The Staple Singers, Respect Yourself | Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶

In the 171^st edition of Throwback Vibez (2024), we recollect and reflect on “Respect Yourself” by the iconic gospel/soul collective, The Staple Singers. 

The vibes, the vibes, those Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶! Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 is a column that celebrates awesome songs from the past.  The records that grace this column are older, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re ancient – no fossils 🦴! All genres of music are welcome. In the 171^st edition of Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 (2024), we recollect and reflect on “Respect Yourself” performed by The Staple Singers.

“If you disrespect anybody / That you run into / How in the world do you think / Anybody’s supposed to respect you?” It’s a legitimate question posed by Pop Staples (1914 – 2000) and The Staple Singers.  On “Respect Yourself”, the iconic, Rock and Roll / Gospel Music Hall of Famers speak to the importance of how to treat others with respect – the way you’d want to be treated. Of course, this lack of respect highlighted in this funk/soul classic penned by Mack Rice and Luther Ingram has ties to inequality and racism (“Take the sheet off your face, boy / It’s a brand-new day”). “Respect Yourself” was a big hit for group, peaking at no. 12 on the Billboard Hot 100. In the R&B charts, the highlight from Be Altitude: Respect Yourself peaked at no. 2.

Al Bell produced “Respect Yourself,” which is set in a minor key. Some of the instrumental highlights include bluesy electric piano riffs, a dynamic horn arrangement with epic riffs, and a fabulous groove anchored by the drums. With Pops taking the lead early, he is supported by the background vocals of Cleotha Staples (1934 – 2013) and Yvonne Staples (1936 – 2018). The vocal harmonies are sweet.  Also sweet are the tuneful melodies that accompany the thought-provoking, wise lyrics.  The chorus is the section to beat:

“Respect yourself, respect yourself

If you don’t respect yourself

Ain’t nobody gonna give a good cahoot, na, na, na

Respect yourself, respect yourself.”

Pops cedes the lead to Mavis Staples (1939 – ). She delivers incredibly powerful pipes in the second half of the song.  Mavis gets political (“Keep talkin’ ‘bout the president / Won’t stop air pollution”) and criticizes ‘ugly’ men with the help of the rest of the Staples (“Oh, you cuss around women folk / And you don’t even know their names / And you’re dumb enough to think / That’ll make you a big ol’ man”). Oh, snap!  Throughout “Respect Yourself”,  The Staple Singers perform with incredible authenticity.  You buy every note and lyric that they sing. Mavis’ ad-libs to close out the song are stellar. Not only is this one of their best songs, but it is also one of the best of the best when it comes to soul classics.

The Staple Singers // Be Altitude: Respect Yourself // Concord Music Group Inc. // 1972

The Staple Singers, Respect Yourself: Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 No. 171 (2024) [📷: Brent Faulkner / The Musical Hype; Concord Music Group Inc.; OpenClipart-Vectors, Clker-Free-Vector-Images, Speedy McVroom from Pixabay]