Much of my family in New Mexico is interracial. Many of us were adopted, with my deceased Native American sister Susan Reum being closest to me. I also have two second cousins, Alan Daley and Beth Daley Randle, who were adopted by my second cousin Marian who are African-American and Hispanic/Native American respectively. New Mexico is one of two states in which people of color outnumber Caucasians, and the state has been officially bilingual since admission to statehood in 1912.
As a boy, in my hometown of Espanola, New Mexico, I was a "huero (blond)" in a community that was 90% Hispanic and Native American. My family became interracial officially on November 3, 1956 when my beautiful sister came home to us. Her eyes were brown and her hair was thick and jet black. I was smitten, and so very proud of her. Later I became quite protective of her.
In that small New Mexico town, my sense of being different from my neighbors was acute. Neighbors were Hispanic, many of whom could trace their lineage back to the earliest Europeans who entered New Mexico. They had come in 1598 to this small valley to find their fortunes. They found a beautiful valley with small Indigenous villages, termed "pueblos" up and down the Rio Grande. They settled In Espanola in 1598, founding their colonial capitol of Santa Fe 10 years later in 1608. The pueblos had been there for hundreds of years before the Spanish came, and did not find the Spanish easy to coexist with, driving them out of New Mexico in 1680, the only successful revolt against European colonization in North America. Ever dogged, the Spanish reoccupied New Mexico without violence in 1692.
I asked my mother why we couldn't stay at the Best Westerns and other motels we were used to frequenting when we traveled in the Western U.S. She turned to my great aunt and grandfather, and they all told me I would understand someday. I saw fountains, cafes, and motels that were marked using segregational signage. It somehow made a big impression upon me, because I was old enough to know that my sister, all of 2 years old, was somehow the reason we were not welcome in certain restaurants and motels.
As a boy, in my hometown of Espanola, New Mexico, I was a "huero (blond)" in a community that was 90% Hispanic and Native American. My family became interracial officially on November 3, 1956 when my beautiful sister came home to us. Her eyes were brown and her hair was thick and jet black. I was smitten, and so very proud of her. Later I became quite protective of her.
An Espanola landmark, not far from my boyhood home
In that small New Mexico town, my sense of being different from my neighbors was acute. Neighbors were Hispanic, many of whom could trace their lineage back to the earliest Europeans who entered New Mexico. They had come in 1598 to this small valley to find their fortunes. They found a beautiful valley with small Indigenous villages, termed "pueblos" up and down the Rio Grande. They settled In Espanola in 1598, founding their colonial capitol of Santa Fe 10 years later in 1608. The pueblos had been there for hundreds of years before the Spanish came, and did not find the Spanish easy to coexist with, driving them out of New Mexico in 1680, the only successful revolt against European colonization in North America. Ever dogged, the Spanish reoccupied New Mexico without violence in 1692.
Rio Grande Gorge-Espanola, New Mexico
My sister, being of Indigenous heritage, was accepted in Espanola. We did not find reactions to our interracial family to be negative, and my father's friendships with many Indigenous families were enhanced. I knew no racial prejudice until my family took in my elderly great aunt Olivia, and we were asked to drive her to Florida to live with my mother's cousin and her husband in 1958. The static began in Texas. We were told to leave several restaurants while driving through Southern states. The South was in the first few years of the Civil Rights Movement, and all of a sudden, our family from New Mexico was told that we were not welcome. This was very strange, as I was used to BEING the minority, not the majority. In the South on that drive to Florida, I came face to face with racial hatred. We ended up staying in several African American hotels and eating at mostly African American cafes.
Dogs Over "Negroes and Mexicans"
1950s Water Fountains-American South
I asked my mother why we couldn't stay at the Best Westerns and other motels we were used to frequenting when we traveled in the Western U.S. She turned to my great aunt and grandfather, and they all told me I would understand someday. I saw fountains, cafes, and motels that were marked using segregational signage. It somehow made a big impression upon me, because I was old enough to know that my sister, all of 2 years old, was somehow the reason we were not welcome in certain restaurants and motels.
African American Hotel 1950s--American South
Thus was my introduction to the American South. I found it shocking that people did not see my little sister as beautiful and as special as I did. The African Americans who made our primarily Caucasian family welcome in their hotels, restaurants, and cafes were surprised and amazed that our little family was interracial and not surprised that we were not welcomed in white motels and eating places. By the time we got to Florida, dropped off my great aunt, and returned to our sheltered little valley, I was thoroughly entranced by the African Americans who had made us feel so welcome when people of our own race had rejected us. I began to listen to Jazz, Rhythm and Blues, and Rock and Roll. It was no coincidence that I loved Elvis Presley, that Southerner who had successfully integrated Gospel, Country, and Rhythm and Blues, and introduced millions of kids to music with feeling and depth, Roots Music.
As I explored music, I picked up on most of the groups in Rock and Roll. but I was especially moved by Black Gospel Music. Through Mahalia Jackson, I began to explore the array of successful Black Gospel Artists, and when I saw the Staple Singers on television I was hooked. They had a family sound that transcended my previous experience, and I was slowly drawn into their orbit. Their records were hard to get in rural New Mexico, and I may as well have been special ordering from the moon. I was able to get a number of albums, a few singles, but the way I usually heard them was on television.
Early Publicity Photos of the Staple Singers from the Fifties
Reissue on Vee Jay of an early Staples album
The Staples had a long history by the time I first heard them in the mid Sixties. Initially, father Roebuck "Pops" Staples pulled the family together singing in Chicago churches in the late Forties. The group recorded albums beginning in the Fifties for United and then Vee Jay Records. The group at that time consisted of son Pervis, and daughters Cleotha and Mavis. In 1960. they moved to Riverside, and had some exposure during the Folk Music boom in the early Sixties. They had some modest success on Riverside, and signed with Epic in 1965, moving to Memphis based Stax in 1968. There were 12 hits during this long and successful association. The version of For What It's Worth on Freedom Highway dates from the Epic period.
Early Sixties Christmas Album on Riverside
The first era of The Staple Singers ended with Pervis's departure in 1970, and the lineup that latter day Staple Singer listeners know was born. Pops was a fine guitarist, and Mavis developed a soulful delivery with a deep wall shaking power that was confounding coming from such a woman of small stature. Later, The Staples were signed to Curtis Mayfield's Custom label, and had several more hits.
In 1991, CBS/Sony reissued the Staple Singers gospel recording Freedom Highway. Due to their long history, such a reissue was badly needed. The program begins with a recording of Will The Circle Be Unbroken, with a lead from Pops, and his guitar style out front. The group's harmony vocals are beautifully simple and lovely. Mavis Staples takes the lead on Move Along Train, a song that captures the weary feelings many African Americans had while segregated and fighting for integration. Are You Sure brings another powerful Mavis lead vocal with strong harmonies from the group.
Wade In the Water offers a solid bottom on a song that was a hymn often used for baptisms. The lead from Mavis is authoritative. If I Could Hear My Mother Pray Again is actually an early Twenties white gospel hymn with prominent lead vocal and guitar from Pops. Oddly the tune has a jangly sound that is amazingly similar stylelistically to The Byrds. Sister Cleotha sings the lead on Glory Glory Hallelujah, and Pops plays guitar. The listener can hear Pops' amazing guitar style here in the background. The hymn is a testimonial hymn, giving glory to the Lord for a sinner's conviction and surrendering to the Lord. The Lords Prayer, which is offered next, is sung in close four part harmony, recalling the best Gospel arrangements. Pops plays guitar here which is sparse but illustrative.
Jacob's Ladder is a call and response spiritual that features Mavis calling and the group responding. Anyone who has been to a revival will know this song well. It comes and goes very quickly, leaving the listener wishing it was longer. Why Am I Treated So Bad is a song that addresses the need for justice that was so much a center of the fight for Civil Rights in the Sixties. Pops asks the questions that don't seem to be answered. Praying Time reflects upon the hope for acceptance in Heaven that doesn't seem to be there on Earth. Jesus's message of rewards in the next world for the mistreated, poor, and disabled in this world is eloquently delivered by Mavis. For What It's Worth seemed to resonate with The Staple Singers, and recalls the confrontations between the police and protesters in the many protests of the Sixties from Selma to the End the Vietnam War Movement. It is was a minor hit for the group.
Hammer and Nails is simply a Mavis Staples tour de force, being sung in a call and response manner with Pops' guitar holding it all together. It is a song of thanks and succeeds triumphantly. The title track, Freedom Highway, is a live performance. It cooks with the authority that only a group of years performing together can achieve. Interesting is that, in addition to the vocals and Pops' guitar, there is a rhythm section behind the group, drums, and bass guitar. The song, a Pops original, expresses the strong determination of a man who has crossed the threshold of moving to secure his human rights and will never turn back. What You Gonna Do? asks the question of the listener...."How will you handle yourself when the moment comes when you meet your Maker?"
Publicity photo of The Staples Singers from the mid Sixties
The gospel song Samson and Delilah chronicles the famous Biblical narrative of a man with great strength who was seduced by a woman who was determined to take away his divine gift. The seduction occurs as Samson, who is sleeping, gets his hair cut and supposedly loses his great strength, only to pull down the fortress of his enemies killing himself and his evil seductress in the process. Pops sings lead here and carries the day. Nobody's Fault But Mine, originally recorded by Sister Rosetta Tharpe in 1941, is updated by a Pops arrangement with a great guitar line, including a solo on the bridge. The lesson here is of what good is having the Good Book in your home if you don't read it? Gossip is the subject of the next tune, Be Careful of the Stones That You Throw. This song features Purvis on lead vocal, which is unusual. The hymn is a meditation on the famous New Testament story of Jesus and The Woman at the Well. Gossip is cheap, and be careful what you tell others about your neighbor. This Train is a famous and underrated gospel song based upon some earlier and less known gospel hymns. Of note here is a fabulous lead vocal and lead guitar by Pops, whose contributions to Gospel Music need further acknowledgement. It is fitting that The Stapes Singers were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1999.
While Freedom Train is not as well known as the Staples Singers' album work on Stax and Curtom, the material here is sung and performed with a strong conviction that can only come from a family singing together. The Staples family, especially Pops, have a long history in Gospel Music, and will celebrate the centennial of Pops' birth in 2015. Like many Mississippi born musicians, he left the back breaking work in the Delta and migrated north to Chicago, finding a niche in recording and performing music. Mavis Staples, the diminutive woman with the huge voice, continues to record today with a fervor and conviction that can only come from a life of working for freedom and rights for all people. Gospel Music today would be much the poorer without The Staples Singers and their message of hope, love, freedom, and redemption.
For further information consult....
Allmusic under The Staples Singers heading:
Mavis Staples website may be accessed here:
This author is indebted to the author of the liner notes for Freedom Highway, Dr. Horace Clarence Boyer.
Text copyright 2014 by Peter Reum-All Rights Reserved
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