Greg Kot has been the music critic at the Chicago Tribune since 1990. Kot is co-host of the nationally syndicated public-radio program Sound Opinions, and the author of several books, including Wilco: Learning How to Die and Ripped: How the Wired Generation Revolutionized Music.
“[I’ll Take You There] takes us deep into the golden age of Mavis
and her marvelously talented group.”
*Publishers Weekly*
“A biography that will send readers back to the music of Mavis and
the Staple Singers with deepened appreciation and a renewed spirit
of discovery…. Through it all, the ebullience of Mavis Staples and
her music shine through.”
*Kirkus Reviews (starred review)*
“Kot chronicles the amazing story of a family that went from a
hardscrabble life in Mississippi to Chicago’s church circuit to
worldwide fame, merging the genres of roots, gospel, and soul….
This is a moving tribute to a very talented family and one gracious
woman, in particular.”
*Booklist (starred review)*
“Mavis Staples and the Staple Singers are a mighty river running
through more than a half-century of song, connecting Sam Cooke to
Prince and Bob Dylan to Wilco. Thoroughly researched and elegantly
told, I’ll Take You There offers powerful and inspiring insight
into not only American music, but American history.”
*Alan Light, author of The Holy or the Broken: Leonard Cohen, Jeff
Buckley, and the Unlikely Ascent of “Hallelujah”*
“A lively, engaging family biography, written with the Stapleses'
cooperation and filled with vivid portraits, celebrity cameos and
descriptions of music so evocative I kept wishing the book had come
with a set of CDs.”
*Tampa Bay Times*
“Emotional honesty resonates throughout I'll Take You There. Kot
provides an unflinching look into the Stapleses' struggles to
maintain their spiritual and artistic integrity… I'll Take You
There is a biography that's well worth the heavenly journey.”
*NPR*
"[A] fascinating testimony. . . . Kot’s portrayal of Mavis is deft
and balanced, worthy of a performance that, no matter howoften you
play it, never fails to live up to the promise of its title."
*Chicago Tribune*
"Kot depicts the endurance of Mavis Staples and her family’s music
as an inspiration, a saga that takes us, like the song that
inspired this book’s name, to a place where ain’t nobody
crying."
*Washington Post*
“Kot’s take on the singer’s immense discography is invaluable, and
Staples’ indomitable spirit shines through."
*The A.V. Club*
“A thorough and illuminating biography that offers plenty of
revealing details about a group the Band’s Robbie Robertson once
likened to `a lonely train in the distance.’”
*Paste*
“Involving from beginning to end. . . . [Kot] charts the [Staples]
family’s origins in gospel music; their gradual drift into folk,
soul and pop; the reverberations of their increasingly political
songs during the civil rights era. . . 'I'll Take You There'...is
rich musical history."
*New York Times*
"Remarkable. . . . With Mavis opening up the Staples archives and
providing access to family and friends, Kot...[shapes] a story
bigger than just that of a singing group. "
*The Commercial Appeal*
"A darn good story. . . . Whisking readers over a span of nearly
100 years, author Kot presents aroller-coaster ride of the highs
and lows of one of gospel and soul’s mosticonic families. . . . a
great look at history, both musically and culturally. . . . If
you’re a fan of soul, R&B or gospel, “I’ll Take You There” is a
bookyou’ll want to corner."
*The Topeka Capital Journal*
"That Staples' life story is deeply intertwined with the Rev.
Martin Luther KingJr., Sam Cooke, the Band, Bob Dylan, Lou Rawls,
Jeff Tweedy, Prince, ArethaFranklin, Mahalia Jackson, Jesse
Jackson, Curtis Mayfield, Stax Records andJerry Butler is no mean
feat. . .The gems are here in all their richness."
*Windy City Times*
"Fascinating... Musical analysis doesn't get much better."
*DownBeat*
"Kot has a knack for distilling the stuff of interviews and
research into pithy descriptions of the Staple Singers’ lean
years."
*The Nation*
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