Track Listing

1. You Don't Have Far To Go
2. When Hearts Grow Cold
3. It's Not Easy Letting Go
4. His Hands
5. How Do I Get Over You?
6. You Never Really Wanted Me
7. I'll Sing A Love Song To You
8. In Name Only
9. Running Out Of Love
10. Cry To Me
11. When Will I?

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #35739 in Music
• Released on: 2006-04-04
• Number of discs: 1

Album Description
Japanese edition of the 2006 album from the star of Christian TV that marks a return to the roots with the sound of her first recordings from Muscle Shoals in the late 1960's and early 1970's.

Amazon.com
Talk about a comeback. The former first lady of Southern soul, now 66, reaches back to her secular heyday for In His Hands, a chronicle of hurt so drenched in raw feeling you can practically wring out the sweat and tears. This is music as time-travel: like Sharon Jones of Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings or Bettye Lavette, Staton flouts the rules of modern music-making--nothing flashy here, no tarted-up beats or slick come-ons--in favor of sending her listeners to somewhere deep in the trenches of a heart that--despite it all--refuses to frost over. The wrenching title track tears the no-trespassing sign off the topic of domestic abuse with transcendent honesty, and "In Name Only," a love song, rips delicately at the seams of the soul. Seven of these 11 tracks are covers, but Staton's gift for interpretation and her gloriously clawed-up voice renders them instantly, powerfully her own. In His Hands adds up to a stroke of genius on the part of the normally electro-oriented Astrelwerks label. Look for other forward-thinking, hip purveyors of music to follow suit, unleashing decades' worth of soul on the world. --Tammy La Gorce

Customer Reviews

Soulresurrection
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.

TRIUMPHANT RETURN TO SOUL FOR MS. STATON!
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!

A Stax Retro
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