The Staple Singers

Pops Staples died due to a concussion from a fall in 2000. A few more hits followed, but dried up by the early 1970s, and the group broke up in 1974, reunited in 1988 for some concerts and a single album, About Time (1989). In 1994, they recorded a duet with Mary Stuart ("The Weight", The Band), somewhat re-establishing an audience. Their second album, Undead, included the hit single "I'm Going Home", which was followed by Stonedhenge, a British hit, and a breakthrough American appearance at Woodstock. After this, however, they were not able to regain their momentum, releasing occasional minor hits. Ten Years After is a British blues rock band formed in 1967 by Leo Lyons, Ric Lee, Chick Churchill and Alvin Lee. The Stape Singers then signed to Curtom, Curtis Mayfield's label, and released "Let's Do It Again", produced by Mayfield; the song was a huge hit.

The song's theme of self-empowerment had universal appeal, released in the period immediately following the intense American civil rights movement of the 1960s. Their 1972 recording on Stax of "Respect Yourself," written by Luther Ingram and Mack Rice, was number 2 on the R&B charts and a Top 40 pop hit as well. The first Stax hit was "Heavy Makes You Happy (Sha-Na-Boom Boom)". By 1970, Al Bell had become producer, and the family began recording at the fame Muscle Shoals studio, moving in a more funk and soul direction.

In 1968, the Staple Singers signed to Stax and released two albums with Steve Cropper and Booker T & the MG's - Soul Folk in Action and We'll Get Over. It was on Epic that the Staple Singers began moving into mainstream pop markets, with "Why (Am I Treated So Bad)" and "For What It's Worth" (Stephen Stills) in 1967. Pops Staples, the patriarch of the family, formed the group in 1951, signing with United Records, then Vee-Jay, Riverside and, finally, Epic Records. The Staple Singers were a United States gospel music group.