Candi Staton - Life Happens (2014)

Last year the Greg Camalier-directed Muscle Shoals told the often-neglected story of Rick Hall and the North Alabama music factory that gave birth to golden records for Aretha Franklin, Wilson Pickett, Etta James, the Rolling Stones, Percy Sledge and thousands more. Candi Staton, a church-trained singer born seventy miles southeast of Muscle Shoals, was also profiled. It’s not as if Staton needed the extra jolt of publicity. She’s been doing just fine with her most recent album releases, His Hands, and its follow-up, Who’s Hurting Now. Both discs framed her in the context of her Southern soul roots, digging into the heart of Americana and gospel-drenched soul. The critically acclaimed documentary expanded her territory to garner a larger audience, reconnect with old heroes and to make new acquaintances.

She opens up her new LP, Life Happens, with “I Ain’t Easy to Love,” a song that connects her with the next generation of Alabama superstars, from Jason Isbell to John Paul White of the Civil Wars. The powerhouse trio embarks on a gospel jubilee exercise bloated with juicy Hammond B-3 chords and Memphis brass. And that’s just one of the many rewards found inside Staton’s latest record. Rick Hall, who produced her Fame-era hits, including the chart-topping covers of “Stand By Your Man” and “In the Ghetto,” lays down the groundwork for “I Ain’t Easy to Love,” along with some of the album’s finest moments.