The Gospel of Mavis

摘要

Mavis staples' wallsrndon't have to talk. The photos and mementos that line her tidy apartment on Chicago's South Shore are one long tribute to the varied careerrnof one of the world's mightiest gospel pop singers. Brittle branches in a flowerpot remind her of the time her grandmother flayed young Mavis' legs after she sang a pop song-the devil's music-at a school talent show. A painted portrait of the Staple Singers, along with gold records for their two biggest hits, "I'll Take You There" and "Let's Do It Again," recall her five decades in the family group whose silky gospel strains energized folk festivals, dance clubs and the pop charts.