Best known as a disco dolly or the voice behind one of house's greatest hits, Candi Staton has back pages that run deeper than 'Young Hearts Run Free' or 'You Got The Love' suggest. This excellent compilation rounds up 26 tracks recorded for the Fame label between 1967 and 1974, which show that the early chapters of the Staton story may not match the later commercial success, but trump the four-to-the-floor stuff with grit-in-the-grooves southern soul.
Staton recorded gospel as a teenager, but spent most of her 20s in an abusive relationship, raising four children, and didn't begin to sing R&B until her brother took her to an Alabama club one night in 1967. Soon signed to local label Fame, she cut these tracks in the same Muscle Shoals studio where Aretha Franklin and Wilson Pickett recorded.
Standouts for the curious first time listener are the driving and funky takes on two songs from outside the southern soul canon. Her reading of 'Stand By Your Man' is strong enough to almost entirely expunge the dreadful memory of its writer, Tammy Wynette, changing the lyrics to "stand by George Bush" during one of Dubya's dad's election campaigns, while a harmonica-led 'In The Ghetto' reminds you that Elvis started out as a country singer, too.
But those are really just the most barbed hooks to draw the listener into this fascinating and effervescent collection. 'I'm Just A Prisoner (Of Your Good Lovin')' is a tremendous opener, Staton's voice a sandpaper-rough rasp (producer Rick Hall reputedly forced numerous takes on his singers - the sound of a throat disintegrating was real enough). Her first Fame single, 'I'd Rather Be An Old Man's Sweetheart (Than A Young Man's Fool)', is Pickett as sung by Franklin, while songs like 'Love Chain' and 'Heart On A String' show her as the perfect frontwoman for some superlative in-the-pocket playing.
