Apollo Theater: To Be Converted into Staples

Well, at least it will be for a few nights in May. Legendary gospel and soul singer Mavis Staples will be at the historic Apollo Theater in Harlem on May 14th and 15th to perform alongside guitarist Ry Cooder. He's no Pops Staples but he will have to do. Ry produced her latest album entitled We'll Never Turn Back which came out yesterday, April 24th. I've never been to The Apollo but I'm seriously thinking about going to this show. I may have sinned once or twice, it probably wouldn't be a bad idea to attend.

In honor of the upcoming shows, check out this attached concert link. It just works on so many levels. The venue is the Apollo. You have Mavis Staples, Little Richard, Al Green, and Patti Labelle (who makes the others look like backup singers - watch it and you'll know what I mean) being introduced like its an episode of 'The Price is Right'. You have Billy Preston playing keyboards. The New Jersey Mass Choir appears from out of nowhere. And the subtitles are in Japanese. Also, you get a sweet earful of gospel and soul music that could wake the dead or bring sinners (ahem, such as myself) to their knees. YouTube was invented to discover clips like this.

I also added the video of Mavis and the rest of The Staples Singers performing 'The Weight' from The Last Waltz. After all, how could I resist posting another version of our namesake. I had the pleasure of witnessing Mavis recreate her unbelievable performance of 'The Weight' during the 2005 Jammy awards when she performed alongside Huey Lewis, Umphrey's McGee, and Jeff Coffin (Bela Fleck). I would have preferred Lil Richard, Rev Al, and Patti, but what are you gonna do?