by Joss Stone List Price:$14.00 Our Price:$13.00 Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Product Details
Media: Audio CD
Release Date: Tuesday, September 16, 2003
Label: S-Curve Records
Average Customer Review: 4.5 Based on 303 reviews.
Sales Rank: 147
Tracks
1.
Victim Of A Foolish Heart
2.
The Chokin' Kind
3.
Super Duper Love
4.
Some Kind Of Wonderful
5.
I've Fallen In Love With You
6.
I Had A Dream
7.
For The Love Of You
8.
Fell In Love With A Boy
9.
Dirty Man
10.
All The King's Horses
Editorial Review
Not every 16-year-old white, English girl can hang with the likes of Betty Wright ("Clean Up Woman") and Angie Stone. Joss Stone (no relation), however, is blessed with a strong voice and a will to sing old-school soul. This debut CD is worthy of more than novelty status, though. Wisely avoiding iconic songs by the genre’s biggest names, Stone and a production team that includes Wright opt for lesser-known tunes more often by the likes of Laura Lee, Joe Simon, and the Soul Brothers Six--not to mention their digging out (with guest co-producer ?uestlove from the Roots) the great soul lyric in the White Stripes’ "Fell in Love with a (Boy)." Joss Stone occasionally misses a connection; her "Some Kind of Wonderful" is listless, and when she develops a bit more subtlety, it’ll be welcome. But The Soul Sessions has a spark beyond the album’s obvious good taste. --Rickey Wright
Top Customer Reviews
Rating:
4 Check out the New Girl...
This story is starting to get old: White, teenaged Brit soul-singer hooks up with black old-schoolers to remind Yanks of classics we forgot that we'd invented in the first place. It would be boring if Joss Stone didn't have the goods to back up the hype. The smoke on Joss has been gathering in the Brit press for nearly a year now, the latest small-town kid with a voice and songs in the Winwood tradition. Truth is, Stone has a few things to learn, but does indeed have skills: A self-assured, mostly unaffected voice with grit and sass in all the right places; a sense of dynamic and restraint that enables her to make the sale in almost every situation. Most notably, she has the good sense (usually) to avoid the sturm und scream that makes recent efforts by Xtina/Bitney ring so false. Indeed, The Soul Sessions is the sort of record either of the x-mouseketeers easily could have made if only they believed in something.Of course, Stone also has the advantage of hanging out with a crowd more concerned with tradition and tunes than costumes and cross marketing. Eight of the ten tracks on The Soul Sessions were produced by southern soul legend Betty "Cleanup Woman" Wright, who also contributes backing vocals and the soul savvy of a lifetime spent at the trade. Along for the ride are session icons Benny Latimore, Willie "Little Beaver" Hale, Timmy Thomas and Jack Daley, vets of literally hundreds of deep-South soul sessions. Add contributions by Questlove, Angie Stone and other Philly NeoSoul heavies and the result is classic sound with a 21st century bump.Stone and company play for keeps from the start: "Chokin' Kind," a Harlan Howard penned ballad is an inspired choice (from Wright's record collection no doubt) and Joss sings it with the same danger and passion that made it a hit for both Joe Simon and Mavis Staples back in the day. All over the record, Stone and/or her crew make inspired and left-field song choices that nearly always work, most amazingly on the down and dirty cover of the White Stripes' "Fell in Love With a Boy" -- over a Family Stone funk (with a filthy Daley bassline) Stone and her sisters weave the Jack White cruncher into a spellbinding tale of erotic caution. Elsewhere Joss brings a knowing tone to Carla Thomas' "I've Fallen in Love With You," blistered, wary anger to Laura Lee's "Dirty Man," a neo-creole strut to Aretha Franklin's "All the King's Horses," and a real-woman's vulnerability to Carla Thomas' "I've Fallen in Love With You." Time and time again, Stone, Wright and the rest of the studio team opt for the unusual, the unknown and the unexpected with glowing success.Not that mistakes aren't made; they just aren't ugly enough to get too upset about. Marvin Gaye's "Some Kind of Wonderful" feels a bit common in the midst of the other hidden treasures here, though Stone and her team do well by it. Joss herself sabotages the Isley's "For the Love of You" and John Sebastian's "I Had a Dream," deflating the afterglow vibe the band conjures with a few too many vocal acrobatics - understandable, since lots of people who don't know anything about music (but buy cds) go for that sort of thing. Not great, but not something you put on a 17 year-old's permanent record.Doubtless there are traditionalists out there who'll call Joss Stone out as a pretender, but nothing on The Soul Sessions feels forced or fabricated. In a year that's seen has-beens like Rod Stewart and Cyndi Lauper stumbling desperately through the Great American Songbook, Joss Stone is a breath of fresh air and the perfect gift for that person on your list who thinks Mary J. Blige invented R+B.
Rating:
5 Best Female Vocalist Since Mariah and Celine!!!
Hello, I'm a 29-year-old black female and I think Joss Stone is the best female vocalist to come along since Mariah Carey and Celine Dion. Right now, Joss is the best. She's looking like a real contender to join the vocal elite. "The Soul Sessions" is an excellent start for her. It's quite impressive. Hard to believe this big voice is coming from someone who is only 16. Sound familiar??? Every time I listen to Josh Groban, I can't believe he's only 23. These young guns are really raising the bar and it's about time. I only hope that less emphasis is placed on her being white. Joss' voice is more than good enough to sail this ship. It's not necessary for MTV to run a Miramax-style ad campaign. Sometimes if you push too much, you can turn people away. Joss is the real thing. All of that stuff just becomes a distraction and takes away from what's important, her singing. I even thought MTV was crazy when they mentioned her name in the same sentence as Mariah and Whitney. But they were on target. Although, you really need to hear her entire CD to draw that conclusion. Otherwise, it just sounds like hype. The clips that are provided on Amazon.com aren't worthy of her true talent. BestBuy.com allows you to listen to clips from ALL of her songs and are of a much higher quality. So I would suggest checking the latter. I've been aware of Joss for at least 6 months, but I didn't buy her CD until yesterday. I've played it straight through 3 times, and can confidently say that this is a definite must have. I hope her record label continues to be patient and support her because she's worth it. Joss is the best, she knows it. So her label better take good care of her. They've got something big. I believe in you, Joss. Your dreams WILL come true!!! It might not be easy, but hang in there. Favorite Songs: #1 The Chokin' Kind, #2 Super Duper Love, #4 Victim of a Foolish Heart, #7 I've Fallen in Love with You, #9 All The King's Horses.
Rating:
5 Excellent 1st Effort
Whatever I may feel about the politics behind this ever lightening face of R&B/Soul music, I have to give this girl her props. The music was kept simple. Even on more upbeat tracks like Super Duper Love I was not left with a sense of overproduction which blended well with Joss' strong vocals.
