The Staple Singers - Be Altitude: Respect Yourself [Stax Remasters] [CD]

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Concord Music Group launches Stax Remasters series with reissues of three recordings from the legendary Soul/R&B catalogue:\r
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\u2022 BOOKER T. & THE MGs \u2014 McLEMORE AVENUE\r
\u2022 THE STAPLE SINGERS \u2014 BE ALTITUDE: RESPECT YOURSELF\r
\u2022 JOHNNIE TAYLOR \u2014 TAYLORED IN SILK\r
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Originally released in 1972, Be Altitude: Respect Yourself captures the celebrated family vocal group in what was essentially the third act of their career, according to music historian Rob Bowman. The Staple Singers had initially established themselves as a gospel group in the 1950s, then merged with the folk music closely tied to the civil rights movement of the 1960s, and ultimately veered away from protest songs and toward what Mavis Staples termed \u201cmessage music\u201d in the early and mid-1970s.\r
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\u201cObviously, there was a lot going on in America \u2014 politically and socially \u2014 around that time, and the Staple Singers took up the cause,\u201d says Clough. \u201cStax provided a huge platform for that cause, and it worked. It wasn\u2019t insincere or disingenuous. It was the real deal. The Staples had taken up the banner at that point.\u201d\r
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Be Altitude found a comfortable middle ground between gospel music and secular music. \u201cSome of the messages in their music have that gospel element running through it, but it\u2019s a broader message than what you\u2019d find in traditional gospel,\u201d says Phillips. \u201cThe soul, the gospel, the grooves \u2014 all those things blended together \u2014 really make for a unique sound that is the Staple Singers.\u201d\r
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The two previously unreleased bonus tracks \u2014 \u201cWalking in Water Over Our Head\u201d and an alternate version of \u201cHeavy Makes You Happy\u201d \u2014 were both recorded at the Muscle Shoals Studios in Alabama in 1970 and 1972, respectively. \u201cWe felt that it was appropriate to add these bonus tracks, not only because any undiscovered material by a group as great as the Staple Singers is worthy of a listen,\u201d says Phillips, \u201cbut also because they\u2019re such great performances that they fit right in.\u201d\r
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Simply put, says Bowman, \u201cthe recording you hold in your hands represents the Staple Singers at the very peak of their career.\u201d\r

1. The World

2. Respect Yourself

3. Name The Missing Word

4. Ill Take You There

5. This Old Town (People In This Old Town)

6. We The People

7. Are You Sure

8. Who Do You Think You Are (Jesus Christ Superstar)?

9. Im Just Another Soldier

10. Who

11. Walking In Water Over Our Head

12. Heavy Makes You Happy (Alternate)