Be What You Are

Be What You Are
Studio album by
The Staple Singers
ReleasedSeptember 1973
Recorded1973
GenreSoul
Length51:56
LabelStax
ProducerAl Bell
The Staple Singers chronology
Be Altitude: Respect Yourself
(1972) 		Be What You Are
(1973) 		City in the Sky
(1974)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Christgau's Record GuideB[2]

Be What You Are is a soul album by the Staple Singers, released in September 1973. It reached number 13 on the Billboard Top Soul LPs chart. The first single, "Be What You Are", fared poorly; however, the follow-up, "If You're Ready (Come Go with Me)", was a top ten hit, peaking at number nine on the Billboard Hot 100 and number one on the R&B Singles chart. The third single, "Touch a Hand, Make a Friend" charting at number 23 on the Hot 100 and number three on the R&B chart in 1974.

Guitarist Jimmy Page played acoustic and electric guitars as well as a solo on the last song, "Heaven." Stax engineer Terry Manning was a friend of Page's and worked on Led Zeppelin III.[3]

  1. ^ Elias, Jason. The Staple Singers: Be What You Are > Review at AllMusic. Retrieved 7 October 2011.
  2. ^ Christgau, Robert (1981). "Consumer Guide '70s: S". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies. Ticknor & Fields. ISBN 089919026X. Retrieved March 13, 2019 – via robertchristgau.com.
  3. ^ Ross, Michael (June 2015). "Forgotten Heroes: Pops Staples". Premier Guitar.