40 Year Itch : Just One Crack at Life

Candi Staton : Young Hearts Run Free

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   Can anything beat an upbeat tune with downbeat lyrics? Right there with Joy Division's "Love Will Tear Us Apart", we should celebrate Candi Staton's "Young Hearts Run Free". Sure the music sounds like top of the line disco fodder, but the lyrics are sung from the point of view of a "lost and lonely wife" stuck at home with babies while her husband is out "loving every woman he can". 

   

 Songwriter David Crawford came up with the lyrics after a conversation with Staton who said later "I [noticed] that [Crawford] was taking notes, and he said, 'You know, I’m gonna write you a song. I’m gonna write you a song that's gonna last forever.'"

    Was Staton's real life ex- husband, Clarence Carter, the Jay-Z to Candi's Beyonce? 

    Released in May of 1976, the #1 R and B single peaked at #20 on the US pop charts and UK #2.

Southern Fried Country Soul Grab Bag

To mark the crazy reality show that is the Republican presidential contest heading into the Deep Southern states of Alabama and Mississippi this week, enjoy this grab bag of 1972's best Southern-fried country soul.

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Louisiana native Joe Simon followed up 1971's "Drowning In The Sea of Love" with his million selling #1 R and B hit "The Power Of Love".

[Buye Some Bettye]

Another Louisiana native, Bettye Swann recorded a series of great singles in the early 70's, including this classic, originally recorded by Etta James for Tell Mama.

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The title track from Mississippi native Otis Clay's incredible 1972 album recorded for the same label that made Al Green a star. Brinsley Schwarz covered this nugget on their New Favourites album

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Before Alabama native Candi Staton scored a huge disco-era hit with "Young Hearts Run Free", she showed us her bluesy side on a self-titled album  recorded in Muscle Shoals.

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Mississippi born Ernie Hines recorded his 1972 album Electrified with both The Bar-Kays and The MGs. This amazing album includes  the title track as well as the anthemic "Our Generation"