The Soul Sessions was Joss Stone's debut album. Released in 2003 when Joss was only just 17 years old. Incredible in itself for such a mature debut at such an early age, what seems even more stunning to me was that this soul inspired album is by a British artiste.
I am having so much fun ... Read review
Joss Stone is blessed with a strong voice and a will to sing old-school soul and The Soul ... more
Sessions is worthy of more than novelty status. Not every 16-year-old Caucasian, English girl can hang with the likes of Betty Wright ("Clean Up Woman") and Angie...
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Joss Stone is blessed with a strong voice and a will to sing old-school soul andThe Soul ... more
Sessionsis worthy of more than novelty status. Not every 16-year-old Caucasian, English girl can hang with the likes of Betty Wright ("Clean Up Woman") and Angie S...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Joss Stone is blessed with a strong voice and a will to sing old-school soul and The Soul ... more
Sessions is worthy of more than novelty status. Not every 16-year-old Caucasian, English girl can hang with the likes of Betty Wright ("Clean Up Woman") and Angie...
Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
Joss Stone is blessed with a strong voice and a will to sing old-school soul andThe Soul ... more
Sessionsis worthy of more than novelty status. Not every 16-year-old Caucasian, English girl can hang with the likes of Betty Wright ("Clean Up Woman") and Angie S...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Joss Stone is blessed with a strong voice and a will to sing old-school soul andThe Soul ... more
Sessionsis worthy of more than novelty status. Not every 16-year-old Caucasian, English girl can hang with the likes of Betty Wright ("Clean Up Woman") and Angie S...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Joss Stone is blessed with a strong voice and a will to sing old-school soul and The Soul ... more
Sessions is worthy of more than novelty status. Not every 16-year-old Caucasian, English girl can hang with the likes of Betty Wright ("Clean Up Woman") and Angie...
Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
Mind, Body & Soul Sessions: Live In New York City, the first DVD from Joss Stone, was ... more
filmed during her sold-out concert at Irving Plaza. This acclaimed performance includes songs from both her multi-platinum albums, The Soul Sessions and Mind Body & Soul, delivered with an intensity and intimacy that can only come from a live show.Set List1. Super Duper Love (Are You Diggin' On Me)2. Jet Lag3. Don't Know How4. The Chokin' Kind5. You Had Me6. Spoiled7. Don't Cha Wanna Ride?8. Victims Of A Foolish Heart9. Less Is More10. Right To Be Wrong11. Fell In Love With A Boy12. Some Kind Of Wonderful13. Dirty Man (acoustic)Performed live at Irving Plaza, New York City, September 9, 2004 with additional live vocals from performances at La Zana Rosa, Austin. Texas, April 24, 2004 and House Of Blues, New Orleans, April 27, 2004.
Advantages: Best British soul offering for some time. Disadvantages: Not everones taste.
The Soul Sessions was Joss Stone's debut album. Released in 2003 when Joss was only just 17 years old. Incredible in itself for such a mature debut at such an early age, what seems even more stunning to me was that this soul inspired album is by a British artiste.
I am having so much fun converting my CD's to itunes, listening to albums that have been neglected.
The artwork both on the cover of the CD case and on the ... ...the respected publication 'Mojo': "The soul sessions is a revelation".
Many of the songs are not her own, being penned in the sixties by artistses such as Betty Wright, who agreed to work with Joss on this CD, another shock to me, American soul legends collaborating with a 16 year old English girl, wow, they must have seen her talent.
Track 1. The Chokin' kind.
What a fantastic opening track. Very slow, ... more
The Soul Sessions was Joss Stone's debut album. Released in 2003 when Joss was only just 17 years old. Incredible in itself for such a mature debut at such an early age, what seems even more stunning to me was that this soul inspired album is by a British artiste.
I am having so much fun converting my CD's to itunes, listening to albums that have been neglected.
The artwork both on the cover of the CD case and on the CD itself is pretty retro, in smokey purple, in truth, quite boring.
I could write about the triple platinum sales, or the awards and accolades, but I prefer to write about the songs themselves. Just one quote here, from the respected publication 'Mojo': "The soul sessions is a revelation".
Many of the songs are not her own, being penned in the sixties by artistses such as Betty Wright, who agreed to work with Joss on this CD, another shock to me, American soul legends collaborating with a 16 year old English girl, wow, they must have seen her talent.
Track 1. The Chokin' kind. What a fantastic opening track. Very slow, full of heart and soul, a little 'bluesy'. The story of a woman 'choked' by someone smothering her and controlling her and her love. We get to see Stone's vocal range, which extends from a huskey, low, croak, to a mid range moan, up to a high pitched plea in parts. The music is almost incidental to her voice, and is a clear late 60's soul backing. The lyrics, the story, the singing, brilliant. 9/10.
Track 2. Super duper love (are you diggin' on me) pt.1. A complete change of tempo. Upbeat, funky soul, with some great guitar playing, both bass and lead, supporting her soul/gospel voice which tells an uplifting tale of falling in love. A great mix of funk with hints of early soul almost Martha Reeves like. Another stunning track. 9/10.
Track 3. Fell in love with a boy. Another funky opening, could be a soundtrack to a Starskey and Hutch episode or a Shaft film. Really good mix of funky music and Stone's voice. Not as strong as the two previous tracks, but very, very good none the less. 8/10.
Track 4. Victim of a foolish heart. Slowing things back down with this offering, reminds me of a cross between Aretha Franklin and Roberta Flack. It is undoubtedly an accomplished track that builds into a very soulful, angst ridden song of warning to a young woman not to be a 'victim' of a two timing guy. However, it does not float my boat really. Not a bad song, just not really for me. More of a track that one would play on an evening with friends round, as backing music. 7/10.
Track 5. Dirty man. This is an interesting song, a real gsopel overtone, with a great story line. It could so easily be sung by Etta James, and I have to say, I love Stone's voice in this, combined with a simple guitar backing. Brilliant song, great story of contrasts, great voice, great soul guitar extending into a blues scale mixed with long gaps allowing Stone's voice to 'play'. For me, the joint best song in the collection. 10/10.
Track 6. Some kind of wonderful. Martha Reeves meets Herbie Hancock, soul funk, fantastic, lots of bass and laid back riffs, voice that matches well. "He sets my soul on fire.....woooo....when my baby kisses me, he sets my soul on fire". You get it, lyrics that are just 'expected' with this song. Love it. 9/10.
Track 7. I've fallen in love with you. Strong soul song which is the best song on this album which seems age appropriate. What I mean by this is it kind of shows an innocence and naivety. Great vocals, again, very Detroit 60's, with backing singers; Three Degrees, Martha Reeves, almost Temptations (though female obviously). The title gives the story away. Musically very nice too. More instruments here, not just soulful guitar, but strings, woodwind, brass, strong use of drums. Lovely, dreamy quality. Very, very strong track. 9/10.
Track 8. I had a dream. Very acapella, clearly a showpiece for her voice, first half is just her voice, with drums, piano and guitar joing in in for a middle stint, then backing off for her voice again. Musically and vocally great. Lyrically quite poor. 5/10.
Track 9. All the kings horses. Real 60's gospel piano start, with Stone joining the music with a huskey voice....."All the king's horses and all the king's me couldn't put our two hearts together again". Poor lyrically to me. Luckily the song builds into a great soulful song with a great backing to support a higher vocal than we see previously, almost a pleading scream in parts. These vocals 'save' the song from being weak. 6/10.
Track 10. For the love of you. Pts 1 & 2. A real slow start, dreamy backing to her voice which just seems to float along. I was listening to this as writing and just had to stop writing and lean back and listen. I really find it hard to listen to her voice and know that she was 16/17 singing this. The clarity, control and pitch is perfect, one can just melt into this song. I mentioned Roberta Flack before in this review. This is better. For displaying her vocal talents, this is perfect, just perfect. There is a very laconic organ and guitar just 'picking' at notes that back her voice. This is a track that lasts for 7 minutes and 35 seconds. More or less halfway through we think the song is coming to an end, but it doesn't. It just gets stronger in a restrained yet free way. I know that is a bit of a paradox, but this song is just that. I could listen to this for hours. The ending is almost like Minnie Ripperton, Stone allows here voice to extend much higher than you could imagine given her huskier early singing. Has to be another 10/10.
Overall. Gosh. I have just listened to this CD through again and realised what a gem it is. I would go so far as to call it a classic. I am not the biggest soul fan by any stretch of the imagination, but I do love all music, and when someone at such an age can sing songs like this, all be it with some great producing and collaboration, well, one has to take notice. For a couple of quid, add this to your collection, you will not be dissapointed.
Advantages: Innovative, New Type of Music, Great at Soul & Jazz Disadvantages: Lacks something, Couple of good hits but quite a few weaklings!
...– it’s a mix of soul and jazz. With a very powerful voice – strong, sexy, sultry and raspy at times it’s an ideal romantic album! There’s a mixture of songs, strong and weak lines as with most albums, with some upbeat and catchy songs and also some weaker and unmemorable links.
So who is the new girl everyone’s crazy about?? Well the most surprising thing is that she’s only 16, her real name hasn’t been revealed and she’s British – yes that’s right, ... ...tenure and beat to this but was slightly let down. If you like soul or jazz then this will be a major refreshing change to the other type of soul music available out there but for all you fellow pop lovers it’s perhaps one to miss out of your collection! ...
s_jones_2003 29.05.2004
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Soul Sessions, The - Joss Stone
Advantages: good songs are great Disadvantages: a couple of weird ones.
...was a white girl singing soul music and sounded so mature at the age of 16. So when I heard her on the radio, i was very unaware that I was listening to Joss Stone. Probably a good thing as I appreciated her music for what it is, not for all the pubicity infuencing me.
It was her fusion of soul, jazz and a strikingly powerful voice that made her sttyle of music grow on me, as initially I hadnt been all that keen on it. However, her album contains ... ...they all sound alike, but eventually you begin to pick out the best of them from the ones which dont really stand out.
Joss Stone is 17, although she was 16 when she recorded the album, already sounding and singing lyrics which some have said are much older than her years.
1... The Chokin’ Kind The first thing you notice about Joss' music is that there is not much music to back up her voice. It works though, and draws you attention to the ...
missarty 02.07.2004
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Soul Sessions, The - Joss Stone
Advantages: Pop music with a soul edge, which makes a nice change Disadvantages: Too many ballads
...to her debut CD, "The Soul Sessions".
The album opens with "The Chokin' Kind", a cover of a Joe Simon song. It opens much like any pop ballad and it's not until the instruments come in that you realise this is a blues/soul track. It's a nicely laid back song, perfect to have on in the background, although there's not a lot to differentiate Joss Stone from anyone else from someone like Kelly Clarkson on this track.
The next track is the one that ... ...you wouldn't expect on a soul based album is a reworking of a White Stripes song. But that's exactly what "Fell in Love With a Boy" is. Stone takes the song down tempo and gives it a more jazz based sound, making it a song that drifts past you, rather than rushing by like the original did. In fact, Stone's version lasts nearly twice as long as the original and the White Stripes themselves have supposedly taken to performing the song as a cover of ...
Soho_Black 09.12.2005
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Soul Sessions, The - Joss Stone
Advantages: The voice Disadvantages: All cover songs of mixed quality
...by her mother’s love of soul music, and mum is now her co-manager. She had a lot of success in America, before her album was launched in her own country. How unusual is that? The Boston Globe wrote, “When Stone sings, it’s like listening to an old soul record plucked from a dusty stack of forgotten 45s.” The picture on the front of the album may lead you to believe this is the intention. It is dark purple and so impossible to tell the colour, and ... ...The Album contains 8 old soul classics, plus the relatively new “I Had a Dream” and “In Love With a Boy”.
***** The Album Tracks *****
The Chokin’ Kind (3.35 mins)
=============
This Harlan Howard ballard is sung with great emotion.
Someone very close to me had someone who claimed to love her but wanted to change her. The relationship didn’t last as it was “the chockin’ kind” of love. This may make me empathise with this track more than some ...
luckyarchers 14.07.2004 (26.07.2004)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Soul Sessions, The - Joss Stone
Advantages: Old Classics reworked for a new generation Disadvantages: Slightly shy on tracks (10 songs)
...search took me to "The Soul Sessions" and boy did I reap my rewards!!
Kicking off with the Chokin' Kind the girl sets out her intentions early! She has taken on old soul songs and has managed to breath life into them as well as visiting some more recent tunes and giving them new meaning.
She followed up with Super Duper Love & Fell In Love With A Boy - the 2 singles & if they don't have you shaking your ass then nothing will! The musicians stay ... ...centre stage! Things calm down for a bit more of an emotional take on Victim Of A Foolish Heart and Dirty Man - Dirty Man especially bringing out a raw sound filled with a 4am in the morning emotional voice.
Some Kind Of Wonderful picks things up again with a more gospel tinged effort that will have you tapping your feet and fingers all the way through!
I've Fallen In Love With You slows things down and shows off Joss amazing vocal range and if ...
hugoviani 22.06.2004
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Soul Sessions, The - Joss Stone
Originality
Lyrics
Quality and consistency...
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Advantages: Fantastic lyrically and musically Disadvantages: May seem abit sameish to some
''Mind, Body & Soul'' is the second album for the sixteen year old, accomplaished soul singer, JossStone. Her first album ''The SoulSessions'' become a best seller without much promotion. ''The SoulSessions'' ironically was orignally intended to be a promotional recording which would be used to promote a second and more original album ''Mind, Body & Soul''. But somehow after word spread over the talent and complexity and the fulfillment of soul that came about from JossStone's voice, it was released as an album worldwide.
''Right To Be Wrong'' is a nice soul ballad, with a poppy chorus. This is a wonderful song, wonderfullally sang. JossStone's voice really shows on this song.
''Jet Lag'' is an amazing track - it is very soulful and jazzy. The chrous is amazing. The backing drums fit perfectly with Joss's voice.
''You Had ...
Advantages: Stone has a great voice Disadvantages: But it's a predictable pop-r 'n' b sound
Although I quite enjoyed JossStone's debut album "The SoulSessions", it didn't really live up to the hype. It proved that Stone can sing, but so what? Lots of people can sing. Hear'Say could sing, but that didn't really help them much in the long run, as you need to be able to back up a decent singing performance with a decent song.
Stone managed that part of things admirably, at least, by putting out an album of mostly soul covers, albeit soul songs with a pop edge. Whilst this proved to be a nice change from the standard bubblegum pop sound around at the moment, it caused a number of people to put her on a pedestal, comparing her to the likes of Aretha Franklin. This seemed to me to be a bit of an over-reaction, as Stone's got a good voice, without a doubt, but not that good.
The one down side to her "The SoulSessions" album ...
Advantages: beautiful voice, some great songs, different to other young artists around. Disadvantages: those who don't like her voice may get bored
?For me, personally, Mind, Body and Soul is my real debut." ?JossStone
Perhaps you might not recognise the name, JossStone. You might not recognise her in the street either. But the chances are you?ll recognise this girl?s voice. There are few people in this world blessed with a truly unique voice: Steven Tyler is one of them, Heather Small is (unfortunately) another, and JossStone must surely be added to this category. Her first album, The SoulSessions, sold over two million copies and hit the top 10 in 13 countries, despite being originally planned as an informal release to generate publicity for this, her second offering. The SoulSessions was really just an album of covers, put together fairly quickly with the sole purpose of showcasing Joss?s vocal talents. Here, predictably, Ms Stone tries her hand at co-writing a few ...
Product Information for "Soul Sessions, The - Joss Stone" »
Product details
Title
Soul Sessions, The
Performer
Joss Stone
Genre
R&B
Sub Genre
Dance
Release Date
02/02/2004
Recomended Retail Price
16.99 GBP
Original Release Year
2003
Label / Distributor
Relentless / EMI Operations/CEVA Logistics
Pieces in Set
1
Studio / Live
Studio
Format
Performer
EAN
724359683522
Catalogue Number
CDREL 02
Additional notes
Album Notes
Personnel: Joss Stone (vocals); Jimmy Farkas (acoustic guitar); Wille "Little Beaver" Hale, Angelo Morris, Kirk Douglas, Mark Ciprit (guitar); Sam Furnace (saxophone); Benny Latimore (piano); James Poyser, Danny Pierre (keyboards); Jack Daley, Steve Greenwill, Adam Blackstone (bass); Cindy Blackman, Ahmir "uestlove" Thompson (drums); Mike Mangini (tambourine); Ignacio Nunez (percussion); Betty Wright, Angie Stone, Jeanette Wright, Taneka Duggan, Namphuyo A. McCray (background vocals). Producers: Betty Wright, Steve Greenberg, Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson, Michael Mangini. Recorded at The Hit Factory and Criteria Studios, Miami, Florida; The Studio, Philadephia, Pennsylvania; Mojo Studios, New York, New York. She's a 16-year-old from the deep Southwest of England, a place better known for its cream teas than its hot-buttered funk. However, with assistance from Betty Wright (the "Clean-Up Woman" herself), uestlove of Philly neo-soulsters the Roots, and an entire roster of classic soul artists, Joss Stone has fashioned a remarkable debut that--with its irresistible fatback drums, swirling organ, and funked-up guitar--takes the listener back to the golden years of early 1970s R&B. Understandably, Stone's youthful voice carries elements of producer Wright's own pipes, and when it's combined with imaginative material such as the White Stripes' "Fell in Love with a Girl," the effect is extraordinary. Wright's classic stripped-down soul production, and the opportunity to hear class acts such as Timmy Thomas, Latimore, and Willie "Little Beaver" Hale performing on the same recording, are things to be treasured. With its superlative company, THE SOUL SESSIONS is an intriguing debut that features a potential heir to the blue-eyed-soul mantle of Dusty Springfield.
Album Reviews
Rolling Stone (10/30/03, p.93) - 3 stars out of 5 - "...Stone shines on this impressive covers set..." Entertainment Weekly (10/10/03, p.125) - "...Stone [has] an extraordinary voice..." - Rating: B+ Q (3/04, p.113) - 3 stars out of 5 - "With a fantastically lived-in voice and Alicia Key's ability to plumb emotional depths without gratuitous warbling..." Mojo (3/04, p.104) - 4 stars out of 5 - "[T]here's no denying the intuitive understanding Stone has of the often daunting material she tackles." Uncut (2/04, p.71) - 3 stars out of 5 - "She has all the signifiers of deep soul experience: the husky, rich timbre; the confident testifying; the honeyed transitions."
Titles on disc 1
1.
Choking Kind
2.
Super Duper Love (Are You Diggin On Me) (part 1)
3.
Fell In Love With A Boy
4.
Victim Of A Foolish Heart
5.
Dirty Man
6.
Some Kind Of Wonderful
7.
I've Fallen In Love With You
8.
I Had A Dream
9.
All The King's Horses
10.
For The Love Of You
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31/01/2004
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