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45 of 47 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Sweetheart of Southern Soul Delivers With Conviction!, September 6, 2004
This review is from: Candi Staton (Audio CD)
Candi Staton may not have been as acclaimed as Aretha Franklin, but for a time, she was one of the best and most consistent singers of southern soul and rhythm and blues. Like other soul singers, Staton started out singing as a child in the church. From there, she sang gospel music with her family and friends and eventually cut a few sides with the Jewel Gospel Trio. She travelled the gospel music circuit where she learned to move audiences with her passionate and soulful vocals. She was a contemporary of other "gospel birds" including Aretha Franklin, Shirley Caesar, Lou Rawls (whom she was engaged to marry at one time) Mel Carter and the Staple Singers. But after gospel music stars Sam Cooke and Franklin crossed over to secular recordings and mainstream success, Staton, now a divorcee with children to support, decided to try her hand at interpreting secular material. By the late 1960s, Staton was living in Birmingham, Alabama and began singing secular material at a local nightclub there. The response to Staton was so positive, she became one of the club's regular performers. While there, she met blind singer Clarence Carter, who eventually introduced Staton to Rick Hall, owner of the legendary Fame Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. At Fame, Staton began working on secular material produced by Hall and backed by some of the same musicians (i.e. The Sweet Inspirations, drummer Roger Hawkins and keyboardist Spooner Oldham,), who had also worked with Aretha Franklin on her landmark recordings for Atlantic Records. With Hall producing and some of country and soul music's best songwriters supplying the material, Staton's first album "I'm Just A Prisoner" was released in 1970. One of the highlight's was Staton's first pop/soul single "I'd Rather Be An Old Man's Sweetheart (Than Be A Young Man's Fool)," which had been issued the year before. That slice of sizzling, southern soul earned Staton her first gold record. After years of being out of print, or simply too hard to find: some of Staton's classics like "I'd Rather Be An Old Man's Sweetheart" and "I'm Just A Prisoner" have been gathered for this well anticipated disc that features the singer pouring out all of her heart and soul in 26 tracks. Staton is an expressive and soulful singer. On these 26 songs, Staton sings with so much conviction and passion. you get the feeling that she left a little bit of herself back there on the floor of Fame Studios. Her speciality was songs of love lost and loneliness, very dramatic tunes that told the truth about adult love and relationships. One of the set's strongest ballads is "Mr and Mrs. Untrue," in which Staton sings about an adulterous affair so sleazy and dirty, she makes you feel the pain, shame and frustration of one of these sad and sorry love affairs. She pours her heart out so convincingly that you'll probably think twice about ever becoming involved in an undercover affair. Staton also shows her skill at turning songs recorded by others into her own personal triumphs. She was one of the few R&B singers, who successfully covered country tunes, turning them into soulful masterpieces such as her versions of Tammy Wynette's "Stand By Your Man" and "In The Ghetto," a social commentary tune written by Mac Davis and made popular by Elvis Presley. So impressed was Presley after hearing Staton's cover of "Ghetto," he allegedly sent her a congratulatory note. If you're a fan of real, soulful singing, do yourself a favor and get a copy of this collection of songs by Candi Staton, one of the most underrated and best singers of southern soul.
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14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Candi's classic years, January 27, 2006
This review is from: Candi Staton (Audio CD)
Candi Staton is perhaps best known today for a couple of big disco tunes, Young Hearts Run Free and You Got The Love, but before those she had enjoyed a big run of southern soul hits, all recorded at Fame Studios in Muscle Shoals AL with producer Rick Hall. They have the classic gritty Muscle Shoals sound with big, fat lithe horns and female choruses, and dissect the seamier side of life with titles like I'd Rather Be An Old Man's Sweetheart (Than A Young Man's Fool), Mr And Mrs Untrue and Another Man's Woman, Another Woman's Man.
Candi had grown up singing, first in the church choir as a schoolgirl, and in gospel groups from the age of eight onwards, later touring with Aretha, Mahalia Jackson, Sam Cooke and others, and had no difficulty whatsoever in switching to the rhythm and blues and country soul she recorded for Fame. Her naturally sweet voice was deliberately given a hoarser edge by Rick Hall through over singing to get the soulful effect he desired. Country music was as big in Alabama as soul so it was unsurprising that Candi should have hits with her heartfelt interpretations of Stand By Your Man and In The Ghetto.
This collection gathers most of the best of the classic recordings she made with the Muscle Shoals crew between 1969 and 1973, and which had been overlooked for far too long. They are not presented in chronological order and the notes are very hazy as to what was recorded when, and which of them were singles and which were album cuts. Eight A-sides and nine B-sides are actually included, with all but one A-side (Love Chain, from 1973) and three B-sides (tracks 13, 19 and 26) also duplicated on her first three albums.
In fact, the first two albums are present in full. I'm Just A Prisoner (1969) can be recreated by programming tracks 5, 3, 15, 2, 9, 10, 6, 1, 7 and 22; while Stand By Your Man (1971) comprised tracks 12, 17, 1 (again), 16, 14, 8, 9 (again), 18, 20 and 23. Her third album, Candi Staton (1972) is represented by tracks 21, 4, 24, 15 (again - unless a new version) and 25.
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15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Rock Solid Delta Soul, Delivered with Fire and Conviction, February 9, 2005
This review is from: Candi Staton (Audio CD)
Finally, a collection of Candi Staton's FAME late-60s/early 70s recordings, made in Muscle Shoals and dripping with heartbreak, defiance, soul, and mystery. What a set of pipes!! To my ears more complicated arrangements than rival STAX, FAME envelopes Ms. Staton's stellar vocals with hard-edged, passionate sounds, creating a true interplay between singer and band that carries you through astounding performance after performance. Even her covers are jaw-dropping: check out her take on "Stand By Your Man" or the soul standard "That's How Strong My Love Is" to see the power and the glory that this collection represents. Sadly, she went on to California in the mid-70s to become a disco queen, but having heard this collection, I can only say: It's ok -- you made your mark.
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