FILTER ALBUMS
Barnstorming
Mavis met Levon over at his place. Sylvie Simmons feels the love on newly released live recording.
Homeward bound:
Mavis Staples and Levon Helm on joyful form in 2011.
Greg McKean (2)
Mavis Staples & Levon Helm
★★★★
Carry Me Home
ANTI-. CD/DL/LP
THE FIRST time Mavis and Levon sang together was in 1976 in San Francisco – Mavis was with The Staple Singers, Leon was in The Band and the concert was The Last Waltz. The last time they sang together was in 2011 at a low-key show in a barn in Woodstock. On both occasions they sang The Weight –a song Mavis knew well, having covered it with The Staple Singers in ’68 and in her solo shows. It’s interesting to play those two performances side by side. The big, powerful Last Waltz version still has that communal singalong quality, in spite of the show being based around the break-up of the band. The main difference on this version is the courage and poignancy of Levon’s worn, husky voice as he trades verses with Mavis – the result of years fighting back from cancer of the throat and vocal-cords. The Weight is the last song on this album and the only one where his vocals are as prominent. You can picture him sitting behind his drums, “the best seat in the house” as he always called it, playing along, saving his voice for a blaze of glory at the end.