Song Review: I'm Coming Home (parts 1 & 2)

A favorite professor of mine once told our class "I'd trade a hundred Arethas for one Mavis." While I agree wholeheartedly with this sentiment, the fact remains that the majority of music that one is likely to hear by the Staple Singers is their vastly overrated and uninspiring major-label work from the '60s and '70s, wherein they re-recorded folksier renditions of their early gospel hits and spirited covers of contemporary pop songs. A straight up comparison between these recordings and Aretha Franklin's records from the same period does not come out favorably for the Staples family. However, take the time to dig deeper into the records they cut on Vee-Jay records between 1955 and 1961 and Dr. Downhome's claim seems less hyperbolic and more a simple statement of a clear fact. On The Best of the Vee-Jay Years (Shout! 2007) the Staple Singers are revealed in all their reverb-laden, ethereal gospel glory and Mavis Staples (still a teenager when most of these songs were cut) emerges as the stunning centerpiece of this musical family.

Young Mavis had the vocal talent to be a star in any genre but in "I'm Coming Home (parts 1 &2)" it becomes clear that no other genre but gospel could ever be as deserving of her formidable gift. Pops Staples is an impressive vocalist in his own right, but when paired with his daughter's other-worldly contralto his own voice becomes deferential, almost too innocent and inexperienced to do anything but provide only the most modest support and harmony. The song opens with a few ominous, echoing notes from his guitar and for the next seven minutes the song belongs to Mavis as she exhorts the audience to notify heaven of her imminent arrival. For Mavis, salvation isn't a desire but an inevitability. A child who is "born to die," she sings of her ascent to heaven as a triumphant homecoming, and her unwavering self-assurance is almost intimidating to listen to. Death holds no fear in this song, and Mavis seems to be only passing time until she regains her rightful place in heaven. As the song develops, a hundred Arethas for one Mavis begins to sound like a bargain. We may listen to Mavis Staples sing, but Mavis Staples sings to God.