NEW YORK (AP) 鈥 In the summer of 2011, two American iconic musicians met and jammed up a storm. Very few people heard what they created 鈥 until now.
The 12-track live album is the long-awaited record of what happened when Grammy-winning soul and gospel star Mavis Staples visited her good friend Levon Helm, the Grammy-winning drummer and singer of The Band.
鈥淲e were very close friends. We were like family,鈥 said Staples, 82. 鈥淓very song was just a jewel to me. I just got so full of joy.鈥
It would be one of Helm鈥檚 final recordings before his death, the next year.
Staples and her band spent five or six days with Helm and his band in Woodstock, New York, playing music and telling stories.
鈥淲e started singing and someone just said, 鈥榃hy don鈥檛 we record it?鈥 And we started recording and we didn鈥檛 have anything planned. As we would sing a song, someone would yell out another song,鈥 said Staples. 鈥淚t just turned out so beautiful.鈥
The visit culminated in a concert held in Helm鈥檚 studio on June 3, 2011, which included spirituals, civil rights anthems and tunes made famous by the likes of The Impressions, Bob Dylan and the Rolling Stones.
There are the gospel classics like 鈥淗and Writing on the Wall鈥 and 鈥淔arther Along,鈥 protest songs like 鈥淭his Is My Country,鈥 an electric Buddy Miller鈥檚 鈥淲ide River to Cross鈥 and 鈥淲hen I Go Away,鈥 a Helm鈥檚 favorite. Staples鈥 sister Yvonne sang and so did Helm鈥檚 daughter, Amy.
鈥淕etting to join that choir was truly one of the highlights so far that I鈥檝e ever done for any singing I鈥檝e ever done,鈥 Amy Helm said. 鈥淎nd of course, to see my dad that happy and to get to spend time with Mavis, who is like a godmother to me.鈥
Staples loved it when someone suggested 鈥淚 Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free,鈥 a song Nina Simone made famous. 鈥淚 hadn鈥檛 sung that song since I was a little girl,鈥 she said. 鈥淲e started singing that, I just felt so good.鈥 But then she balked.
鈥淚 told them, I said, 鈥榃ait a minute. Nobody comes behind Nina, you know?鈥 And they said, 鈥楳avis you can do it.鈥 鈥榊ou can do it, Mavis.鈥 And I said, 鈥極K, I鈥檒l try, but I don鈥檛 want to be slapped in the face by Nina.鈥欌
The album鈥檚 release was delayed while officials in each camp debated which record label should release it. 鈥淚f it had been left up to me, it would have been out there a week after we recorded it,鈥 Staples said. The album is being released Friday.
Staples recalled that her Woodstock visit started, appropriately enough, with music. When she and her band arrived, it was raining hard and she ran from her vehicle to Helm鈥檚 porch. Together and impromptu, they started singing the spiritual 鈥淒idn鈥檛 It Rain.鈥
Staples recalls the visit included walks in the countryside and the sharing of stories. At one point, Helm started playing one of his grandson鈥檚 toy drums. She remembers one of Helm鈥檚 two dogs was jealous when her owner got close to Staples and would bark until the drummer interceded on Staples鈥 behalf; the barking immediately stopped. She recalls Helms showing up every day in a crisp shirt.
The two were old friends, having met during the filming of The Band鈥檚 1976 documentary 鈥淭he Last Waltz.鈥 Staples鈥 father had been impressed by The Band鈥檚 song 鈥淭he Weight,鈥 with its opening reference to Nazareth, a special gospel reference. Helm, for his part, revered Staples and invited a camera crew to archive that his hero had come to collaborate.
Staples only got a listen to what they had accomplished a few months ago. 鈥淓ach song would lift me up even higher because I had forgotten some of that stuff,鈥 she said, thinking 鈥淟et鈥檚 get the record out there so that people can hear how much fun we were having.鈥
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Mark Kennedy is at
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