Gonna Fall" and a version of Stephen Stills' "For What It's Worth".

We’ll Never Turn Back was recorded between 2006 and 2007 and produced by roots rock and blues musician Ry Cooder. It is a concept album with lyrical themes relating to the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s.

Upon its release, We'll Never Turn Back received positive reviews from most music critics. It was also named one of the best albums of 2007 by several music writers and publications.

“When we started our family group, The Staple Singers, we started out mostly singing in churches in the south. Pops saw Dr. Martin Luther King speak in 1963 and from there we started to broaden our musical vision beyond just gospel songs. Pops told us, "I like this man. I like his message. and if he can preach it, we can sing it" So we started to write "Freedom Songs," like "Why Am I Treated So Bad," "When Will We Be Paid For The Work We've Done," "Long Walk To DC," and many others. Like many in the civil rights movement, we drew on the spirituality and the strength from the church to help gain social justice and try to achieve equal rights. We became a major voice for the civil rights movement and hopefully helped to make a difference in this country. It was a difficult and dangerous time (in 1965 we spent a night in jail in West Memphis, Arkansas and I wondered if we'd ever make it out alive) but we felt we needed to stand up and be heard. So for us, and for many in the civil rights movement, we looked to the church for inner strength and to help make positive changes. And that seems to be missing today. Here it is, 2007, and there are still so many problems and social injustices in the world. Well, I tell you we need a change now more than ever, and I'm turning to the church again for strength. With this record, I hope to get across the same feeling, the same spirit and the same message as we did with the Staple Singers and to hopefully continue to make positive changes. We've got to keep pushing to make the world a better place. Things are better but we're not where we need to be and we'll never turn back. 99 and 1/2 just won't do!”– Mavis

This album is a 15^th Anniversary limited edition on aqua blue coloured vinyl housed in a gatefold sleeve, pressed in the US via Anti- Records.