Customer Reviews

His Hands

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

During the later seventies and the early eighties R&B lost its Soul. R&B charts were dominated by polished artists as Whitney Housten, Michael Jackson and George Michael even. Artist like Candi Staton became either marginalized or were forced into the new mold. The Nu-Soul movement appeared to bring some promise of better days. But artists like D'Angelo and Erykah Badu failed to deliver in the long run. It did however rekindle interest in the forgotten veterans of Soul. Recent years have brought us successful comeback albums by Solomon Burke, Al Green and Bettye Lavette. Although the production was different from the golden age of Soul the essence was the same. Stories of love lost and love gained sung with a whole lot of hope and dignity.

Candi Staton is the latest in the row of veterans to be brought back under our attention. The last two decades she mostly spend singing gospel. His Hands is her first secular effort in years. And a successful effort it is. In part because of the choice in song, in part because of her deliverance.

A great deal of this disc is filled with country songs. Candi tackles the songs of Merle Haggard and Will Oldham, a beautiful throwback to her Muscle Shoal years. Her singing on this disc is great. Her voice didn't lose in quality over the years. It seems as if Candi Staton is not only enjoying herself but is taking the material seriously. The production in turn sounds as if Candi Staton as a secular artist is taken serious again. And that was long overdue.

Well what can I say about Candi Staton's new album HIS HANDS?! It never ceases to amaze me that when I listen to a Candi Staton album, she always has a way of hitting the head of the nail on issues that affect everyday people.

I was thrilled to find out that she was recording an album that would resurrect the sound she made famous when she was with FAME records in the late 60s and early 70s. When I first listened to this album, immediately I could understand the emotions and heartache that must have inspired Ms. Staton to sing with such conviction! My favorite song has to be "When Will I?" and it's such an inspiring song. My favorite line is "I see a lonely sparrow fly, and I wonder, when will I?"......reminiscent of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow." The title track is shivering with vocals that hits the core of the human condition. Overall what an awesome album! It is also nice to note that Candi is receiving rave reviews, which she greatly deserves! I have been a fan for many years now and I hope that the rest of the world will come to realize what a great singer she is!

Listening to this wonderful, joyous album really felt like a blast back to the early 1970's on Stax Records, with those great singers singing and the Memphis Horns playing. Remember those great albums by Otis Redding, The Staple Singers, Albert Collins and Albert King? (Albert King's "I'll Play the Blues for You" on Stax--oh, yeah!!)

This album is exactly like that. Ammy notes a bookend album of Bettye Lavette's "I've Got My Own Hell to Raise." A great album: but that one evokes Tina Turner in her prime. This one is more like Mavis Staples.

All of the songs are unfamiliar to me by title, but they all sound familiar. One of them (track #7) has licks that sound an awful lot like Dylan's "I Shall Be Released." I almost downgraded the rating to 4 stars on account of that.

But I couldn't do that, ultimately. All of these songs are tight and swinging, and Ms. Staton sounds every bit the confident soul diva that Gladys Knight and Mavis Staples were in their primes. Most importantly, this album had me smiling and clapping throughout. 4-star albums don't do that to me. 5-star albums do. RC

'His Hands' is superb from start to finish. It's beautifully sung and produced (by Mark Nevers). Each of the eleven songs suit Candi to perfection.She co wrote four of them and we have real instruments played throughout including old stager Barry Becket on Organ.

The fine thing is that Candi has made an album with a contemporary feel but in the tradition of her great Fame recordings. The album has a great deal of autobiographical detail in it and the songs are thus sung from a very personal point of view. There's no sterilty about the sound, each musician is clearly loving the moment.

The title track 'His Hands' is one of the finest songs I've heard and I keep hitting the replay button trying to get the nuances. It refers to a period in Candi's life when she was being physically abused andbelieve me the lyrics (by Will Oldham) are profound. The song has a redemptive quality which adds to the tension of the music. Her greatest ever recording?

Cry To Me' is another favourite track. OK it's a standard from thirty years ago but it ain't lost anything in the immediate years.Here itis a great southern romp. Lost love features heavily throughout 'In Name Only' is a desperately sad song and the album often represents the sadness of personal relationships.

I could highlight virtually every track really from the undeniably catchy 'When Hearts Grow Cold' to the plaintive closing track 'When Will I'. The CD is a joy. Perhaps one more uptempo track would have improved things more but really I am being greedy.

You know I'm almost inclined to continue the cliches and say that
this is a classic southern soul recording.

Listen to this latest CD by Candi Staton, an umatched voice of stirring conviction and heart-filled passion. Her words tell a powerful story, including the title track "His Hands" while her husky-tinged voice at first gently pulls you in and takes you to memories you thought you forget. You may smile and you may cry but you will feel the power of Candi Staton. Thanks to Candi Staton for coming back home to the music that has always set her apart, and thanks to all those who made it possible for Ms. Staton to shine brighter than ever.

It's been over 20 years since Candi Staton's last album of secular music having recorded solely gospel in the intervening years.

So with this in mind it comes as quite a surprise just how good this album is. Her voice has grown stronger and many of the songs deal with past abusive relationships which gives the listener a feeling of eavesdropping on her innermost thoughts. Candi wrote four of the eleven tracks with various others providing the rest. Not many original '60's soul artists are still recording music of this quality. Standout tracks are "You Don't Have This Far To Go", "It's Not Easy Letting Go", "When Will I?" & the awesome "His Hands".

This is a gem of an album which I will always treasure and I hope you will too.

IMAGINE COLLARD GREENS SLOW COOKING ON THE STOVE, A FEW BLACK LOVE INCENSE BURNING IN THE LIVING ROOM ,BIG MAMA SITTING ON THE PORCH SNAPPING GREEN BEANS, BIG BERTHA YELLING OUT OF HER SCREEN DOOR FOR HER KIDS TO COME INSIDE AND JUNEBUG AND HIS CREW PLAYING DICE ON THE CORNER....

WELL THAT'S WHERE THIS ALBUM WILL TAKE YOU.... WHERE LIFE WAS SO FULL OF SOUL YOU COULD ALMOST TASTE IT...CANDI STATON BY FAR IS ONE OF THE MOST SOULFUL FEMALE SINGERS OF THIS 21ST CENTURY. ALTHOUGH MY IDOL ARETHA WAS CROWNED THE QUEEN OF SOUL AND DESERVEDLY SO... CANDI STATON ALONG WITH MAVIS STAPLES HAS TRULY GIVEN ARETHA A RUN FOR HER MONEY. YOU SHOULD RUN... NOT WALK.... AND PICK UP A COPY OF "HIS HANDS" FROM START TO FINISH THIS ALBUM IS DRENCHED IN HOT-BUTTERED- MISSISSIPPI-SHO'NUFF-SOUL.... WHILE LISTENING TO THIS ALBUM YOU WILL BE TRANSPORTED TO TIME AND PLACE WHERE SINGERS HAD TO SANG... NOT SING, WHAT SO AMAZING IS THE FACT THAT THIS ALBUM WAS RECORDED LAST YEAR

Mind you, this is the best blues/soul record since the untimely passing of Luther Allison, and everything about it speaks of a quality that you don't find in the aesthetics of many others making records these days. For one thing, the rootsy feel of the band harkens back to Muscle Shoals, to Booker T, to Otis Redding. These are deeply, deeply soulful players and singers who are committed to themusic. And with Commitment, all the rules change.
Staton has a voice so authentic that it makes all the caterwauling histrionics you haer from all the ballyhoo-ed divas seem so amateurish. In short, she is the genuine article. I can't think of another singer who commands such authority in her voice in the blues/soul/r n b world as Staton. And as chief architect and writer of most of the material herein, she has set herself apart from everyone else in this branch of music: this is as fine as it gets, the work of a consummate professional.
So why not 5 stars? Well, there is a monotony to the themes of the songs. They all deal with the devastation she feels from a failed marriage. And while I know that the pain is real, by the seventh track I found myself correctly guessing the lyrics and the rhythm patterns. A bit of variety in subject matter would have elevated this to possibly the best blues vocal record ever.
That's quibbling, and I know it. Her pain is palpable and real, and I mean no disservice to her emotions. But still, she must think about something else from time to time....
Regardless, while you may not listen all the way through every time, you will come back to this CD many, many times throughout the rest of your life. Superb!

CANDI STATON IS ONE TALENTED SINGER.
I FIRST HEARD HER LIVESTREAMING ON A
STATION FROM FRANCE AND EMAILED THE
STATION TO FIND OUT WHO THE SINGER
OF "I'LL SING A LOVE SONG TO YOU" WAS.
I FOUND OUT , BOUGHT THE CD AND IT'S
INSPIRATIONAL !!! R/B THE WAY IT'S
MEANT TO BE ,WITH THAT MUSCLE SHOALS
VIBE THAT MAKES YOU WANTA LAUGH AND
CRY AT THE SAME TIME .THE REAL DEAL
FOLKS.CANDI STATON WITH A VOICE LIKE
SATIN !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I love an artist who can interpret a song and make it all her own in a unique way and that's what Candi Stanton does with sensitive soul. She has an expressive, wisened, way-of-the world voice which lends itself to deep emotional feelings. "In His Hands" is a remarkable tour de force as the song starts a gentle slow pace and reaches a peak with her belting out the word "power" that unleashes emotional power.
I don't think there are many artists around who have her remarkable gospel-tinged interpretive ability to make you "feel" the song.