Candi Staton - Do It In The Name Of Love
Southern soul and gospel legend Candi Staton recently recorded the excellent album His Hands, her first secular album in over a decade. Prompting the release of this welcomed album was the success of the Honest Jon's compilation of her best FAME sides, which is a must for any soul fan who doesn't have qualms about buying a CD whose legal status is dubious (Rick Hall has refused outside companies to do any compilations of any FAME material at this time and the status of ownership of some of the masters - due to the various distribution deals the FAME label had during its existence - is a complex situation). As is the case with any comp, there's always those songs that are not included for whatever reason, and today's selection is one of them.
"Do It In The Name Of Love" was released in 1973, near the end of the label's run. In 1974 Staton would move on to Warner Brothers, where a few more Rick Hall productions would hit the charts before 1976's disco smash "Young Hearts Run Free." It appears that Hall and the Fame musicians were looking over their shoulder at the smashes that the Staple Singers were having, as the arrangement of the song and Candi's vocal are derived from the Staples' 1971 hit "Respect Yourself" (notice the drumming during the verses and Candi's Mavis Staples-styled moaning; FAME wasn't alone in noticing the Staples - over at Hi Records, Ann Peebles' "Fill This World With Love" borrowed the drumming and vocal style from "Respect Yourself" as well). Fortunately, the song rises well above being a knockoff Staples record to be a great example of how good Southern soul was being made at a time when such a style was about to perish.
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