Don't Lose This by Pops Staples

Nick Bollinger reviews the last recordings of the late Pops Staples.

Were he still alive, Roebuck Staples, affectionately known as ‘Pops’, would have turned one hundred last December. He died in 2000, just a week shy of his 86th birthday. But not long before his death he recorded the collection of bluesy gospel songs that make up Don’t Lose This, which was seen through to completion by Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy. And if it is hardly the essential Staples album, it does show how effortlessly consistent he was, maintaining the same aching ease from his earliest recordings to his last. 

Songs Featured: The Lady’s Letter, Better Home, No News Is Good News, Gotta Serve Somebody, Gotta Serve Somebody

Listen to more from The Sampler here