The Soul Sessions


The Soul Sessions is the debut studio album by English singer and songwriter Joss Stone. It was released on 16 September 2003 by S-Curve Records. The album consists of cover versions of soul songs from the 1960s and 1970s, in addition to a cover of The White Stripes' 2001 song "Fell in Love with a Girl". In 2004, The Soul Sessions was shortlisted for the Mercury Prize and was nominated for a MOBO Award for Best Album.

Background

The Soul Sessions was produced by Miami soul singer Betty Wright and S-Curve Records chief executive officer Steve Greenberg. Stone worked with veteran Miami soul musicians Benny Latimore, Little Beaver, Timmy Thomas and Wright herself. She also worked with contemporary musicians such as neo soul singer Angie Stone and the alternative hip hop group The Roots.
Stone told MTV News that she felt intimidated by the credentials of the musicians that worked on the album. "It was weird because they've worked with so many great, great singers. I'm talking the best. I kind of walked in, just like this little girl and started singing."

Critical reception

The Soul Sessions received positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 74, based on 15 reviews. Jon Caramanica of Rolling Stone stated that "Stone shines on this impressive covers set" and that "he chooses songs wisely." AllMusic's Thom Jurek wrote that Stone "has unique phrasing and a huge voice that accents, dips, and slips, never overworking a song or trying to bring attention to itself via hollow acrobatics." Jim Greer from Entertainment Weekly noted that Stone "does have an extraordinary voice", but added that "the only misguided ploy on The Soul Sessions is a Roots-produced slo-mo cover of a White Stripes tune." Russell Baillie from The New Zealand Herald opined that "with her strong, emotive voice she nails it time and again, and with performances that aren't an excuse for the vocal acrobatic show you imagine this would have been had Stone been America's next bright young thing."
The Guardians Dorian Lynskey described her singing as "rich, mature and agile but not showy". Nick Duerden of Blender magazine gave the album three stars out of five and commented that "Stone's voice is remarkably authentic, and the atmosphere she conjures is smoky and sleazy, pure mid-'60s Detroit." Jason MacNeil wrote for PopMatters that her voice is "more of a soulful voice than those so-called soul divas out there today" and that it "oozes sex appeal as Benny Latimore's piano weaves some magic." At The A.V. Club, Keith Phipps remarked that "Sessions establishes Stone as a formidable interpreter." Andrew McGregor of BBC Music felt that the album "seems a bit of an artistic compromise, music from the rule book rather than the heart." The Village Voice critic Robert Christgau was not impressed either, and viewed Stone's covers as "the kind of soul marginalia Brits have been overrating since Doris Troy was on Apple".

Commercial performance

The Soul Sessions entered the UK Albums Chart at number 89 for the week ending 10 January 2004, peaking at number four in its fifth week on the chart. The British Phonographic Industry certified the album triple platinum on 15 April 2005, and by July 2012, it had sold 1,075,492 copies in the United Kingdom. Additionally, it became the 16th best-selling album of 2004 in the UK.
In the United States, The Soul Sessions was a sleeper hit. On the issue dated 4 October 2003, the album debuted at number 199 on the Billboard 200 and at number 76 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, peaking at number 39 on the former and at number 38 on the latter in its 24th week on both charts, on the issue dated 8 May 2004. Prior to that, the album topped the Top Heatseekers during the week of 21 February 2004. Sales were high on the East Coast, especially in cities such as New York City, Philadelphia and Boston. Within six months of its release, The Soul Sessions was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America on 29 March 2004. The album had sold 981,000 units in the US as of July 2011.
The album was also commercially successful in the rest of Europe, where it reached number four in Austria, Germany, the Netherlands and Norway, number five in Portugal, number seven in Belgium, number eight in Italy, number 12 in Sweden and number 14 in Switzerland, as well as number four on the European Top 100 Albums. In June 2004, The Soul Sessions was awarded a Platinum Europe Award by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry for sales in excess of one million copies across Europe. In Oceania, the album peaked at number 16 in Australia and number eight in New Zealand, earning platinum accreditations from the Australian Recording Industry Association and the Recording Industry Association of New Zealand for sales in excess of 70,000 and 15,000 copies, respectively. The Soul Sessions had sold five million copies worldwide as of June 2012.

Track listing

All songs produced by Betty Wright, Steve Greenberg and Michael Mangini, except "Fell in Love with a Boy" and "The Player" produced by Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson, Wright, Greenberg and Mangini, and "I've Fallen in Love with You" produced by Greenberg and Mangini.

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of The Soul Sessions.

Musicians

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Chart Position
UK Albums 95

Certifications

Release history