Photo Credit: Dino Perrucci
Last night, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert welcomed longtime musical collaborators Mavis Staples and Jeff Tweedy. The pair appeared on the program’s final Chicago-based episode, presented at the Auditorium Theatre in conjunction with this week’s Democratic National Convention (which took place in the same city). For the musicians’ delivery, they landed on the aptly titled “Freedom Highway,” a song performed by The Staple Sisters and written by father Roebuck “Pops” Staples.
“Freedom Highway” was initially penned for the 1965 march for voting rights, Selma to Montgomery. Its lyrics draw on movements by civil rights activists while referencing conversational centerpieces of the time, such as the gruesome murder of Emmett Till. Notably, Mavis Staples revisited the track on her 2008 LP, Live: Hope at the Hideout, released in November of that election year in tangent with Barack Obama’s presidential win–further delineating its political ties.
Reprising the appeal of the historic number, last night’s performance from Staples and Tweedy not only took place in their native Chicago but also presented the duo, who were also joined by a backing band, dip into the soul-vibe of the number while still holding an essence of organicness akin to Tweedy’s folk roots as expelled by riffs from his acoustic guitar. At 85, Staples shined, propelling most of the lyrics to great heights: brazen and brawny, the same descriptor that can be used to describe Tweedy’s takeover of the seasoned lines.
Scroll down to watch the pair deliver “Freedom Highway.”
The post Mavis Staples Partners with Jeff Tweedy on ‘Colbert’ to Celebrate 60 Years of “Freedom Highway” From Chicago appeared first on Relix Media.
