By the time “If I Had My Way, I’d Tear This Building Down” had morphed into “Samson and Delilah” on the Grateful Dead’s 1977 album Terrapin Station, something of the original danger that Blind Willie Johnson brought to the song had been lost.
Johnson, a pre-war bluesman from Beaumont, Texas, had offered this apocryphal tale in a voice that swept from trembling fear to growling portent. There was both a hint of judgment-day rapture, and no small amount of violence — something that’s boldly recaptured in this previously unheard take by the Staple Singers.
Featured as part of the 50th anniversary reissue of the group’s Freedom Highway concert recording, “Samson and Delilah” finds the Staple Singers updating Blind Willie Johnson’s message for a new era. Whereas his 1927 version spoke to the twilit dangers of desire, the Staple Singers’ urgent repetition of the original’s title perfectly echoes the fiery emotions of the Civil Rights era.
And they’re just getting started with “Samson and Delilah,” which is actually is part of nearly 30 minutes of unheard moments from this April 9, 1965 concert at Chicago’s New Nazareth Church in Chicago. (We’ve previously discussed “Jesus Is All,” as well.)
Freedom Highway Complete, due March 3, 2015 via Legacy Recordings, features Pops Staples on vocals and guitar, along with Yvonne, Pervis and Mavis Staples on vocals. Phil Upchurch and Al Duncan made up the rhythm section.
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