As the sixties wore on, the Staple Singers broadened their repertoire. Pops, who was in equal measure idealistic and shrewd, saw a growing appetite, among white listeners as well as Black, for his message songs. He even had the group record some of Dylan’s songs, including “Masters of War” and “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall.” Dylan developed what Staples calls a case of “puppy love.” On a cafeteria line before a performance, Dylan turned to Pops and said, “Pops, I want to marry Mavis.”
“Well, don’t you tell me, tell Mavis,” Pops said.
Staples delights in talking about it: “He was a cute little boy, little blue eyes, curly hair. He and Pervis got to be tight. They’d sit out on the stoop, drink wine.”
She describes their relationship as “courting,” with some “smooching” here and there. But, when I asked if they almost got married, she smiled and said, “Nobody almost gets married. . . ."
Many years later, in 2016, Staples and her band toured as an opening act for Dylan. As a matter of self-preservation, Dylan makes a habit of keeping to himself on the road, rarely consorting with the opening act when he’s got one. This time was different.
“The first show, someone knocked on my door and said someone wants to see you,” she told me. “In comes Bobby. And I said, ‘Bobby, I’m so glad to see you. I been wanting to see you for so long.’ ”
“You should have married me,” Dylan said. “You would’ve seen me every day.”
David Remnick, The Gospel According to Mavis Staples, in The New Yorker
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