Soundtrack4Life: The Best Albums of 2017 - #08 If All I Was Was Black - Mavis Staples (2017)

2017 was a busy year for Mavis Staples.  She has recorded with Arcade Fire, Gorrilaz, Benjamin Booker, toured on her own and recently with Bob Dylan. She has also taken the time to record a brand new release with Jeff Tweedy (offering up Production duties again as well as writing/co-writing the album). And next year there are plans afoot for her to record an album with Bob Dylan! At aged 78 there's no slowing this old girl down!

If All I Was Was Black is Staples' third collaboration with Tweedy. Their 2010 album You Are Not Alone took home a Grammy for Best Americana Album, and their second effort One True Vine earned a nomination of its own. If All I Was Was Black, however, marks the first time Tweedy has written an entire set of original songs for Staples - songs that take an unflinching look at the dire state of the  divided nation of America.

"Nothing has changed," Staples said in August, just days before white supremacists and neo-Nazis marched in Charlottesville, Va., where they murdered Heather Heyer. "We are still in it."

If All I Was Was Black finds Staples and Tweedy united in addressing the disconnect in the USA. "We’re not loving one another the way we should," said Staples. "Some people are saying they want to make the world great again, but we never lost our greatness. We just strayed into division." Said Tweedy, "I’ve always thought of art as a political statement in and of itself—that it was enough to be on the side of creation and not destruction. But there is something that feels complicit at this moment in time about not facing what is happening in this country head on."

A companion album to If All I Was Was Black I would say is American Fall - Anti-Flag. It was released a couple of weeks before the Mavis Staples album and whilst dealing with some similar themes Anti-Flag bring the boot and the venom whilst Mavis brings the love and the more positive outlook! I think with these two records you find the different ways of dealing with the dark days of living under the Presidency of Trump! The anger, aggression etc of Anti-Flag's American Fall gets people's blood boiling and they confront, possibly get violent and sadly the message of wanting change can get lost amid the carnage. On the other hand the gentle, soulful approach taken by Staples and Tweedy in the songs on If All I Was Was Black demonstrate the need for understanding, for finding unity, for building each other up rather than seeking to destroy one another. There's recognition that there are differences between black and white communities but that they can work together for change. The path to change presented by Staples/Tweedy to my mind at least seems to be the better option as it opens doors, builds bridges rather than kicking up a storm that is likely to close ears, shut doors and continue the disconnect.

Just incase you assume that this album and the issues it raises are just an American thing, well you would be wrong. Read the papers here in the UK and Europe, turn on the news and you will see and hear that this disconnect is thriving where we live also! As Staples sings in No Time For Crying, "We've got work to do!".

 If All I Was Was Black - Mavis Staples

Anti-

Produced by Jeff Tweedy

Released 17th November 2017

Tracklist and Songwriters

1. "Little Bit" Jeff Tweedy    
2. "If All I Was Was Black" Tweedy, Mavis Staples    
3. "Who Told You That"     Tweedy    
4. "Ain't No Doubt About It" (featuring Jeff Tweedy) Tweedy    
5. "Peaceful Dream" Tweedy    
6. "No Time for Crying" Tweedy, Staples    
7. "Build a Bridge" Tweedy    
8. "We Go High" Tweedy, Staples    
9. "Try Harder" Tweedy    
10. "All Over Again" Tweedy

Personnel
    Mavis Staples - vocals
    Jeff Tweedy - guitar, bass, percussion, vocals
    Spencer Tweedy - drums, percussion
    Rick Holmstrom - guitar
    Jeff Turnes - bass
    Stephen Hodges - drums, percussion
    Donny Gerrard - backing vocals
    Glen Kotsche - percussion
    Scott Ligon - clavinet, piano, organ, Wurly, guitar

Watch Mavis Staples Live Here.