Ashley Beedle’s MAVIS project was originally sparked three years ago when he and musical partner Darren Morris had an evening listening to Mavis Staples and the Staples Singers. The pair were so blown away, this led them to create an instrumental which became the inspiration for the MAVIS album.
The new release on !K7 is a wonderful collaborative LP with Edwyn Collins, Kurt Wagner, Candi Staton and Sarah Cracknell to name but a few of the talented people Ashley Beedle’s worked with on it over the last year or two. The record is as engaging as it is varied and we thoroughly recommend it.
This Flavour mixtape Ashley and !K7 have given us to coincide with the release is none too shabby either. We hope you enjoy. It showcases the amazing work of Mavis Staples, the inspiration and guiding light of the concept as well as the varied nature of the official album’s role-call of guests and collaborators.
This time next week we’ll have a very special and exclusive interview with Mr Beedle himself on Radio Magnetic discussing the latest project as well as his musical history and future. A truly inspiring pioneer and innovator and a very pleasant chap! Look out for it.
To Ashley, Mavis Staples and The Staples Singers have always been hugely iconic. “They’re the glue in our DNA”, says Ashley, “Not only was their recorded work amazing but their involvement in the Civil Rights movement really meant something to me.”
“Listen. Dreaming of Mavis, some singers, some kindred spirits, lovingly selected, having never met, each other or her, passing on their feelings, from song to song, meeting place to meeting place, finding their Mavis, loving her in the imagination, praising Mavis, the way her hands moved, how she breathed, the rebellious wisdom, the faith, sorrow and trust, the inner mystery, gracing Mavis, the city she built, the mountains she moved, the beautiful and tough songs she sung, out of heavy shadows and great light, ruins and fragments, mouth and nerve.”
Paul Morley 2009
Tracklist
- Rev. Jesse Jackson – Introduction of Aretha and Mavis Staples by Rev. Jesse Jackson
- The Staple Singers – I Had A Dream
- Mavis Staples – Keep On Pushing – LP Version
- Curtis Mayfield – Suffer – Demo Version
- Pharoahe Monch – Push – Clean
- J Dilla – Won’t Do
- Mavis Staples – Pick Up The Pieces
- Lambchop – Give Me Your Love (Love Song)
- John Coltrane – My Favorite Things – LP Version
- Electric Light Orchestra – Strange Magic
- Soundgarden – Black Hole Sun
- Michael McDonald – Love T.K.O.
- Mavis Staples – A House Is Not A Home
- Betty Mae Fikes – Up Above My Head
J-Dilla trak rocks… Amazing mix. Nice start xxx
Fantastic mix, lovin Curtis, John Coltrane and the spooky Bette Mae at the end. Mavis Staples was truly a great, and to hear about Ashley Beedle doing a Mavis inspired album has got us excited up here in the north. Can’t wait to check the album now.
[...] the guy’s an inspiration and a very pleasant chap too. Also, have a listen to this exclusive mixtape Ashley put together for us and buy the new [...]