The Ben in this case is singer-songwriter Ben Harper.
The two first worked together in 2016 on a song for Staples albumLivin on a High Note.
He offered to do a full album instead.
Credit: Myriam Santos
I feel like Im back with the family with this record, she says, about the resulting project.
Im a happy old soul.
Im just trying to keep myself healthy.
ANTI-
I want to continue to sing as long as I can.
And the Lord blessed me to keep my voice.
When Im happiest is when Im singing.
The name of the album isWe Get By.
Were strong and were mighty and you cant harm us.
Just understand that well get past you, no matter what.
If we keep the faith and we hold out, we know that deliverance will come.
I tell you, that Ben Harper, he wrote a gem.
You first worked with Ben in 2016 on the track Love and Trust.
I finally captured it and got really relaxed with it.
I love Ben and I love the way he writes and the way he sings.
Hes such a beautiful spirit.
I knew that I would enjoy working with him.
I would have begged him to write me some songs if he hadnt come through so easily.
That line in the song Change What good is freedom if you havent learned to be free?
feels like a classic Staple Singers lyric.Yes, indeed.
What good is freedom if, by now, we havent learned to be free?
I like this mans message.
And I think that if he can preach it, we can sing it.
And Ive been singing it ever since.
I just refuse to stop.
Ben grew up a huge fan of the Staple Singers.
We had so much in common with our families.
Most black grandparents, when they fry bacon, they save the grease.
And he said, Mavis, my grandmother would do the same thing.
And Ben, well he took it a little further.
He brought a can of Crisco into the studio.
It wasnt cooked grease but it was grease.
And the poor band boys, they just couldnt understand, and we just got the biggest laugh.
That Crisco can sat right on top of the machines for the sessions.
Your album cover is a picture taken by the late, great Gordon Parks.
It just drew me in.
[The girls] are outside that fence.
They want to be in the playground, they want to be on the slides and the swings.
It reminded me of myself and my sisters.
We couldnt go to the beach, we couldnt go to the park.
We had to play in a playground that was full of dirt and glass and didnt have any grass.
I saw the album.
I saw the tone.
I said, This is the one I want.
If you saw one of us, you saw the other.
We were together at all times.
Yvonne got me back on my feet when Pops passed.
When my father died, I just didnt know what I was going to do.
Yvonne came to my house and she said, Mavis, what are you doing?
Id sit on the couch and I just couldnt get started.
Yvonne said, Mavis, you know Dad would want you to sing.
And then she said some words to me that I didnt know Yvonne knew.
I hadnt ever heard her say these words.
I mean, she told meoff.
So when she left my house I got up.
I said, I have got to do something.
I said, Okay, Yvonne, were going to sing.
And she said, Mavis, you sing and Ill take care of your business.
So I go up on that stage a couple of times.
I need to hear one Staples voice.
Because I was listening for Pops, I was listening for Cleotha.
It was just hard.
She said, No.
I said, I cant do it.
She said, Okay, Ill sing, Mavis.
So she started singing with me again.
I was so glad.
I was comfortable, just hearing the family voice.
Then Yvonne, she got sick and she started getting dementia.
Shes going to go with me.
I kept her with me as long as I could.
It was just love.
Yvonne was so sweet and so comical.
Oh, man, I miss her so much.
Youve been touring for decades now, and are on the road most of the year.
He wouldnt allow me to go to any after parties.
Good thing for me is a ginger tea and honey.
[But] I cant help but talk loud.
My tour manager, Speedy, he would say, Mavis, Mavis, you shouldnt talk so loud.
Another one that told me that [was] Prince.
Prince would tell me, Mavis, why you talking so loud?
back up your voice.
Id say okay, but they dont know my background.
They dont know where I come from.
That was the best time of my life.
That little guy, he was such a sweetheart.
You know, so many people didnt like him, but Prince was very humble and sweet.
But it took awhile for him to start talking to me.
He would actually talk to Yvonne more than he would talk to me.
When I first got with him, he was so shy.
I would be talking to him and he would just stand there and roll his big eyes and smile.
At the time, Prince thought I was a kid or something.
He would tell Yvonne, Yvonne, Im so glad youre out here with Mavis.
Id say, oh my god, he thinks Im a little girl.
So I had to start writing letters to Prince.
I said, If hes going to write for me hes got to know me.
Youre turning 80 this year.
I wish I hadnt been so bashful because when I first started I couldnt look at the people.
I would look up at the ceiling all the time.
I [also] have to give my father a lot of credit.
Because he taught me, Mavis, sing from your heart.
What comes from the heart reaches the heart.
And if you sing from your heart youll reach the people.
That is something I would have loved to have known like I know now.
