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All month long we are celebrating our contributions to music…Today we shine the spotlight on The Staples Singers..

BIO: The Staple Singers were an American gospelsoul, and R&B singing group. Roebuck “Pops” Staples (1914–2000), the patriarch of the family, formed the group with his children Cleotha (1934–2013), Pervis (b. 1935), Yvonne (b. 1936), and Mavis(b. 1939). They are best known for their 1970s hits “Respect Yourself“, “I’ll Take You There“, “If You’re Ready (Come Go with Me)“, and “Let’s Do It Again“.

The family began appearing in Chicago-area churches in 1948, and signed their first professional contract in 1952. During their early career they recorded in an acoustic gospel-folk style with various labels: United RecordsVee-Jay Records(their “Uncloudy Day” and “Will The Circle Be Unbroken” were best sellers), Checker RecordsRiverside Records, and then Epic Records in 1965. While the family surname is “Staples”, the group used the singular form for its name, resulting in the group’s name being “The Staple Singers”.

It was on Epic that the Staple Singers began moving into mainstream pop markets, with “Why (Am I Treated So Bad)” and “For What It’s Worth” (Stephen Stills) in 1967. In 1968, the Staple Singers signed to Stax Records and released two albums with Steve Cropper and Booker T & the MG’s — Soul Folk in Action and We’ll Get Over. By 1970, Al Bell had become producer, and with Engineer Terry Manning, the family began recording at the famed Muscle Shoals Sound Studio, and Memphis’ Ardent Studios, moving in a more funk and soul direction.

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information courtesy of Wikipedia.com

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