In 1999, Roebuck “Pops” Staples recorded a final session, capping an illustrious career as leader and patriarch of the Staple Singers. Unfinished at the time of his passing in 2000, the tapes went to his daughter, Mavis, who then waited for the right opportunity to finish the recording in the spirit Pops intended.
When she began her series of remarkable collaborations with Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy, starting with 2010’s You Are Not Alone and continuing with 2013’s One True Vine, Mavis knew she had found the person to work on her father’s record.
Don't Lose This will be realeased by Wilco's dBpm Records and ANTI- RECORDS and features updated production by Mavis Staples and Jeff Tweedy.
DON’T LOSE THIS
NOW AVAILABLE EVERYWHERE
It was meant to be our last work, but my sisters and I decided to let Pops sing, to let him have this one. ... One day, Pops told me, ‘Mavis, bring that record up here, I want to hear it.’ I brought it up to the bedroom and he listened. When it was over, Pops told me, ‘Mavis, don’t lose this here.’ I said, ‘OK, Pops, I won’t lose it.’ And he just smiled. It was a moment I’ll never forget. He had this glow after listening to it; he loved it. So I kept it.
I always said I was going to get it out there because Pops told me not to lose it. When he said, ‘Don’t lose this,’ that meant: ‘Let it be heard.’
- MAVIS STAPLES
LISTEN TO THE TRACKS "SOMEBODY WAS WATCHING" AND "FRIENDSHIP"
