Review: A joyous encounter between musical legends lives on
ABC News
“Carry Me Home,” a newly-released recording of a memorable session between Mavis Staples and Levon Helm, pulsates with gusto and joy, writes Scott Stroud of The Associated Press
Mavis Staples & Levon Helm, “Carry Me Home” (ANTI-Records)
Some efforts to bring musical legends together feel contrived, like they were cooked up for a between-albums payoff. Occasionally, though, when the convergence isn't calculated, the moment just needs to be preserved.
Such is the case with “Carry Me Home," a newly-released recording of a memorable encounter between Mavis Staples and Levon Helm during the summer of 2011. In front of an audience at Helm’s Woodstock, New York, studio, the pair rocked their way through a 12-song set of soul, gospel and roadhouse blues that pulsates with gusto and joy.
It’s reminiscent of Helm’s Grammy-winning “Ramble at the Ryman,” a live recording of a 2008 Nashville concert, but with one of the world’s great singers sitting in.