Born in Duluth, Minnesota back in 1941, Robert Allen Zimmerman or simply Bob Dylan is one of the most prolific songwriters of all time. He wrote more than 600 songs during his career and recorded 40 studio albums which were a huge inspiration for artists of many different music genres.
Dylan knows the secret recipe to a great song, so when he praises a track, you know it’s really good. He once mentioned a track that, according to him, made his hair stand up after he listened.
The song that Bob Dylan said made his hair stand up
Dylan started his musical career still in the 50s, when he was only a teenager and released his first studio album in 1962. It was in the late 50s that Dylan said he heard The Staple Singers performing “Sit Down Servant”, which made his “hair stand up on end”. It was when he fell in love with Mavis Staples‘ voice. He was listening to Southern radio under his bed covers at night in Hibbing, Minnesota.
In an interview featured in the HBO documentary “Mavis!” he recalled her father, Pops, having a “kind of a gentle voice. But then this other voice came on, which I found out was Mavis. One of the first songs I heard that made my hair stand up on end was called ‘Sit Down Servant.’ That just made me stay up for a week after I heard that song,” Bob Dylan said.
They were one of his favorite groups of all time
During his speech at MusiCares, in 2015, when he was elected Person of The Year, Dylan mentioned the Staple Singers as one of his favorite groups of all time. He said (Transcribed by Rock and Roll Garage): “Pervis Staples and the Staple Singers, long before they were on Stax they were on Epic and they were one of my favorite groups of all time.”
“I met them all in ’62 or ’63. They heard my songs live and Pervis wanted to record three or four of them. He did it with the Staples Singers. They were the type of artists that I wanted recording my songs,” Bob Dylan said.
Formed in Chicago, Illinois in 1948, The Staple Singers were a Gospel, Soul and R&B group. The singing band was formed by the family’s patriarch Roebuck “Pops” Staples” alongside his children. They were: Cleotha, Pervis, Yvonne and Mavis. Dylan wanted to marry Mavis Staples but she rejected his proposal.
She recalled that in an interview with The Guardian in 2016. “I often think about what would have happened if I’d married Bobby, though. If we’d had some little plum-crushers, how our lives would be. The kids would be singing now, and Bobby and I would be holding each other up,” Mavis Staples said.
But they are great friends and shared the stage many times over the decades, also covering songs of each other. The Staple Singers were active from 1948 to 1994. Also in 1999, when they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. As a solo artist, Mavis released 13 studio albums.