Vivian Carter and James Bracken formed Vee-Jay Records in 1953 to produce the “good music” that listeners of Vivian’s radio broadcasts and customers of her record store in Gary, Indiana, wanted to hear. By “good music,” her audience—largely southern-born African American migrants to the Chicago region—didn’t mean classical or pop. They hungered for electric blues, […]
Tag: Staple Singers
Posted inMusic
Big Daddy Kinsey was the Muddy Waters of Gary, Indiana
Blues patriarch Big Daddy Kinsey had three sons who played together as the Kinsey Report.
Posted inMusic
Summoning the ghosts of Record Row
For two decades, a short stretch of Michigan Avenue hosted a concentration of creative entrepreneurship whose influence on Black popular music is still felt today.
Posted inMusic
Mavis Staples sanctified Friday night at Pitchfork
Even when Mavis Staples wasn’t singing gospel at Pitchfork, her powerful spiritual voice could bring together generations.
Posted inMusic
You can do better than an iTunes gift card
Perhaps the music lovers in your life would enjoy 23 CDs of the Isley Brothers, two decades of the Staple Singers, or a half century of rural southern sounds from County Records.
Posted inArts & Culture
A new Staple Singers biography doesn’t quite take you there
In I’ll Take You There, Tribune critic Greg Kot tracks the Staple Singers’ march toward freedom.
Posted inFilm
Artist on Artist: Neko Case talks to Mavis Staples
Neko Case talks to Mavis Staples in advance of their appearances at Hideout Block Party & A.V. Fest