Photo courtesy of Craft Recordings
December 27, 1975 - The Staple Singers top the charts with "Let's Do It Again"
Bridging the lines between soul, R&B and gospel, the family act known as The Staple Singers were one of the most iconic groups of the 1960s and 70s, with a string of hits that are still revered today, and perhaps the biggest of them hit the top of the charts on this day in 1975.
Roebuck "Pops" Staples (d. 2000), formed The Staple Singers in Chicago with his children Cleotha (d. 2013), Pervis and Mavis. Daughter Yvonne (d. 2018) replaced Pervis early on, and helped form the most famous version of the group.
December 27, 1975 - The Staple Singers top the charts with "Let's Do It Again"
Bridging the lines between soul, R&B and gospel, the family act known as The Staple Singers were one of the most iconic groups of the 1960s and 70s, with a string of hits that are still revered today, and perhaps the biggest of them hit the top of the charts on this day in 1975.
Roebuck "Pops" Staples (d. 2000), formed The Staple Singers in Chicago with his children Cleotha (d. 2013), Pervis and Mavis. Daughter Yvonne (d. 2018) replaced Pervis early on, and helped form the most famous version of the group.
After appearing in local churches for several years, the family began recording and releasing music in the 1950s for several labels, followed by major releases on Epic Records in the mid-60s that had diverse musical elements of soul, gospel and even folk music, with lyrics that touched on the issues of the day. Their music addressed the struggles of the civil rights movement and the Vietnam War, ahead of many of their peers.
It was their late 60s signing by the hot Stax Records label that brought the quartet their largest acclaim. The teaming of the group with the Muscle Shoals backing musicians and Stax producers led to the first major crossover hit, the top 5 1971 smash “Respect Yourself.” They repeated the success the next year with “I’ll Take You There.”
After Stax filed for bankruptcy in the mid-70s, The Staple Singers signed with Curtis Mayfield’s Curtom Records for what would become their signature song. The 1975 Mayfield-produced “Let’s Do It Again,” from the Bill Cosby/Sidney Portier movie of the same name, shot to #1 on both the R&B and Pop charts, and cemented for The Staple Singers a firm place in music chart history as one of the most successful gospel crossover acts ever.
Today we pay tribute to this iconic song by an equally iconic group.