Africa '80 (Live)

The Staple Singers

Released on 5/10/24 by Omnivore Recordings
Main artists: The Staple Singers
Genre: Soul

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Africa '80 polishes and recirculates a high-powered Staple Singers set originally issued in the U.S. on Nashboro under the title Swingline (1983). It's also been known as simply Staple Singers and as Reach Out and Touch...Live!, and other Staples releases have contained some of its material. In terms of presentation and sound, it's a considerable upgrade from the 2004 CD version Reach Out and Touch, though it still sounds as if the Staples are being heard from another room, or a distant obstructed corner, maybe also separated by a curtain. (As noted in the accompanying essay here, then-Staples manager John Abbey thinks that it's a soundboard recording.) The Staples were touring the mother continent with sponsorship from the State Department, and were operating at top level. The set list is composed almost entirely of Stax-era classics -- plus "Will the Circle Be Unbroken," cut earlier for Vee-Jay, and Curtis Mayfield's "Let's Do It Again," recorded for the like-titled film -- with nothing drawn from the group's then-recent Warner releases. For those unfamiliar with the preceding iterations of this set, the only surprise will be "Ease On Down the Road," written by Charlie Smalls for The Wiz, interpreted with a jubilant group chorus and Pops delivering the motivational verses. Due to the less-than-optimal sound quality, this is for Staples fanatics only. Omnivore Recordings deserves commendation for greatly improving upon a neglected chapter of the Staples' story.

© Andy Kellman /TiVo

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Africa '80 (Live)

The Staple Singers

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Introduction (Live)