Young Hearts Run Free (4:06)

.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 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. 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 launched her solo career as a Southern soul stylist, 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”.[3] Staton appeared on the September 23, 1972 edition (Season 2, Episode 1) of Soul Train. In 1975, 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 [4] during the summer of 1976. It was remixed and re-released in 1986 reaching the UK Top 50.[4] Follow up song “Destiny” hit the Top 50 in the UK.[4] Candi’s version of “Nights on Broadway” hit the UK Top 10 in 1977;[4] 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”.[4] Other club hits included “When You Wake Up Tomorrow” and “Victim”.