Nobody's Fault But Mine

Pops Staples performing "Nobody's Fault But Mine" in 1989.

Gotta Serve Somebody

Pops Staples performing the Dylan tune "Gotta Serve Somebody".

Billy Sherrill (1936-2015)

A post to mark the passing last week of songwriter and record producer Billy Sherrill. Among other credits, he co-wrote "Stand By Your Man" with Tammy Wynette. He also produced "He Stopped Loving Her Today" for George Jones, and The Staple Singers album "Freedom Highway".

Great Day

The Staple Singers performing "Great Day".

Glory Glory Hallelujah

Pops Staples performing "Glory Glory Hallelujah".

Tribute To Pops Staples

A tribute video for Pops Staples.

Friendship

"Friendship"—from Pops Staples' new album Don't Lose This. Produced by Mavis Staples and Jeff Tweedy from recordings made shortly before he died. Obviously there are not going to be any live performances, so we just have to make do with the audio.

Will the Circle Be Unbroken

From almost exactly 20 years ago, Johnny and June Carter Cash perform "Will the Circle Be Unbroken" with Pops Staples.

Unexpected Covers - Slippery People

This week I am going to post some unexpected covers, where one artist covers something that I would never expect them to do.

Here is the Staple Singers' cover of "Slippery People" and the Talking Head's original version. Despite the differences in these two groups, the arrangements are surprisingly similar.

Sit Down Servant

The Staple Singers performing "Sit Down Servant".  Looks like 40 or 50 years ago.  I love to hear Mavis clap.

The Weight

To follow up yesterday's post on the passing of Levon Helm, here are two versions of a classic, "The Weight". 

With Pops and Mavis Staples helping out, from the film The Last Waltz.

A much more recent version of the song recorded at the Ryman Auditorium with John Hiatt

Pops Staples

Pops Staples died in 2000, but he is still one of my favorite guitar players, and he was a great singer too. Here are a couple of his performances.

"Ain't Nobody's Fault But Mine"



"Grandma's Hands"

Bob Dylan Covers

Today posts are all covers of Bob Dylan songs.

First, Pops Staples doing "You Gotta Serve Somebody".

Susan Tedeschi doing "Don't Think Twice".

I had a tough time deciding whose version of "All Along the Watchtower" to include, either Dave Matthews Band or JImi Hendrix. But I have decided to go with Jimi.