Only for the Lonely, Mavis Staples’ second Stax (Volt) solo album, was produced by Don Dixon and mainly recorded under his supervision not in Memphis but in Detroit. The leadoff track, “I Have Learned to Do Without You,” was released as a single in June ‘70 (so it’s also available on The Complete Stax/Volt Soul Singles Volume 2) and climbed up to #13 R&B. The two-fer CD package pictured below also features Mavis’ duet with Johnnie Taylor, “That’s the Way Love Is” from the Stax duets album Boy Meets Girl, as a bonus track.

Mavis’ Lonely album showcases her blue reading of the enduring soul classic “Since I Fell For You.” One other tune might sound familiar - “It Makes Me Wanna Cry” rather shamelessly rips off the instrumental introduction and verse structure of “Your Precious Love,” the ‘67 Marvin/Tammi hit duet

But you’ve most likely not heard Lonely’s best stuff. Marvell Thomas’ piano, Isaac Hayes’ organ and especially Eddie Hinton’s guitar adorn “How Many Times” in graceful, gentle gospel and blues while Mavis sings with all the pain and power in her soul, aching through the closing line that burns through your ears right down into the center of your chest: “How many times do you think that I’ll come crawling back again…”

“How Many Times” segues into “Endlessly,” co-composed by the gentlemanly southern soul man Brook Benton. Maybe it’s because we recently blogged about the Elvis-Stax connection, but its instrumentation and arrangement sure seems to bring together the best of the two Memphis sounds - the sound of Elvis and the sound of Stax. 

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