Pops Staples - Don't Lose This (2015)

Pops Staples, patriarch of the iconic Staple Singers, died in 2000. In 1999, he recorded his final tracks. Fifteen years later, daughter Mavis Staples teamed up with her collaborative partner Jeff Tweedy (who produced her albums You Are Not Alone and One True Vine) to finish the recordings. They will be released as Don't Lose This on February 17 via Wilco's dBpm imprint and Anti-. Listen to "Somebody Was Watching" above.

Mavis detailed the album's origins in a press release, saying the initial idea was that they were going to record the final Staple Singers album.

It was meant to be our last work, but my sisters and I decided to let Pops sing, to let him have this one. ... One day, Pops told me, ‘Mavis, bring that record up here, I want to hear it.’ I brought it up to the bedroom and he listened. When it was over, Pops told me, ‘Mavis, don’t lose this here.’ I said, ‘OK, Pops, I won’t lose it.’ And he just smiled. It was a moment I’ll never forget. He had this glow after listening to it; he loved it. So I kept it.

I always said I was going to get it out there because Pops told me not to lose it. When he said, ‘Don’t lose this,’ that meant: ‘Let it be heard.’

Tweedy played bass on the album, and his 18-year-old son (and Tweedy bandmate) Spencer drummed on the record. Mavis recorded new vocals as well. The original recordings were produced by Pops and Mavis, with Tweedy handling the newer production.

Below, watch a short film about the making of the album, including footage of Tweedy and Mavis in the studio, and interviews with Marty Stuart, Steve Cropper, and Bonnie Raitt. The footage is taken from Mavis!, a forthcoming documentary about Mavis Staples and the Staples Singers. It also features a preview of the song "Sweet Home".