Omnivore Recordings has announced a new live record from The Staple Singers, titled Africa 80, which features performances from their first ever tour in Africa. The album will be released on CD and Digital on May 10th, 2024.

The Staple Singers got their start in the early 1950s and over the course of their influential career, transformed Gospel music. During the Civil Rights movement, Roebuck “Pops” Staples discovered that their music could both enlighten and inspire a new generation. Signing with Stax Records, they began to rise, not only the Gospel charts, but the Pop and R&B ones as well, with hits like “I’ll Take You There” (which topped both the Pop & R&B charts), “Respect Yourself,” “Touch A Hand, Make A Friend,” and more.

After Stax closed, they moved to Curtis Mayfield’s Curtom Records and 1975 saw them hit #1 on both the Pop and R&B Charts again with “Let’s Do It Again.” Three additional albums for Warner Bros. closed out the decade.

An international tour sponsored by the U.S. Government found the Staples performing across the continent of Africa in 1980. The set included recent and classic hits like “Let’s Do It Again,” “Respect Yourself,” standards “Will The Circle Be Unbroken,” “Come Go With Me,” and choice covers like “Ease On Down The Road” from The Wiz, and the Bacharach/David song, “A House Is Not A Home.”

Now, with restoration and mastering from multiple Grammy-winning Engineer, Michael Graves, Africa 80 presents a new look at their work. The release has new liner notes from Tim Dillinger-Curenton that contextualize the band’s story.

Africa 80 tracklist:

1. Introduction

2. Ease On Down The Road

3. Let’s Do It Again

4. Respect Yourself

5. Come Go With Me

6. Why Am I Treated So Bad

7. A House Is Not A Home

8. Will The Circle Be Unbroken

9. He’s Alright

10. Touch A Hand, Make A Friend

11. Touch A Hand, Make A Friend (Reprise)