''Acoustic Soul'' is the debut studio album by American singer
India Arie
India Arie Simpson (born October 3, 1975), also known as India Arie (sometimes styled as india.arie), is an American singer and songwriter. She has sold over five million records in the US and ten million worldwide. She has won four Grammy Awards ...
. It was released on March 27, 2001, by
Motown. The album received seven nominations at the
44th Grammy Awards
The 44th Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 27, 2002 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. The main recipient was Alicia Keys, winning five Grammys, including Best New Artist and Song of the Year for " Fallin'". U2 won four ...
, including
Album of the Year and
Best R&B Album
The Grammy Award for Best R&B Album is an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality works on albums in the R&B music genre. Honors ...
. ''Acoustic Soul'' was certified double platinum by the
Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on December 17, 2003, denoting shipments in excess of two million copies in the United States.
Critical reception
Upon its release, the album received acclaim from music critics.
Track listing
Sample credits
* "Video" contains an interpolation of "Fun" by
Brick.
* "Nature" contains an interpolation of "
Quiet Storm
Quiet storm is a radio format and genre of R&B, performed in a smooth, romantic, jazz-influenced style. It was named after the title song on Smokey Robinson's 1975 album '' A Quiet Storm''.
The radio format was pioneered in 1976 by Melvin Li ...
" by
Mobb Deep.
Personnel
Musicians
*India Arie – vocals,
acoustic guitar
*Mark Batson –
organ,
synthesizer,
bass,
percussion
A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Ex ...
,
drums,
keyboards
Keyboard may refer to:
Text input
* Keyboard, part of a typewriter
* Computer keyboard
** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping
** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware
Music
* Musi ...
,
programming,
Mellotron,
Fender Rhodes
*Carlos "6 July" Broady – programming
*John Catchings –
cello
The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a bowed (sometimes plucked and occasionally hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually tuned in perfect fifths: from low to high, C2, G ...
*Larry Goldings – organ,
Wurlitzer
The Rudolph Wurlitzer Company, usually referred to as simply Wurlitzer, is an American company started in Cincinnati in 1853 by German immigrant (Franz) Rudolph Wurlitzer. The company initially imported stringed, woodwind and brass instruments ...
,
string contractor
*Steve Grossman – percussion, drums
*Tony Harrell – keyboards
*Kerisha Hicks –
background vocals
A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are us ...
*Judeth Insel –
viola
; german: Bratsche
, alt=Viola shown from the front and the side
, image=Bratsche.jpg
, caption=
, background=string
, hornbostel_sachs=321.322-71
, hornbostel_sachs_desc=Composite chordophone sounded by a bow
, range=
, related=
*Violin family ...
*Avery Johnson – bass
*Bashiri Johnson – percussion
*Doug Kahan – bass
*Terry MacMillan – percussion
*Blue Miller – acoustic guitar,
guitar
The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...
,
electric guitar
An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar (however combinations of the two - a semi-acoustic guitar and an electric acoustic gu ...
, programming, vocals, background vocals
*Bob Power – bass, guitar,
conductor, programming
*Marlene Rice –
violin
The violin, sometimes known as a '' fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone ( string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument ( soprano) in the family in regu ...
*Ralph Rolle – drums
*Joyce Simpson – background vocals
*David Spak – percussion
*
Laurneá Wilkerson
Laurneá Wilkerson is an American singer, songwriter and actress. Under the name Laurneá, she has released four studio albums including ''Betta Listen'' in 1997, which includes the singles "Can't Let Go" (#55 on the US ''Billboard'' 100, #20 on ...
– background vocals
*Nioka Workman – cello
Technical
*
Producers
Producer or producers may refer to:
Occupations
*Producer (agriculture), a farm operator
*A stakeholder of economic production
*Film producer, supervises the making of films
**Executive producer, contributes to a film's budget and usually does not ...
: India Arie,
Mark Batson
Mark Batson is an American producer, musician and songwriter. He has worked on albums by artists including Alicia Keys, Dave Matthews Band, LeAnn Rimes, Anthony Hamilton, Eminem, India Arie, 50 Cent, Jay-Z, Maroon 5, Skylar Grey, Grace Potter an ...
, Carlos "6 July" Broady, Blue Miller,
Bob Power
Bob Power is an American Grammy Award–winning and multi-platinum record producer, audio engineer, composer, arranger, performer, and music educator.
Early life
Power was born in Chicago, moved to Rye, New York, then moved to St. Louis, Missou ...
*
Executive producer:
Kedar Massenburg
William "Kedar" Massenburg (born 1963) is an American record producer and record label executive, who was the president of Motown Records from 1997 to 2004. Massenburg is best known for bringing Erykah Badu to fame. He trademarked the term "neo so ...
*Engineers: Kevin Haywood, Avery Johnson, Jim Lightman, Blue Miller, Mark Niemiec, Bob Power, Lovis Scalise, Mike Tocci
*
Mixing: Kevin Haywood, George Karras, Jim Lightman, Chris Mazer, Blue Miller, Bob Power,
Mike Shipley
Michael Shipley (6 October 1956 – 25 July 2013) was an Australian mixing engineer, audio engineer, and record producer. Shipley's music career spanned more than 30 years – mostly working in Los Angeles. At the Grammy Awards of 2012 he ...
, Alvin Speights,
Dave Way
Dave Way is an American producer, mixer and audio engineer based in Los Angeles, California, United States. He has worked with Fiona Apple, Sheryl Crow, Kesha, Pink, Christina Aguilera, Macy Gray, Ringo Starr, Shakira, Phoebe Bridgers, John Doe, Sa ...
*
Mastering: Chris Athens
*Programming: Mark Batson
*Assistant producer: Jason Breckling
*String arrangements:
Mark Batson
Mark Batson is an American producer, musician and songwriter. He has worked on albums by artists including Alicia Keys, Dave Matthews Band, LeAnn Rimes, Anthony Hamilton, Eminem, India Arie, 50 Cent, Jay-Z, Maroon 5, Skylar Grey, Grace Potter an ...
*String engineer: Jon Smeltz
*
Creative director
A creative director (or creative supervisor) is a person who makes high-level creative decisions and, with those decisions, oversees the creation of creative assets such as advertisements, products, events, or logos. Creative director positions ar ...
: Sandy Brummels
*
Product manager
A product manager (PM) is a professional role that is responsible for the development of products for an organization, known as the practice of product management. Product managers own the product strategy behind a product (physical or digital), ...
: Liz Loblack
*
Art direction: Annalee Valencia
*Design: Annalee Valencia
*Photography:
Kwaku Alston
Kwaku Alston is an American photographer. His editorial work has been featured in ''The New York Times Magazine'', ''Rolling Stone'', ''Time'', ''Men’s Health'', ''Essence'', and ''Men’s Journal,'' among many others. He has photographed ads f ...
,
Michael Benabib
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Certifications
Release history
Notes
References
Further reading
*
External links
Album reviewat
BBC Online
BBC Online, formerly known as BBCi, is the BBC's online service. It is a large network of websites including such high-profile sites as BBC News and BBC Sport, Sport, the on-demand video and radio services branded BBC iPlayer and BBC Sounds, t ...
Album reviewat
Entertainment.ie
''Entertainment.ie'' is an Irish web company based in Dublin. The company provides news and reviews of programs and films for TV and the cinema. It also provides information on upcoming comedies, festivals, theater shows and music in Ireland, a ...
Album reviewat ''
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...
''
{{Authority control
2001 debut albums
Albums produced by Mark Batson
Albums recorded at Electric Lady Studios
India Arie albums
Motown albums