Mavis Staples’ “Hope” Arrives Election Day

08/27/2008

The timing is not at all coincidental...

By Blurt Staff

Mavis Staples Live: Hope At The Hideout arrives Election Day, Nov. 4, on Anti-. And if you don't spot the significance of that timing, shame on you: Staples' long history of work with the Civil Rights Movement should be common knowledge at this stage (in 2007 she even won a Free Speech award created to honor artists that have incited discussion and worked against the status quo through their music and their actions).

In an even more timely move, with the DNC in full swing in Denver right now and the Republicans set to rock Minneapolis next week, Staples has just released the first track off Hope At the Hideout. Entitled "We Shall Not Be Moved," the song is described by the label as "a classic freedom song. While the song, which includes lines like ‘we're fighting for our children / we shall not be moved,' could be the theme song for either of the current political campaigns, Mavis puts it squarely into context during an instrumental break-down in the middle of the song. In the South in the 1960s, Mavis drawls, just trying to have a meal in a restaurant was in itself an act of civil disobedience, and when she and her fellow marchers would be forcibly ejected by the police, they sang ‘We Shall Not Be Moved.'"

"We Shall Not Be Moved" is available for streaming or download on the Anti label blog.

Incidentally, Anti- points out that Staples and Barack Obama attended the same church in Chicago, and Congressman John Lewis, who figured prominently in last night's moving tribute to Senator Ted Kennedy, wrote the liner notes to Staples' last record We'll Never Turn Back. Not bad connections to have.

Tracklisting:

1. For What It's Worth

2. Eyes on the Prize

3. Down in Mississippi

4. Wade in the Water

5. Waiting For My Child

6. This Little Light

7. Why Am I Treated So Bad

8. Freedom Highway

9. We Shall Not Be Moved

10. Circle Intro (encore)

11. Will The Circle Be Unbroken (encore)