Different from uttering loud or shouting solely, voices of gospel or gospel-derived singers, it seems to me, are brought by the air which is saved fully inside them and is vibrated by the whole body. Many non-professionals have watched such appearances and such vibrations of voice from their childhood, and then some of them join in gospel choirs and find their own talents and finally become professionals. What a huge environment of music they have. Also in Japan there are some whose predecessors had been traditional singers or whose parents are musicians, and their voices are worth such prolific environments. However, since most Japanese are careful of others' keen sights because of their narrow and gathering housing and sing in their own way at limited spots like karaoke, it is hard for you to expect such fertile background of gospel in Japan. Although the profoundity of voice doesn't always go through to a listener's heart, it is best that the voice is turned out to be identifiable and comfortable and fine. Candi Staton takes the air in her unique way with her higher alto which sounds a little raspy but pretty and sexy. She came from gospel and left great renditions of southern soul, but she made a greater success on disco or club scene.
Candi Staton wrote an autobiography, though I've never read before, and the liner notes of her compilation bests reflect its content. She was born in a rural town in Alabama and helped picking cottons and so on and found her own singing talent at the age of five. After she got prominent in singing gospel in the local church, she went into a boarding school in Nashville, where she was found by the bishop who owned the school and formed the Jewell Gospel Trio. As a member she was said to cut some sides and perform with Mahalia Jackson and have tours from coast to coast with the Staple Singers or preacher C. L. Franklin or his daughter Aretha Franklin. According to her bio, Sam Cooke of the Soul Stirrers adviced her "How about singing secular music?", and she was about to get married with Lou Rawls of the Pilgrim Travelers. I wish I could hear the counterparts' opinions. After all she returned to her home Alabama and married a son of a minister and had four children. However, she escaped from her husband's jealousy and violence and was found by a then star Clarence Carter when she was singing R&B at a club. And at Muscle Shoals' Fame Studios where Clarence had recordings and under the production of the owner Rick Hall, she left a string of such fabulous tunes that she was dubbed as 'First Lady of Southern Soul'. Her Fame compilation "Candi Staton" sounds the same surging in its atmosphere as Aretha Franklin's Muscle Shoals recordings I Never Loved a Man and Do Right Woman - Do Right Man. Its tracks like I'm Just a Prisoner (of Your Good Lovin'), That's How My Strong Love Is, Stand by Your Man, In the Ghetto or How Can I Put Out the Flame (When You Keep the Fire Burning) was backed by sounds of the blues mixed with country, which feel like making her passionate voice light brighter.
Even after moving to Warner she and Rick Hall released some tunes like thrilling As Long As He Takes Care of Home, however, she gave up 'out-of-date southern soul' and rushed into disco along with Dave Crawford. While she saves her energy in the tunes of her Warner years compilation "The Best of Candi Staton" , buoyant discos like Young Hearts Run Free and Victim or a gentle quiet storm tune One More Chance on Love, this best is indispensably attractive because it has also an in-full-bloom acappella gospel Take My Hand, Precious Lord. She had been married to Clarence Carter, a guide to the singer's success, but they parted. At the dawn of the '80s when her well of hits in Warner dried up and came to singing on the chitlin' circuit, her next husband fell into cocaine addiction and she into alcoholism. And then the couple launched a gospel label with the aid of televangelists and had modelate successes. Now she keep releasing albums of gospel and ones including soul or R&B renditions.
Meanwhile, Frankie Knuckles, a hero on Chicago house scene, used Jamie Principle's track and released Your Love in his own name, and he mixed Candi Staton's voice with it and made You Got The Love (the two above can be heard on "His Greatest Hits from Trax Records"). Moreover, John Truelove remixed it and released '91 bootleg You Got The Love in the name of The Source and this made a great breakthrough chiefly on Europe club scene. And then its Now Voyager Mix also got a hit in '97, and finally the remix was featured on the TV drama "Sex and the City" and caught the ears of drama fans (the remixes by John Truelove are heard on "You Got the Love" and so on. Though I have written above, I found this has a delicate and obscure copyright problem). She followed it up and had a UK-released album "Outside In" in '99. Produced by UK house men K. Klass, this exposes 'Diva' Candi Staton singing with her almost invariable voice backed by today's sound. To say the better she is flexible enough to adapt herself to the times. In other words how fickle and willful she is. I have such an impression of her since Candi Staton frankly told about herself. There might be similar ups and downs in the life of silent men. One has a period when one want to rely on God or Buddha. She is finally supported, it seems to me, by her root of gospel which is like an anchor never weighed.
After she set her foot in southern soul, disco, gospel or house music, she came back to the southern soul albums: "His Hands" in 2006 with a help from Fame's in-house organist Barry Beckett and "Who's Hurting Now" in 2009. She rarely scream to the high edge of her voice as she did at Fame, however, it is still beautiful that her unique raspy voice vibrates in all of her breath. Mark Nevers who produced this two albums has deep acquaintance with southern soul, and the drummer Marcus Williams gives us grooves one step slower than one has expected. They spawn the new old school sounds of which they can convince southern soul fans. I am looking forward to such kind of albums during her gospel duties. (2005/11/06)(2009/05/24)