Trailblazing blues label Alligator Records is releasing a deluxe 20th Anniversary 2-LP vinyl version of soul and gospel legend Mavis Staples' landmark 2004 release, Have a Little Faith, on Record Store Day, April 20th.
Have a Little Faith is the album that sparked Mavis Stapes' solo career and launched her into the musical mainstream.
An inspirational force in modern popular culture and music, Mavis Staples faced an uncertain future when her father – family patriarch and leader of the Staple Singers, Pops Staples – died.
She self-financed and recorded her own solo album, and after being turned down by major labels unable to see the commercial appeal of this legend's fresh, genre-busting approach to spiritual music, it was picked up by Alligator Records. The label's enthusiasm in working the album to press, radio and the public helped Mavis Staples fulfil her dream of a successful solo career.
"I was a Staple Singer," she remembers in the album's new liner notes. "I wasn't no Mavis Staples, the solo artist. But all of a sudden, I was so busy with interviews and television shows and radio stations and concerts. That was a shock to me, because I started asking myself, 'Now how long can this last?' Because they were playing that record everywhere, and the record sounded pretty good!"
Since the release of Have a Little Faith, Mavis Staples has been embraced by new generations of fans through her collaborations with artists including Ry Cooder, Levon Helm, Jeff Tweedy, and Neko Case. Her 85th Birthday Concert in Los Angeles on April 18 will endorse this with appearances by a cast including Taj Mahal, Jackson Browne, Norah Jones, Michael McDonald, and Keb' Mo'.