In the spring of 1966, Mavis, Pops, Pervis and Cleotha performed on a well known gospel music show in Chicago called Jubilee Showcase. The show, which aired Sunday morning and had a passionate following was hosted by Sid Ordower who welcomed gospel singers like Andrae Crouch, The Soul Stirrers, Albertina Walker, The Dixie Hummingbirds and so many more. The Staple family would appear on the program many times over the years. When we started looking for footage from the Staple Singers early days on the gospel circuit to make Mavis! we were thrilled to find Sid's son Steven had lovingly cared for the entire catalogue of episodes. We're so lucky to have some of their performance of Why? (Am I Treated So Bad) in our documentary about Mavis Staples. But we always LOVED this rendition of the family's Pray On from the same episode in 1966. A luminous Mavis takes the lead and really brings the classic gospel tune home. Enjoy!
