Mavis Staples brings one of the greatest R&B resumés of all time to Carmel.

Mavis Staples remains humbled by her 75th birthday celebration at Chicago’s Auditorium Theatre on Nov. 19, 2014.

“It was… it was amazing,” is all she is able to muster, which is unusual considering the fact she describes herself as someone who loves talking with people.

The two-set, 23-song event kicked off with Joan Osborne’s rendition of the obscure gem “You’re Driving Me (to the Arms of a Stranger),” off Staples’ 1969 solo debut. Then Arcade Fire’s Win Butler and Regine Chassagne collaborated with Staples on a moving version of the Talking Heads’ “Slippery People,” which David Byrne said he wrote with Staples’ “sanctified gospel in mind.”

Gregg Allman, Aaron Neville, Bonnie Raitt and Taj Mahal joined Staples on a stripped-down version of “Will the Circle Be Unbroken,” an early Staples Singers’ masterpiece. Jeff Tweedy and son Spencer accompanied on “You’re Not Alone,” before Staples delivered one of the Staples Singers’ biggest hits “I’ll Take You There.” The night closed with a verse-trading encore of The Band’s “The Weight.”

“I never thought I’d come this far,” Staples says. “I never think about it, but as years go on I think, ‘Wow, I’m still going and people still want to hear me.’”

People have been wanting Staples’ voice in their lives for six decades now, ever since the Staples Singers’ 1955 debut single “Uncloudy Day.”

Staples remembers her reaction to hearing “Uncloudy Day” on the airwaves.

“Hearing yourself on the radio for the first time is unbelievable,” she says. “Pop stopped the car and we sat there and listened, then we all got out the car and cheered. We had a cheering session, jumping up and down. Then, we got back in the car and went to wherever it is we were going as if nothing happened.”

It was around this same time that patriarch Roebuck “Pop” Staples turned to his wife, Staples’ mother Oceola, and said, “I think we can make a living doing this.”

“My mother said, ‘Don’t you dare quit your job,’” Staples remembers. So Pop kept his job at the steel mill and Mavis stayed in high school. But after she graduated in 1957, the Staples Singers – Pops, Mavis and two sisters – hit the road full time.

“It didn’t happen overnight like Justin Bieber,” she says. “We climbed the ladder.”

The Staples Singers performed any gig they could get for a solid decade before they began getting radio play in 1955.

“We started on the chitlin’ circuit and moved on up, which I appreciate,” Staples says. “We were very fortunate because it keeps you grounded, so you’re more grateful when good things do come.”

She also attributes her success to positive thinking.

“All things are possible if you believe in yourself,” she says.

A sentiment like that may come off as somewhat cliche, but Staples grew up surrounded by similar positive affirmations in South Side Chicago churches, where the Staples Singers started out on a strictly gospel diet. But Chicago was a rich source of all different types of music and from a young age, Staples opened her ears to all of it.

“When I was a kid, I’d be on the street and hear the blues,” she says. “There would be cracks in the walls and we’d watch Howlin’ Wolf and B.B. King play. Then, at night, the do-wops would stand around the light post singing, ‘Do-wa, do-wa do-wa.’ I think Chicago is a stomping ground for some of the best music.”

Staples’ adoration of the Chicago music scene extends to the modern era, from Smashing Pumpkins all the way to Wilco.

In Wilco’s case, the feeling’s mutual: Frontman Jeff Tweedy introduced himself to Staples backstage after one of her shows a few years back. Tweedy told the singer about how he was turned on to the Staples Singers in a record shop when he was 17 years old.

“There’s something about our music,” Staples says. “The young people grab hold.”

About two weeks after their first meeting, Staples got a call from her manager that Tweedy was interested in producing her next record. She calls the collaboration with Tweedy “meant to be.”

“I enjoyed working with that kid so much,” Staples says. “I’ve worked with many geniuses, from Curtis Mayfield to Ry Cooder to Prince, and now Jeff Tweedy. And they all knew my music before they produced me. They knew where I came from. That helped so much.”

Staples’ first record with Tweedy, 2010’s gospel-campfire throwback You Are Not Alone, earned a Grammy Award for Best Americana Album. It was the singer’s first Grammy win and the record was her highest chart debut (No. 69 on the Billboard 200).

In 2013, Staples’ follow-up with Tweedy One True Vine is more subdued and introspective than their first, but just as moving – the reincarnation of the Staples Singers’ “I Like the Things About Me” will move you out of your seat like a South Side Chicago church sermon.

Meanwhile, Staples readies for tour, which includes a stop in Carmel Sunday. It will mark her first tour at 75. She credits her longevity to Pop’s strict rules.

“He never allowed us to go to after parties,” Staples says. “Pop wanted us to get rest, so after we get done playing, it was back to the hotel for tea and honey.”

MAVIS STAPLES 3pm Sunday, Jan. 18. Sunset Center, San Carlos and Ninth, Carmel. $49-$69 (add $30 for gospel brunch). 620-2047.