About the Author

Greg Kot has been the music critic at the Chicago Tribune since 1990. Kot is co-host of the nationally syndicated public-radio program Sound Opinions, and the author of several books, including Wilco: Learning How to Die and Ripped: How the Wired Generation Revolutionized Music.

Reviews

“[I’ll Take You There] takes us deep into the golden age of Mavis and her marvelously talented group.”
*Publishers Weekly*

“A biography that will send readers back to the music of Mavis and the Staple Singers with deepened appreciation and a renewed spirit of discovery…. Through it all, the ebullience of Mavis Staples and her music shine through.”
*Kirkus Reviews (starred review)*

“Kot chronicles the amazing story of a family that went from a hardscrabble life in Mississippi to Chicago’s church circuit to worldwide fame, merging the genres of roots, gospel, and soul…. This is a moving tribute to a very talented family and one gracious woman, in particular.”
*Booklist (starred review)*

“Mavis Staples and the Staple Singers are a mighty river running through more than a half-century of song, connecting Sam Cooke to Prince and Bob Dylan to Wilco. Thoroughly researched and elegantly told, I’ll Take You There offers powerful and inspiring insight into not only American music, but American history.”
*Alan Light, author of The Holy or the Broken: Leonard Cohen, Jeff Buckley, and the Unlikely Ascent of “Hallelujah”*

“A lively, engaging family biography, written with the Stapleses' cooperation and filled with vivid portraits, celebrity cameos and descriptions of music so evocative I kept wishing the book had come with a set of CDs.”
*Tampa Bay Times*

“Emotional honesty resonates throughout I'll Take You There. Kot provides an unflinching look into the Stapleses' struggles to maintain their spiritual and artistic integrity… I'll Take You There is a biography that's well worth the heavenly journey.”
*NPR*

"[A] fascinating testimony. . . . Kot’s portrayal of Mavis is deft and balanced, worthy of a performance that, no matter howoften you play it, never fails to live up to the promise of its title."
*Chicago Tribune*

"Kot depicts the endurance of Mavis Staples and her family’s music as an inspiration, a saga that takes us, like the song that inspired this book’s name, to a place where ain’t nobody crying."
*Washington Post*

“Kot’s take on the singer’s immense discography is invaluable, and Staples’ indomitable spirit shines through."
*The A.V. Club*

“A thorough and illuminating biography that offers plenty of revealing details about a group the Band’s Robbie Robertson once likened to `a lonely train in the distance.’”
*Paste*

“Involving from beginning to end. . . . [Kot] charts the [Staples] family’s origins in gospel music; their gradual drift into folk, soul and pop; the reverberations of their increasingly political songs during the civil rights era. . . 'I'll Take You There'...is rich musical history."
*New York Times*

"Remarkable. . . . With Mavis opening up the Staples archives and providing access to family and friends, Kot...[shapes] a story bigger than just that of a singing group. "
*The Commercial Appeal*

"A darn good story. . . . Whisking readers over a span of nearly 100 years, author Kot presents aroller-coaster ride of the highs and lows of one of gospel and soul’s mosticonic families. . . . a great look at history, both musically and culturally. . . . If you’re a fan of soul, R&B or gospel, “I’ll Take You There” is a bookyou’ll want to corner."
*The Topeka Capital Journal*

"That Staples' life story is deeply intertwined with the Rev. Martin Luther KingJr., Sam Cooke, the Band, Bob Dylan, Lou Rawls, Jeff Tweedy, Prince, ArethaFranklin, Mahalia Jackson, Jesse Jackson, Curtis Mayfield, Stax Records andJerry Butler is no mean feat. . .The gems are here in all their richness."
*Windy City Times*

"Fascinating... Musical analysis doesn't get much better."
*DownBeat*

"Kot has a knack for distilling the stuff of interviews and research into pithy descriptions of the Staple Singers’ lean years."
*The Nation*