Return To The “Freedom Highway”: Staple Singers Classic Is Reissued and Expanded

For almost 50 years, between 1948 and 1994, The Staple Singers stood at the crossroads of gospel and soul, preaching messages of peace and positivity through music. In April 1965, The Staples – “Pops,” Mavis, Yvonne and Pervis – were joined by drummer Al Duncan and bassist Phil Upchurch at Chicago’s New Nazareth Church to record the album that became Freedom Highway. The LP, originally released on Epic Records, recognized that year’s historic civil rights marches from Montgomery to Selma, Alabama. Now, some fifty years later, Legacy Recordings has remixed, remastered and expanded this landmark recording as Freedom Highway Complete – Recorded Live at Chicago’s New Nazareth Church. On Tuesday, March 3, the reissue will be available as a single CD, a 2-LP set or a digital download.

The recording of Freedom Highway followed a tumultuous, important month in American civil rights history. Three landmark marches were held in March 1965 along the 54 miles connecting Selma, Alabama with the state capital of Montgomery. The March 7 march became known as “Bloody Sunday” when 600 marchers were violently confronted by state and local police forces. The March 9 event, led by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., likewise reached a standoff between police and protesters. The climactic March 21 protest found the marchers protected by a staggering 2,000 U.S. Army troops, 1,900 Alabama National Guard members, and other law enforcement personnel. In the years since, the marchers’ route has been proclaimed the “Selma to Montgomery Voting Rights Trail” and deemed a U.S. National Historic Trail. The acclaimed, new motion picture Selma, which opens nationwide tomorrow, January 9, dramatizes these dramatic events which led to the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Preacher, guitarist and singer Roebuck “Pops” Staples, along with his children Pervis, Cleotha, Yvonne and Mavis, was inspired by Dr. King and the actions of the protesters. On April 9, 1965, his group took the opportunity afforded by its status on the Epic Records roster to record a service inspired by the actions of the marchers. The set preserved on Freedom Highway features familiar civil rights anthems (“We Shall Overcome”), traditional gospel melodies (“When the Saint Go Marching In”) and religious pleas (“Precious Lord, Take My Hand,” “Help Me, Jesus”) along with the Staples’ newly-written “Freedom Highway.” Pops plays his six-string guitar throughout the service – the same sound that made the passionate preacher an unlikely soul music star. The original album was produced by country music superstar producer Billy Sherrill, who signed the Staples to Epic.

After the jump: we have more details including the full track listing and pre-order links!

Release Round-Up: Week of August 20

Fleetwood Mac, Then Play On: Deluxe Edition / Fleetwood Mac: 1969-1972 (Warner Bros./Rhino)

The pre Buckingham-Nicks era of the Mac gets some love on CD and vinyl: their last Peter Green-led album from 1969 is expanded with bonus tracks, and it’s also included in a remastered vinyl box set with follow-ups Kiln House (1970), Future Games (1971) and Bare Trees (1972) (plus the 1969 single “Oh Well” on 45).

Then Play On: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.
1969-1972: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.

Jimi Hendrix, The Jimi Hendrix Experience (Experience Hendrix/Legacy)

The famous “purple box” from 2000 – the first box set released in the official Experience Hendrix catalogue – is reissued with four extra tracks, including live material and rare non-LP B-side “The Stars That Play with Laughing Sam’s Dice.” (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

Richard Pryor, The Studio Albums 1974-1983 (Warner Bros./Rhino)

A rather interesting discovery: Rhino has given the complete-albums-in-an-affordable-box treatment to Richard Pryor (whose Warner Bros. catalogue was rather generously sampled on Shout! Factory’s recent box set No Pryor Restraint). So this is essentially Rhino’s …And It’s Deep Too! box in a smaller package and without the bonus disc. Given the price of that long out-of-print box, the loss of the bonus disc is acceptable compared to the wealth of material herein. (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

John Coltrane, Afro Blue Impressions (Pablo/Concord)

Recorded in Europe in 1963 and released in 1977, this double-disc offering of live ‘Trane is newly remastered and expanded with new liner notes and three unreleased bonus tracks. (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

The Staple Singers, This Time Around (Stax/Ace)

Previously unreleased on CD, this 1981 compilation features outtakes from 1970-1972 sweetened with overdubs from Herb Jimmerson, one half of Fantasy recording duo Paradise Express. (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

The Monkees, Headquarters: Deluxe Edition (Friday Music)

Rhino’s 2007 double-disc deluxe edition, featuring the 1967 album in stereo and mono mixes and a host of bonus tracks, is licensed and reissued by Friday Music. (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

The Lumineers, The Lumineers: Deluxe Edition (Duatone)

The “Ho Hey” folk rockers expand their album with unreleased tracks and a DVD. (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

Sarah McLachlan, Nas, Santana, Britney Spears, Bill WIthers, Tammy Wynette, The Essential (Legacy)

The latest entries in Legacy’s two-disc compilation series. (That feeling you’re experiencing is horror that Britney Spears has had enough time on the market to rack up enough material for The Essential series!)

Come Out of Your Shell: “Lost” Staple Singers Album Reissued by Ace

The legacy of Chicago’s own Staple Singers was solidified when the quartet moved to Stax Records and became the label’s biggest act at the time, courtesy of some of the best funk of the early 1970s. A new reissue from Ace extends that legacy, with the release of 1981 outtakes compilation This Time Around, available on CD for the first time.

After gospel-tinged stints on Vee-Jay, Epic and other labels throughout the ’60s, the Staple Singers – Roebuck “Pops” Staples and his children Cleotha, Pervis, Yvonne (who replaced Pervis in 1971) and Mavis – signed to the legendary Stax label in 1968, releasing a pair of LPs with Booker T & The MG’s ably backing up the group. But it was 1971’s The Staple Swingers that turned the Staples’ fortunes, in which they found themselves under the guidance of longtime Stax producers Al Bell and engineer Terry Manning and decamping to the famed Muscle Shoals. At Muscle Shoals they pursued a tighter funk direction, ultimately striking gold with their second collaboration with Bell and Manning. Be Altitude-Respect Yourself, released in 1972, yielded two smash hits in “Respect Yourself” (No. 12 pop, No. 2 R&B) and “I’ll Take You There,” a No. 1 single on both pop and R&B charts.

By 1981, the Staples had moved from the bankrupt Stax to Curtom and then Warner Bros. Records, attaining only moderate interest when they appeared in The Band’s The Last Waltz. (They covered “The Weight” on their first Stax LP, and joined the group both in concert and later in studio to re-record the song. The latter version was used in the final film.) But a small trove of half-finished rarities from sessions between 1970 and 1972 lay in wait for fans to discover. Ultimately, it was decided that instrumentalist Herb Jimmerson, one-half of the Fantasy Records disco act Paradise Express, would complete the tracks. (By this point, Fantasy distributed the Stax catalogue, both old and new; the Stax name would primarily be reissue-based from this point forward. As for Paradise Express? A cover of Paul Jabara’s “Dance” was a chart hit, while “Star in My Life” was buoyed by background vocals courtesy of Two Tons O’ Fun, later known as The Weather Girls.)

Jimmerson’s arrangements, recorded nearly a decade after the fact, were modern but not terribly distracting, and This Time Around remains an intriguing curio in the legacy of The Staple Singers, which still looms large to this day. With its first release on CD courtesy of Ace Records, fans can finally rediscover this lost period in the group’s history.

This Time Around is available today, August 20, and can be ordered after the jump.

Release Round-Up: Week of May 10

Aerosmith, Tough Love: Best of the Ballads (Geffen/UMe)

Geffen augments the craziness of American Idol host/Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler (who has a solo single out today) by putting out a compilation of the band’s Geffen-era ballads hits (“Love in an Elevator” isn’t a ballad in any configuration). Apparently it’s only available at Target, so if you visit a local indie store you should be fine. (Official site)

Booker T. & The MG’s, McLemore Avenue / The Staple Singers, Be Altitude: Respect Yourself / Johnnie Taylor, Taylored in Silk (Stax/Concord)

The first three entries in the new “Stax Remasters” series, each augmented with rare or unreleased bonus tracks. (Official Stax site: Booker, Staples, Taylor)

Prince, Dirty Mind / Controversy / 1999 (Vinyl) (Warner Bros.)

New vinyl issues of Prince’s albums from 1980 to 1982. CD remasters? Keep hopin’. (Rhino: Dirty Mind, Controversy, 1999)

 

The Cars, Door to Door (Friday Music)

A new CD remaster of the band’s 1987 album, which would have been their last had today not also have been the day that their new album, Move Like This, is released. (Friday Music)

Frankie Miller, Frankie Miller…That’s Who! The Complete Chrysalis Recordings 1973-1980 (EMI)

The Glaswegan rocker’s first seven albums across four discs, with some bonuses added in, including the unreleased original mix of 1974’s High Life. (Amazon)

Various Artists, Playlist: The Very Best Of (Legacy)

Another load of Playlist titles from The Psychedelic Furs, Muddy Waters, Matthew Sweet, Teena Marie, Dave Brubeck, Dionne Warwick and more. A full breakdown of each set is here and here. (Amazon)

Weekend News Round-Up: Doobies, Peter Gabriel, Stax and Kansas

It was such a busy week that reporting has spilled over into the weekend! Enjoy these tidbits from around the rest of the catalogue music world.

• Eagle Rock is releasing a vintage live CD/DVD by The Doobie Brothers, from their 1982 farewell tour. Live at the Greek 1982 sees a lineup that included sole original member Patrick Simmons on guitar, longtime co-drummer Keith Knudsen (who shared the kit with Chet McCracken, a member since 1980’s One Step Closer), guitarist/violinist John McFee, percussionist Bobby LaKind, sax/keyboard player Cornelius Bumpus, legendary session bassist Willie Weeks and the one and only Michael McDonald leading the band. Founding vocalist Tom Johnston sings guest lead on the penultimate song in the set, the always-great “China Grove,” and finale “Listen to the Music” features a few more classic Doobies, including original drummer John Hartman, bassist Tiran Porter and drummer Michael Hossack. Sixteen tracks feature on the DVD; the CD omits one track (McDonald’s soon-to-be-hit “I Keep Forgettin'”) but adds four more bonus cuts. The set’s out on June 28 and you can get the full breakdown from the always-great MusicTAP.
• Yesterday, in two sentences, Peter Gabriel’s website likely got fans to break out their copies of So – released 25 years ago yesterday – and speculate on when the promised “celebratory release” would hit shelves and what might be on it. (We’ve speculated too, naturally.)
• A little while ago we’d posted that there was a new series of Stax remasters coming from Concord Music Group, who owns the venerable label’s catalogue. Those albums are coming out on Tuesday, and there’s two things to note: one, that full track lists are after the jump on this post, and two, that our friends at Popdose are holding a contest through Tuesday to win these three reissues! What’s not to like about that?
• I always feel remiss about not giving more attention to Rock Candy Records, a U.K. label specializing in pretty well-done reissues and expansions of hard rock titles. Their latest releases, set for May 25, are remastered editions of Kansas’ final albums for Kirshner/Epic, Vinyl Confessions (1982) and Drastic Measures (1983). These albums saw the band in transition; guitarist/keyboardist Kerry Livgren and bassist Dave Hope had both become born-again Christians, and vocalist Steve Walsh had left the group, replaced by Jon Elefante. The albums – the first of which spawned a Top 20 hit in “Play the Game Tonight” – were remastered with the rest of the band’s Sony-controlled back catalogue by Legacy Recordings in 1996, but those have since fallen out of print, making these sets worth it if you’re a fan who missed these the last time around. Amazon U.K. links are after the jump as well.