Mavis Staples + Levon Helm’s Version of Nina Simone’s “I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free”

Photo Credit: Greg McKean

Today Mavis Staples and Levon Helm’s spirited rendition of Nina Simone’s “I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free” has been released featuring previously unseen footage of the two of them performing the song together; watch and listen below.

“I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free”: https://youtu.be/fFjVZL_-SKY

The pair’s mutual love and admiration is on full display on ‘Carry Me Home’, the new album out May 20 which features a mix of Staples’ and Helm’s bands operating at the peak of their powers as they work their way through an eclectic setlist of tunes made famous by the likes of Simone, The Impressions, Bob Dylan, and The Rolling Stones.

Captured live in the summer of 2011, ‘Carry Me Home’ showcases two of the past century’s most iconic voices coming together in love and joy, tracing their shared roots and celebrating the enduring power of faith and music. The setlist was righteous that night, mixing vintage gospel and soul with timeless folk and blues, and the performances were loose and playful, fueled by an ecstatic atmosphere that was equal parts family reunion and tent revival.

Read between the lines, though, and there’s an even more poignant story at play here. Neither Staples nor Helm knew that this would be their last performance together—the collection marks one of Helm’s final recordings before his death—and listening back now, a little more than a decade later, tunes like “This May Be The Last Time” and “Farther Along” take on new, bittersweet meaning. The result is an album that’s at once a time capsule and a memorial, a blissful homecoming and a fond farewell, a once-in-a-lifetime concert—and friendship—preserved for the ages.

“It never crossed my mind that it might be the last time we’d see each other,” says Staples. “He was so full of life and so happy that week. He was the same old Levon I’d always known, just a beautiful spirit inside and out.”

Though Staples and Helm got on like childhood pals, the two were already both stars in their own right by the time they first met at the 1976 filming of ‘The Last Waltz’. Critics would go on to cite The Staple Singers’ collaboration with The Band on “The Weight” as a high point of the film, and Mavis and Levon would remain close friends in the decades to come, but it was unclear if the pair would ever get to sing together again after Helm was diagnosed with throat cancer in 1998. Luckily, they were able to capture another performance of this song together at the 2011 session.

“The place just went wild when Levon sang,” says Staples. “It was a real full-circle moment to be performing that song together again.”

Staples and Amy Helm will be performing together on the album’s release day, May 20, at Brooklyn Academy of Music and at the Dirt Farmer Festival on May 21 with the Midnight Ramble Band and others. All upcoming dates for both artists are listed below.

MAVIS STAPLES TOUR DATES
4/28 – New Orleans, LA – Mardi Gras World
4/30 – Charlotte, NC – Tuck Fest
5/14 – Huntsville, AL – Orion Amphitheater
5/20 – Brooklyn, NY – BAM (Brooklyn Academy of Music)$
5/21 – Accord, NY – Dirt Farmer Festival at Arrowood Farms$
5/28 – Toronto, Canada – Massey Hall
6/4 – Barcelona, Spain – Primavera Sound 2022
6/7 – Brussels, Belgium – Ancienne Belgique$
6/8 – Paris, France – La Cigale$
6/10 – Hilvarenbeek, Netherlands – Best Kept Secret 2022
6/11 – Kidlington, UK – Kite Festival 2022
6/13 – Stroud, UK – Subscription Rooms$
6/14 – Edinburgh, UK – Usher Hall$
6/16 – London, UK – Union Chapel$
6/17 – London, UK – Union Chapel$
6/19 – Newport, UK – Isle of Wight Festival
7/9 – Orillia, Canada – Mariposa Folk Festival
7/19 – Cincinnati, OH – The Andrew J. Brady Music Center%
7/20 – Huber Heights, OH – Rose Music Center at The Heights%
7/22 – Rochester Hills, MI – Meadow Brook Amphitheatre%
7/23 – Chicago, IL – Wrigley Field w/ Chris Stapleton
7/26 – Madison, WI – Overture Center for the Arts%
7/29 – Waite Park, MN – The Ledge Amphitheater%
7/30 – Sioux City, IA – Sioux City Orpheum%
8/2 – Lincoln, NE – Pinewood Bowl Amphitheater%
8/3 – Cedar Rapids, IA – McGrath Amphitheatre%
8/5 – St. Louis, MO – Fabulous Fox%
8/6 – Kansas City, MO – Starlight Theatre%
8/9 – Salina, KS – Stiefel Theatre for the Performing Arts%
8/11 – Morrison, CO – Red Rocks Amphitheatre%
8/14 – Boise, ID – Idaho Botanical Garden%
8/17 – Walla Walla, WA – Wine Country Amphitheater%
8/22 – Bend, OR – Hayden Homes Amphitheater%
8/23 – Eugene, OR – The Cuthbert Amphitheater%
8/26 – Troutdale, OR – McMenamins Edgefield %
9/17 – Napa, CA – Oxbow RiverStage%
9/18 – Berkeley, CA – The Greek Theatre Berkeley%
9/20 – Paso Robles, CA – Vina Robles Amphitheatre%
9/22 – Santa Barbara, CA – Santa Barbara Bowl%
9/24 – Los Angeles, CA – The Greek Theatre%
9/27 – San Diego, CA – The Rady Shell at Jacobs Park%
12/9 – Costa Mesa, CA – Segerstrom Center for the Arts

% – with Bonnie Raitt
$ – with Amy Helm

AMY HELM TOUR DATES
4/26 – Augusta, GA – Miller Theater^
4/30 – Patchogue, NY – Patchogue Theatre for the Performing Arts
5/20 – Brooklyn, NY – BAM (Brooklyn Academy of Music)$
5/21 – Accord, NY – Dirt Farmer Festival at Arrowood Farms$
5/28 – Frenchtown, NJ – Artyard
6/7 – Brussels, Belgium – Ancienne Belgique$
6/8 – Paris, France – La Cigale$
6/11 – Bristol, UK – Louisiana
6/13 – Stroud, UK – Subscription Rooms$
6/14 – Edinburgh, UK – Usher Hall$
6/16 – London, UK – Union Chapel$
6/17 – London, UK – Union Chapel$
6/20 – London, UK – St. Pancras Old Church
8/1 – Big Indian, NY – Roots Rock Revival 2022

^ – with Little Feat
$ – with Mavis Staples