Stars Assemble for Mavis Staples Tribute Album With a Difference

The likes of Edwyn Collins, Cerys Matthews, Sarah Cracknell and Candi Staton are among those to contribute songs to 'Mavis', a new tribute album devoted to 70-year-old soul singer Mavis Staples.

The album has a twist though: The idea is that 12 different vocalists record songs based on the same Staples track. Producers Ashley Beedle and Darren Morris recorded an instrumental based on 'A House Is Not a Home' (a song made famous by Dionne Warwick, but also recorded by Staples and written by Burt Bacharach) and sent it to the 12 vocalists to add their own interpretations.

Another singer on board with the project is Lambchop frontman Kurt Wagner, a long time fan of Staples, particularly when she performed with her family as the Staple Singers.

"They would bring the house down," Wagner said. "Whenever the Staple Singers took over it was just incredible. She had such a presence and such a way of carrying a song it was amazing."

Originally, only Wagner's track ('Gangs Of Rome') was going to be released on 7" before Beedle and Morris decided to turn the idea into a full project. Others to contribute include Ed Harcourt, Danielle Moore and John Turrell. Edwyn Collins' effort, meanwhile, is his first recorded song since suffering a cerebral hemorrhage in 2005.