The Staple Singers - Freedom Highway (1965)

Originally released on Epic in 1965 as a live in-church session, "Freedom Highway" is an album by The Staple Singers (Epic LN24163/ BN26163). The title song referred to the murder of Emmett Till at Tallahatchie River. The lyrics begin “March up freedom's highway / March, each and every day.” and continue “Made up my mind / And I won't turn around."

It’s impossible to discuss the Staple Singers’ 1965 live album Freedom Highway without considering what was going down in America that year. On March 7, more than 600 marchers set out to make the 50-mile walk from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, and were attacked by Alabama state troopers and armed posses. Two days later, they tried again, but turned back when Governor George Wallace denied them state protection. Two long weeks later, they tried a third time, with federal protection from the US Army and the National Guard. It took them three days, but they finally reached the state capitol.

Just a few weeks later and several hundred miles north, one of the hottest groups on the gospel circuit debuted a new song during a service at the New Nazareth Church on Chicago’s South Side. Pops Staples, patriarch and bandleader of the formidable Staple Singers, explained the inspiration in his introduction. "From that march, word was revealed and a song was composed," he explains, sounding less like a preacher addressing his congregation and more like a close friend shaking your hand. "And we wrote a song about the freedom marchers and we call it the ‘Freedom Highway’, and we dedicate this number to all the freedom marchers." As he is addressing the congregation, Pops strikes a clutch of chords on his guitar, and those chords coalesce into a spry blues riff that he sends rolling down the aisles of New Nazareth.

I am far from a religious man, but good music is good music. And this is damn good music! The blend of church gospel with Pops Staples' intricate yet bluesy guitar skills and Mavis Staples' gritty, soulful singing means the record is warmly satisfying from start to finish.

The Staple Singers - Freedom Highway (1965)
(320 kbps, cover art included)

Tracklist:

Freedom Highway
What You Gonna Do?
Take My Hand Precious Lord
When I'm Gone
Help Me Jesus
We Shall Overcome
When The Saints Go Marching In
The Funeral
Build On That Shore
Tell Heaven
He's All Right