The Weight

Recorded in Memphis during the Staple Singers' first sessions for Stax Records and released on Soul Folk in Action. Steve Cropper produced the recording, with Pops Staples, Mavis Staples, Cleotha Staples and Pervis Staples supported by Stax session musicians. The performance recast the Band's composition through the group's gospel-rooted harmonies and the restrained Memphis sound. It reflected their transition from the folk and gospel circuit into the socially conscious soul catalogue they developed at Stax. The song became closely associated with Mavis Staples through later performances, including the Staple Singers' celebrated appearance with the Band in The Last Waltz. Their interpretation remains one of the composition's most prominent gospel-soul readings.