Candi Staton

Candi Staton

Candi Staton performing.
Background information
Birth name Canzetta Maria Staton
Born (1940-03-13) March 13, 1940
Hanceville, Alabama
Genres
Occupation(s) Musician
Instruments Vocals
Years active 1953–present
Labels
Associated acts The Source
Website candi-staton.com

Canzetta Maria "Candi" Staton (/ˈsteɪtən/) (born March 13, 1940 in Hanceville, Alabama)[1] is an American soul and gospel singer, best known in the United States for her 1970 remake of Tammy Wynette's "Stand By Your Man" and her 1976 disco chart-topper "Young Hearts Run Free". In Europe, her biggest selling record is the anthemic "You Got the Love" from 1986, released in collaboration with the Source. Staton was inducted into the Christian Music Hall of Fame.[2]

Biography

Early life

At the age of eleven or twelve, Staton and her sister Maggie were sent to the Jewell Christian Academy in Nashville, Tennessee. Her vocal abilities quickly set her apart from the crowd; the school's pastor teamed the two sisters with a third girl (Naomi Harrison) to form the Jewell Gospel Trio. As teenagers, they toured the traditional gospel circuit in the 1950s with the Soul Stirrers, C. L. Franklin and Mahalia Jackson.[3] They recorded several sides for Nashbro, Apollo and Savoy Records between 1953 and 1963.

Solo career

Candi Staton onstage at Guilfest 2012.

In 1968, Staton was introduced to Rick Hall by Clarence Carter, who became her second husband in 1970, and launched her solo career as a Southern soul stylist,[3] garnering 16 R&B hits for Rick Hall's Fame Studios and gaining the title of "First Lady of Southern Soul" for her Grammy-nominated R&B renditions of the songs "Stand by Your Man" and "In the Ghetto".[4] Staton appeared on the September 23, 1972 edition (Season 2, Episode 1) of Soul Train.

In 1976, Staton began collaborating with producer David Crawford on disco songs such as "Young Hearts Run Free", which reached #1 on the US R&B charts, #2 in the UK Singles Chart and went Top 20 on the Pop Hot 100 [5] during the summer of 1976. It was remixed and re-released in 1986 reaching the UK Top 50.[5] Follow up song "Destiny" hit the Top 50 in the UK.[5] Candi's version of "Nights on Broadway" hit the UK Top 10 in 1977;[5] it had been a US Billboard hit for the Bee Gees over a year before. In 1978, she scored another Top 50 hit in the UK with "Honest I Do I Love You".[5] In 1979, from her album "Chance" Staton released album single "When You Wake Up Tomorrow" (co-written by Patrick Adams and Wayne K. Garfield) and the title song "Chance", a TOP 20 R&B charted record. Other Dance club chart hits included "When You Wake Up Tomorrow" and "Victim". In 1982, Candi again hit the UK chart with a version of Elvis Presley's "Suspicious Minds".[5][6] In 1996, singer Kym Mazelle recorded "Young Hearts Run Free" for the film adaption Romeo + Juliet of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.[7]

In 1982, Staton returned to gospel music. She married her fourth husband, John Sussewell (drummer for Ashford & Simpson and also Dory Previn's sixth album). Together they founded Beracah Ministries in Atlanta, Georgia with help from Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker's PTL Ministries.[4] She has since recorded eight gospel albums, two of which received Grammy Award nominations.

Staton appears on the United Nations Register of Entertainers, Actors And Others Who Have Performed in Apartheid South Africa.[8]

In 1991, she returned to popular mainstream charts by lending her vocals to the Source's Top Ten British hit, "You Got the Love", a club-styled dance hit that sold two million copies and that is still considered a seminal classic of that era, leading to many remixes and cover versions being created. Staton signed with Intersound Records in 1995. In 2000, she released her eleventh album, Here's a Blessing. In 2004, the British record label Honest Jon's released a compilation CD of her country-soul work from the late 1960s and early 1970s, the self-titled Candi Staton, and Staton followed it up with a secular project in 2006 entitled His Hands, produced by Mark Nevers of Lambchop and with the title track written by Will Oldham. Two of Staton's children, Cassandra Hightower (background vocals) and Marcus Williams (drums), joined her on the CD. A second studio album for Honest Jon's, titled Who's Hurting Now?, appeared in 2009.

Staton's television show New Direction aired on TBN. Staton has also made appearances on the Praise the Lord telecast with Paul Crouch and his wife Jan Crouch.[6]

Personal life

Staton has been married six times:

Discography

Studio albums

Compilation

Singles (non comprehensive)

References

  1. ↑ Allmusic.com - accessed July 2010
  2. ↑ Christian Music Hall of Fame Archived 2009-12-25 at the Wayback Machine. Staton inducted into the Christian Music Hall of Fame
  3. 1 2 from an interview on episode 191 of the Americana Music Show, published May 12, 2014.
  4. 1 2 "Divastation: Candi Staton". Retrieved 2008-02-02.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 525. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
  6. 1 2 "Candi Staton". Retrieved 2008-02-02.
  7. ↑ "Divastation: Kym Mazelle". Retrieved 2008-02-02. Kym Mazelle's cover of "Young Hearts Run Free" for the movie Romeo and Juliet.
  8. ↑ United Nations Centre against Apartheid. "REGISTER OF ENTERTAINERS, ACTORS AND OTHERS WHO HAVE PERFORMED IN APARTHEID SOUTH AFRICA" (PDF). doi:10.5555/al.sff.document.nuun1986_03_final.pdf.
  9. ↑ "Candi Staton Page". Soulwalking.co.uk. 1943-03-13. Retrieved 2012-04-26.
  10. ↑ Staton, Candi. "Candi Staton's Divorce from Otis Nixon". Interview: Candi Staton. SoSoGay.co.uk.
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