“I’ll Take You There”

THE STAPLE SINGERS

Mavis Staples took the pop charts to church with this uplifting hit. Her group, led by her father, Roebuck “Pops” Staples, and featuring her sisters, Yvonne and Cleotha, came from the righteous world of gospel to record the song at the temple of Southern soul, Muscle Shoals Sound Studio. They were brought there by Stax Records chief Al Bell, who wrote the piece after the murder of his younger brother, using its healing words to seek solace from his pain. Spurred by Mavis’ resounding lead vocal, the single went all the way to No. 1. The singer told Uncut magazine, “The only thing that was rehearsed was the verse. All of the other stuff just came to me in the studio. It all comes from what you feel.”