▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀
████████▀ ▄███████████▀ ▄▄▄██████████▀▀▀ ▄▄███████████████████████████
██████▀ ▄██████████▀▀ ▄██████████▀▀▀ ▄▄████████████████████████▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀
█████▌ ▄██████████▀ ▄▄█████████▀ ▄▄███████████████████▀▀▀
████▌ ██████████▀ ▄█████████▀ ▄████████████████▀▀▀▀ ▄▄▄▄███████████
████ ██████████▌ █████████▀ ▄██████████████▀▀▀ ▄▄▄███████████████████
███▌ ██████████▌ ▓████████ ▄████████████▀▀ ▄▄█████████████████████████
███▌ ▐█████████▓ ▓████████ ███████████▀▀ ▄▄████████████▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀████
███ ▓█████████▌ ▐████████ ██████████▀ ▄▄█████████▀▀
███ ██████████ ▓███████ █████████▀ ▄███████▀▀ ▄▄▄██████████████▄▄▄▄
███░ ██████████ ███████ █████████ ▄██████▀ ▄▄████████████████████████
███▌ ██████████ ██████▌ ▐███████▀ ▄████▀ ▄█████████████████████████████
███▌ ▐█████████ ██████▌ ▓██████▀ ████▀ ▄████████████████████████████████
████ ▐█████████▌ ▓█████▌ ██████▌ ███▀ ▄██████████████████████████████████
████░ █████████▌ ▐██████ ██████ ███ ▄███████████████▓▀▀▀ ▀▀▀▓█
█████ █████████ ██████ ▐████▌ ▐██ ██████████▓▀▀▀
██████ █████████ ░▓████▌ ▐████▌ ██▌ ████████▀▀ ▄▄▄▄▄█████▄▄▄▄▄
███████ █████████ ░█████ ████ ▐█▌ ██████▀ ▄▄▄█████████████████████▓▓▄
████████ ▀████████ ▀█████ ███▌▐█ ▐████▀ ▄▓▓████████████████████████████
█████████▄ ████████▄ ▀████ ███ █ ███▌ ▄█████████▓▓▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▓▓█████████████
▓▓█████████▄ ▀████████▄ ▀▀██ ███ ███▌ ▄██████▀▀ ▀▀▀▀██████
░███████████▄ ▀▓████████▄▄ ▀▀█ ▀████▓ ▄████▀▀ ▄▄▄███████████▓▓▄▄▄▄ ▀██
▌ ░████████████▄▄ ▀▀██████████▄▄▄▄█▀█▓███▀ ▄▄▄▄███████████████████████▓▄▄▄
█ ▀██████████████▄▄ ▀▀▀▓▓███████▀████████████████████████████████████████▓▄
██▄ ▀▀▓██████████████▄▄▄ ▀▄▄▄█▓███▄▄▄▄▄▄▄ ▀▀▀▀▓▓██████████████████████
████░ ▀▓██████████████████████ ▄▓███▀█▀█▀██████▄▄▄ ▀▀██████████████████
██████▓▄ ▀▀▀▓███████████▓▀▀ ▄▓███▌█▌████ █▀▀███████▄▄▄ ▀▀▓█████████████
█████████▓▄▄ ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ ▄▄▓███▀█▌█▌█▌███▄ ▀█▄▀▀████████▄▄ ▀░██████████
▀▓███████████▓▄▄▄ ▄ ▀▀▐█ ████ ▓██▓▄ ▀█▄ ▀▀████████▄ ▀▓███████
▀▓████████████████████▀ ▄█████▄ ▐▌▐██ █▌ ▓▀▀▀ ▀█▄ ▀████████▄▄ ▀▓█████
▄ ▀▀▓██████████████▓▓▌ ███▀▀▀▀▀█ ██▀▀ ▄▄▄███▄▄▄ ▀█████████▄ ▀▓███
█▓▄ ▀▀▓███████▓▓▓▒▒ ███ ▐█ ▄▄▄▀██████ █▀█▀ █▄ ▀▓███████▓▄ ▀██
████▓▄▄ ▀▀▀▀▀░░░ ▄ ██▄ ▄▄█▀▀▀ ███▀ ██▌▐████▀ ▄███▓ ▓████████▄ ▓
████████▓▄▄▄ ▄ ████ ▄▄█▀█▄ ▀██▄▄█▄▀▀▀ ▄░ ▐██████ ▓█████████
██████████████▓▄▄▄▄▄▄ ▀███ ▄▄ ▀██▄█▀▄██▄ ▀▀▀ ▄▄▄███▓▌ ▓█████▓ ▓█████████
████████████████████▓▀ ▄▄████▄ ▀▄▀▀▀▄▄▀▀ █▄ ▀ ▐▓██████ ▐███████ ▓█████████
▀▀▓██████████████▓▀▀ ▄ ▀████████▄ █▐▀ ▄▄█████▄ ▀▓████▌ ▓██████▓ ▐██████████
▄ ▀▀▀▓███████▀ ▄▄████▄████▀▀███▄▄███▀▀▄▄█████ ▀▓██▌ ▐███████ ██████████▌
██▓▄▄▄ ▀ ▀▀███████▄▀▀ ▄█▄ ███▀▀▄███▀▀█▄▄▄█▄ ▀█▓ ▐███████▌ ▓██████████
█████████▓▄▄ ████ ▀███▀▀ ▄ ▀██▄▀▀███▀▄▄█████████▄ ▀ ▐███████▌ ▐██████████
████████████ ████▀█ ▀▀ ░▄███▄ ██▄▀██ ██▀█▄███████▀▌▄▄ ▀██████▓ ▐██████████
████████████ ▀███ ▄▄▄██████▓▀ ▀█▀ ▀██▀██████ ▀█▄█████▄ ▀███▌ ▐██████████
█████████████▄ ▓██████▓▀▀ ▄ ▄ ▀█▐███████▄ ▀▀██▀▄▄███▄ ██▌ ███████████
▀▀▀▓▓████████████▓▀▀▀▀ ▄▄▓█████░ ▀ ███▀▄████▀ ▀███████▌ ▓ ███████████
░▄▄▄▓██▀ █████▓▄ ▀▐████▀ ▄███▄▀██████ ░ ▓███████████
▄▀ ▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▓▓███████▀▀ ███████▀ ▀▓██ ███████ ████▀ ███████████▌
▐█▓▄ ███████████████████▓▀ ▄▄ ████▓█ ▓▄ ▓████████▓ ▀▀ ▄ ▓███████████
▀█▀ ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ ▄███ ████░ ▄███▄ ▀▓█████▓ ▄▄▄█▓ ▓███████████▌
▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄ ▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄ ▄▄██▀ █ ▓██▀ ▄█████▓▄ ▀▀▀ ▓████ ▓████████████ ▐
█░█ █▓█▄ ▄▄▄ █▓█ ▄▄ ███▀█ ░█ ░▀ ▄▓████████▓▀ ▄▄▄▓████▓ ▄▓████████████ █
█ █ █░█▀██ █ █▒█ █▒█ ▀▄ █ ░█ ▀▀▀ ██
█ █ █ █ █░█ █░█ █░█ █ ▓█ ░░█ ██████ ▄██▀███████▐████████████████▄▄▄ ▀██
█░█ █░█ █▓█ █▒█ █▒█ █░▄ █░░░█ █ █ █▀ █▀ █ █ █ █ ▀▀▄ ▀█ ▐█
▀█▓█ █▓█ ▀▀▀ █▓█ █▓█ █▓█ █░░░█ █ ░█ ▐▌ ▐▌ █ ░█ █ ░█ ██▄▄▄ ▐█ ░░█
▀█ █▀▀ ▄█ ███ ▀▀▀▀▀ █░░▒█ █ ░░█ █ ░█ █ ░░█ █ ░░█ █░░▒█ █░░▒█▌▐█
█▄ ▄▄███ ▄▄██▀▀▀▀ █░░▒█ █░░░█ █ ░░█ █░░▒█ █ ░░█ █░░▒█ █░░▒█▌
█ ▄▄▄▄▄█▄▓█ ███▄▄▄▄▄▄▄█▌ █░▒▒█ █░░▒█ █░░▒█ █░░▒█ █░░░█ █░▒▒█ █░▒▒█▌
█ ▌ █▓█ █▒█ █▒█ █▓█ █░█ █░▒▒█ █░░▒█ █░░▒█ █░▒▒█ █░▒▒█ █░▒▒█ █▒▒▓█▌
█▄▄▄ █░█ █░█ █░█ █░█ ▀▀ █▒▒▓█ █░▒▒█ █░▒▒█ █░▒▒█ █▒▒▓█ █▒▒▓█ █▒▓▓█▌
████ █ █ █ █▀█ █ █ █▀▀ ▄▄ █▒▒▓█ █░▒▒█ █░▒▒█ █▒▒▓█ █▒▓▓█ █▒▒▓█ █▓▓▓█▌
████ █ █ █░█ █░█ █░█ ███▌ █▒▓▓█ █▒▒▓█ █▒▒▓█ █▒▒▓█ █▓▓▓█ █▒▓▓█ █████▌▄▄
██▀▀ █░█ █▓█ █▒█ █▒█ █▓█ █▓▓▓█ █▒▒▓█ █▒▒▓█ █▒▓▓█ █▓▓██ █▓▓▓█ █████
▀█▓█ ██ █▓█ █▓█ █░█ █▓▓▓█ █▒▓▓█ █▒▓▓█ █▓▓▓▀ ▄█████ █▓▓▓██████▀▀
███▄ ▀█▄ ███▀▀▀▀▀█▄█ █▓▓▓█ █▓▓▓█ █▓▓▓█▄▄▄██▀ ██▀▀▀▀▀
▀▀▀▀▀ ▀▀ ▀▀▀ █████ █▓▓▓█ ███▀▀▀▀▀ ▀ DRIFT INTO THE VOID
▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄ █████▄▄████▀▀ ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀
██████▀▀
┌────────┐ ██▀▀
────┤ Info ├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
└────────┘
Artist | Mavis Staples
Title | If All I Was Was Black
Genre | Soul Format | Album
Source | CD Time | 34:36
Label | Anti Store | 2017
Catalog | 7557-2 Rip | 2017
Bitrate | 770 kbps Size | 203.26 MB
Freq | 44.1 kHz Encoder | FLAC 1.3.1
┌────────┐
────┤ Tracks ├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
└────────┘
01. Little Bit 3:51
02. If All I Was Was Black 3:55
03. Who Told You That 2:48
04. AinÆt No Doubt About It 3:18
05. Peaceful Dream 3:20
06. No Time For Crying 4:36
07. Build A Bridge 3:37
08. We Go High 3:26
09. Try Harder 3:51
10. All Over Again 1:54
┌────────┐
────┤ Notes ├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
└────────┘
Born in 1939 in Chicago, Mavis Staples achieved wide recognition as lead
singer for the Staple Singers. She first recorded solo for Stax subsidiary
Volt in 1969. Subsequent efforts included a Curtis Mayfield-produced
soundtrack on Curtom, a disappointing nod to disco for Warner in 1979, a
misguided stab at electropop with Holland-Dozier-Holland in 1984, and an
uneven album for Paisley Park. Staples has a rich contralto voice that has
neither the range of Aretha Franklin nor the power of Patti LaBelle. Her
otherworldly power comes instead from a masterful command of phrasing and a
deep-seated sensuality expressed through timbre manipulation
The year 2017 has been full of political unrest and growing racial division
in the United States, but for good or ill, Staples has seen days like these
before. As a teenager, she was a member of the Staple Singers, who in their
days as a gospel group were close friends and allies with Dr. Martin Luther
King, Jr. as the struggle for civil rights was at its peak. They also
experienced more than their share of violence and hostility as an
African-American family band touring in the Deep South in the late '50s and
early '60s. Mavis Staples was too strong to let hatred and
narrow-mindedness break her when she was a twenty-something, and at the age
of 78, she still isn't about to back down.
Released in 2017, "If All I Was Was Black" finds Staples once again
collaborating with Jeff Tweedy of Wilco, who produced the sessions and
wrote the bulk of the songs, and while the lyrics tend not to focus on the
specifics of the chaos that's marked the time it was made, it's definitely
an album intended to speak to troubled times. As a woman of deep spiritual
beliefs, Staples is the ideal vehicle for these songs, which often deal
with hatred, inequality, and indifference while making clear that love and
understanding have the capacity to heal America's wounded spirit.
Staples' vocal style here is informed by equal parts vintage gospel and
classic soul, and together they fill these messages with strength,
compassion, and a much-needed sense of hope. The lyrics sometimes reflect
Tweedy's usual tropes as a writer, but Staples gives them a musical and
emotional force that sets them apart. Her voice is in splendid shape for a
septuagenarian, still supple and able to navigate the twists of the
melodies while sailing confidently over the arrangements that fuse indie
rock with the feel of '70s soul.
And if this set of songs is a bit short on specific answers to our
problems, well, "We Shall Overcome" never explained how that would happen
either. What's most special about "If All I Was Was Black" is the way
Staples and her collaborators confront the challenges of a distraught world
while filling the listener with the belief that all is not lost, that we
can get past bad times and build a better future if we try. Quite simply,
this is an album America needs.
┌────────┐
────┤░░░░░░░░├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
└────────┘