Mavis Staples: 'We're Not All the Way Where Dr. King Wanted to Take Us'

Mavis Staples began her singing career in 1950 as a God-fearing gospel belter alongside her sisters in a family band. But as America began confronting its racial demons in the following decade, the Staple Singers joined the uprising.

Roebuck "Pops" Staples, a close friend of Martin Luther King, Jr and the band's songwriter and guitarist, steered his daughters beyond the spiritual to address more pressing earthly concerns. Message songs like 'Long Walk to DC,' 'When Will We Be Paid' and 'Respect Yourself' were Civil Rights anthems and the eventual Rock and Roll Hall of Famers topped the charts with their celebratory classic 'I'll Take You There.'

In the decades since, Mavis Staples has continued to spread her activist message through song while fans like Prince and, most recently, Wilco's Jeff Tweedy have helped reintroduce the legend to new audiences. Last year's album, 'You Are Not Alone,' produced by Tweedy for hip record label Anti-, won Staples her first Grammy (not counting the Staple Singers' 2005 Lifetime Achievement Award) and she'll soon be returning to Tweedy's studio.

On the eve of her tour, launching Jan. 15 with a Martin Luther King, Jr. tribute concert, Staples spoke to Spinner about her pivotal role in the Civil Rights movement, her thoughts on hip-hop materialism and her wish that Justin Bieber and Katy Perry would sing inspirational songs that could change the world.

Do you feel like your music in the 1960s helped make change happen?

Oh yes, I'm sure it did. I feel very good about the music we were singing in the '60s. I feel that we made a difference. Congressman John Lewis, who was Dr. King's right-hand man, wrote my liner notes for the album 'We'll Never Turn Back.' I went and talked with him in Washington, and he let me know: "Miss Staples, your family, your music was the soundtrack of the Civil Rights Movement. You kept us going, kept us motivated, and inspired us to keep on marching."

We had people come up to my father on the street and say "Pops, I'm so glad you and your daughters made that song 'Respect Yourself' because I realized I wasn't doing that. I wasn't respecting myself." That's why we sing these songs, to give you a reason to do positive things.

How does it feel, as an activist from the Civil Rights era, to win your first Grammy award in the Americana category?

That felt great. That just blew my mind. I was just as much honored to get that as the Grammy. "Americana." That sounds significant, to be an American, to be put in that category. I'm just blessed.

Do you think your activism back in the day might have played a role in you not being awarded earlier?

Oh, yeah. Yes, indeed. They used to ... I won't go into that. But there's a lot of politics in it.

Did you expect the world to change as much as it has?

You can't stop the world from changing. Everything must change. It has really zoomed. With all this WiFi, computer and iPads. It's just a brand new day. Even the music. When I first heard kids singing gospel music, I didn't know what I was seeing on some of the videos. One little guy was singing gospel but he had Salt 'N' Pepa in his video. They were scantily clad. I called my father and asked, "Pops, don't you think they're making a mockery of our Lord?" And he told me, "Everything has to change. They don't get it the way you got it."

I'm grateful that I came at a time that I did. I feel that I have so much more than what's happening today with the youngsters, you know? I had a grandmother who taught me. These kids today, their grandmas are 30 and 35 years old. I had an old-fashioned grandmother and I got the old-time religion. But I think they've gotten a grip. I used to not be able to stand the radio for a while there, but everything is much better. I'm going with the change. I've got an iPhone the other day. I don't know what I'm going to do with it. I used to say the same thing about the computer, but I'm doing pretty well with that.

Well, you can take a lot of photographs of your grandkids with your phone.

Right! Right.

Why do you think a lot of rap and R&B today is not politically conscious compared to the black music that came out in the '60s and '70s?

Like we said, time has moved on. When I first heard rap, I heard some that were really rapping about what's happening in the world today. I think it's good when they do that. I don't listen to a lot of rap music. I like Jay-Z and Kanye and I like Eminem. For the most part, I don't hear a lot of it.

Jay-Z and Kanye's 'Watch the Throne' is a great album, but for the most part, they're just rapping about how rich they are, despite the economic crisis hitting the black community so hard.

Yeah, yeah. And that's kind of out of the box as far as I'm concerned, for any of them to brag and rap about how rich they are. It's the way different people think. It's too bad, instead of stirring their lyrics to a more positive place. It's sad to go that route.

It seems like the black community hasn't gotten very involved in movements like Occupy Wall Street. We grew up when Public Enemy was so political and promoting change. Nowadays, you just hear people promoting going out dancing.

Oh yes, indeed. Oh yes, indeed. That's what it's all about. That's all you hear. And I wish some of them, like this little girl Katy Perry and all those stars, Pink and Adele and Mary J. Blige, if they would just sing a song, a positive song for the world. You'd be amazed at how far it would go and how much it would help. They're out there. You can hear them. You can't hear me as much as you hear those kids. Usher? Bieber? If they would just come out and sing a song that was positive and inspirational, you'd be surprised at how they could change the world.

Bieber might. He's quite religious, actually.

Is he? I didn't know that. It would be good for him to sing a song about the world, about what's happening in the world today. That's what the Staples Singers have always been about. If we saw something on the news that wasn't right, we tried to sing a song to fix it. If Justin Bieber would just sing a song -- [sings] "We got to get ourselves together. Take some time and let's talk about..." -- for the world, because he's hot as a firecracker!

Can you still do that with these new records?

Of course, of course. I'm still doing it. All of my songs have a positive meaning. I'm still at it. I sing freedom songs on my show. They're still relevant because we're not all the way there where Dr. King wanted to take us.

Watch Mavis Staples at Bonnarroo 2011

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