''The Soul Sessions'' is the debut studio album by English singer and songwriter

Joss Stone Joscelyn Eve Stoker (born 11 April 1987), known professionally as Joss Stone, is an English singer, songwriter and actress. She rose to prominence in late 2003 with her multi-platinum debut album, ''The Soul Sessions'', which made the 2004 Merc ...

, released on 16 September 2003 by

S-Curve Records S-Curve Records was founded in 2000 by former Mercury Records executive Steve Greenberg. It is based in New York City. In 2001 the label established a distribution and licensing agreement with EMI Records. Among the hits released by S-Curve be ...

. The album consists of

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

s of

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...

songs from the 1960s and 1970s, in addition to a cover of

the White Stripes The White Stripes were an American rock duo from Detroit formed in 1997. The group consisted of Jack White (songwriter, vocals, guitar, piano, and mandolin) and Meg White (drums and vocals). After releasing several singles and three albums with ...

' 2001 song "

Fell in Love with a Girl "Fell in Love with a Girl" is a song by the American garage rock band the White Stripes, written and produced by Jack White for the band's third studio album, ''White Blood Cells'' (2001). Released as the album's second single in February 2002, ...

". In 2004, ''The Soul Sessions'' was shortlisted for the

Mercury Prize The Mercury Prize, formerly called the Mercury Music Prize, is an annual music prize awarded for the best album released in the United Kingdom by a British or Irish act. It was created by Jon Webster and Robert Chandler in association with the B ...

and was nominated for a

MOBO Award The MOBO Awards (Music of Black Origin, also known as the MOBOs) are an annual British music award presentation honouring achievements in " music of black origin", including hip hop, grime, UK Drill, R&B, soul, reggae, jazz, gospel, and Af ...

for Best Album.

Background

''The Soul Sessions'' was produced by

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

soul singer

Betty Wright Bessie Regina Norris (December 21, 1953 – May 10, 2020), better known by her stage name Betty Wright, was an American soul and R&B singer, songwriter and background vocalist. Beginning her professional career in the late 1960s as a teena ...

and

chief executive officer Steve Greenberg. Stone worked with veteran Miami soul musicians

Benny Latimore Benjamin William Lattimore (born September 7, 1939), known professionally as Latimore, is an American blues and R&B singer, songwriter and pianist. In 2017, Latimore was inducted in to the Blues Hall of Fame. Life and career Latimore was born ...

, Little Beaver,

Timmy Thomas Timothy Earle Thomas (November 13, 1944 – March 11, 2022) was an American R&B singer, keyboardist, songwriter, and record producer, best known for the hit song, "Why Can't We Live Together". Life and career Thomas was born in Evansville, In ...

and Wright herself. She also worked with contemporary musicians such as

neo soul Neo soul (sometimes called progressive soul) is a genre of popular music. As a term, it was coined by music industry entrepreneur Kedar Massenburg during the late 1990s to market and describe a style of music that emerged from soul and contempo ...

singer

Angie Stone Angela Laverne Brown (born December 18, 1961) known professionally as Angie Stone, is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and record producer. She rose to fame in the late 1970s as member of the hip hop trio The Sequence. In the early 1990s ...

and the

alternative hip hop Alternative hip hop (also known as alternative rap) is a subgenre of hip hop music that encompasses a wide range of styles that are not typically identified as mainstream. AllMusic defines it as comprising " hip hop groups that refuse to confor ...

group

the Roots The Roots are an American hip hop band formed in 1987 by Tariq "Black Thought" Trotter and Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. The Roots serve as the house band on NBC's ''The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy F ...

. Stone told

MTV News MTV News is the news production division of MTV. The service is available in the US with localized versions on MTV's global network. In February 2016, MTV Networks confirmed it would refresh the MTV News brand in 2016, to compete with the likes ...

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 Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an

average In ordinary language, an average is a single number taken as representative of a list of numbers, usually the sum of the numbers divided by how many numbers are in the list (the arithmetic mean). For example, the average of the numbers 2, 3, 4, 7, ...

score of 74, based on 15 reviews.

Jon Caramanica Jon Caramanica (born 1975) is an American journalist and pop music critic who writes for ''The New York Times''. He is also known for writing about hip hop music. Biography Born in Brooklyn, New York (state), New York, Caramanica received his ba ...

of ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'' stated that "Stone shines on this impressive covers set" and that " e chooses songs wisely."

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

'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 ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...

'' 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." Note
Archived B+ rating
is not reprinted on the original website. Russell Baillie from ''

The New Zealand Herald ''The New Zealand Herald'' is a daily newspaper published in Auckland, New Zealand, owned by New Zealand Media and Entertainment, and considered a newspaper of record for New Zealand. It has the largest newspaper circulation of all newspapers ...

'' 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 Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

''s Dorian Lynskey described her singing as "rich, mature and agile but not showy". Nick Duerden of ''

Blender A blender (sometimes called a mixer or liquidiser in British English) is a kitchen appliance, kitchen and laboratory appliance used to mix, crush, purée or emulsion, emulsify food and other substances. A stationary blender consists of a blender ...

'' magazine commented that "Stone's voice is remarkably authentic, and the atmosphere she conjures is smoky and sleazy, pure mid-'60s

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

." Jason MacNeil wrote for

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, fi ...

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 ''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...

'', Keith Phipps remarked that "''Sessions'' establishes Stone as a formidable interpreter." Andrew McGregor of

BBC Music BBC Music is responsible for the music played across the BBC. The current director of music is Bob Shennan, who is also the controller of BBC Radio 2, BBC Radio 6 Music, and the BBC Asian Network. Officially it is a part of the BBC's Radio o ...

felt that the album "seems a bit of an artistic compromise, music from the rule book rather than the heart." Similarly, ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the crea ...

'' critic

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...

viewed Stone's covers as "the kind of soul marginalia Brits have been overrating since

Doris Troy Doris Troy (born Doris Elaine Higginsen; January 6, 1937 – February 16, 2004) was an American R&B singer and songwriter, known to her many fans as "Mama Soul". Her biggest hit was " Just One Look", a top 10 hit in 1963. Life and career She ...

was on

Apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple fruit tree, trees are agriculture, cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, wh ...

Commercial performance

''The Soul Sessions'' entered the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...

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 British Phonographic Industry (BPI) is the British recorded music industry's Trade association. It runs the BRIT Awards, the Classic BRIT Awards, National Album Day, is home to the Mercury Prize, and co-owns the Official Charts Company with th ...

(BPI) 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 In the entertainment industry, a sleeper hit is a film, television series, music release, video game, or some other entertainment product that was initially unsuccessful on release but became a success later on. A sleeper hit may have little promo ...

. 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 Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a music chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine that ranks R&B and hip hop albums based on sales in the United States and is compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The chart debuted as Hot R&B LPs in the issue dated J ...

, 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 Top Heatseekers are "Breaking and Entering" music charts issued weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. The Heatseekers Albums and the Heatseekers Songs charts were introduced by ''Billboard'' in 1991 with the purpose of highlighting the sales by new an ...

chart during the week of 21 February 2004. Sales were high on the

East Coast East Coast may refer to: Entertainment * East Coast hip hop, a subgenre of hip hop * East Coast (ASAP Ferg song), "East Coast" (ASAP Ferg song), 2017 * East Coast (Saves the Day song), "East Coast" (Saves the Day song), 2004 * East Coast FM, a ra ...

, 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 The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

(RIAA) 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 The European Top 100 Albums chart was the European adaptation of the ''Billboard'' 200 albums chart. It ran from March 1984 until December 2010. Also commonly referred to as Eurochart Top 100 Albums, the chart showcased the sales of an act in 19 E ...

. In June 2004, ''The Soul Sessions'' was awarded a Platinum Europe Award by the

International Federation of the Phonographic Industry The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) is the organisation that represents the interests of the recording industry worldwide. It is a non-profit members' organisation registered in Switzerland and founded in Italy in 19 ...

(IFPI) 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 The Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) is a trade association representing the Australian recording industry which was established in the 1970s by six major record companies, EMI, Festival, CBS, RCA, WEA and Universal replacing th ...

(ARIA) and the

Recording Industry Association of New Zealand Recorded Music NZ (formerly the Recording Industry Association of New Zealand (RIANZ)) is a non-profit trade association of record producers, distributors and recording artists who sell recorded music in New Zealand. Membership of Recorded Mus ...

(RIANZ) 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 tracks are produced by

, Steve Greenberg and

Michael Mangini Michael may refer to: People * Michael (given name), a given name * Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael Given name "Michael" * Michael (archangel), ''first'' of God's archangels in the Jewish, Christian and ...

, except "Fell in Love with a Boy" and "The Player", produced by

Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson Ahmir Khalib Thompson (born January 20, 1971), known professionally as Questlove (stylized as ), is an American musician, record producer, disc jockey, filmmaker, music journalist, and actor. He is the drummer and joint frontman (with Black Thou ...

, 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

– vocals * Willie "Little Beaver" Hale – guitar *

– organ *

– piano * Jack Daley – bass *

Cindy Blackman Cindy Blackman Santana (born November 18, 1959), sometimes known as Cindy Blackman, is an American jazz and rock drummer. Blackman has recorded several jazz albums as a bandleader and has performed with Pharoah Sanders, Sonny Simmons, Ron Carter ...

– drums * Angelo Morris – acoustic guitar ; guitar ; organ ; keyboards *

– background vocals * Jeanette Wright – background vocals * Namphuyo Aisha McCray – background vocals * Ignacio Nunez – percussion *

Mike Mangini Michael Anthony Mangini (born April 18, 1963) is an American musician and current drummer of the progressive metal band Dream Theater. He has also played for bands and artists such as Annihilator, Extreme, James LaBrie, and Steve Vai. Befor ...

– tambourine *

– background vocals *

– drums *

Kirk Douglas Kirk Douglas (born Issur Danielovitch; December 9, 1916 – February 5, 2020) was an American actor and filmmaker. After an impoverished childhood, he made his film debut in ''The Strange Love of Martha Ivers'' (1946) with Barbara Stanwyck. Do ...

– guitar *

Adam Blackstone Adam Blackstone (born December 4, 1982, in Trenton, NJ) is a multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, producer, and bassist. He is the musical director for Nicki Minaj and Justin Timberlake. Blackstone has also directed and played in performances with ...

– bass *

James Poyser James Jason Poyser is an American songwriter, record producer, musician and current member of the hip hop band The Roots. Poyser has written and produced songs for various legendary and award-winning artists such as Erykah Badu, Mariah Carey, ...

– keyboards * Kamal – keyboards * Jimmy Farkus – acoustic guitar * John Angier – string arrangement * Danny Pierre – keyboards * Mark Ciprit – guitar * Sam Furnace – saxophone * Steve Greenwell – bass * Taneka Duggan – background vocals * Deanna Carroll – background vocals * Sandra Park – violin * Lisa Kim – violin * Sharon Yamada – violin * Myung Hi Kim – violin * Fiona Simon – violin * Sarah Kim – violin * Laura Seaton – violin * Liz Lim – violin * Soo Hyun Kwon – violin * Jenny Strenger – violin * Jung Sun Yoo – violin * Rob Shaw – violin *

Karen Dreyfus Karen Dreyfus is a violist who currently teaches at the USC Thornton School of Music. Ms. Dreyfus has distinguished herself as a recipient of many prizes, including the Naumburg Viola Competition (1982), the Lionel Tertis International Viola Comp ...

– viola * Robert Rinehart – viola * Dawn Hannay – viola * Tom Rosenfeld – viola * Alan Stepansky – cello * Sarah Seiver – cello * Jeremy Turner – cello * Leanne LeBlanc – cello

Technical

* Betty Wright – production * Steve Greenberg – production, executive production *

– production * Steve Greenwell – engineering, mixing * Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson – production * Chris Gehringer – mastering at

Sterling Sound George Marino (April 15, 1947 – June 4, 2012) was an American mastering engineer known for working on albums by rock bands starting in the late 1960s. Biography Marino was born on April 15, 1947, in the New York City borough The Bronx. He at ...

(New York City)

Artwork

* David Gorman – art direction, design * Bryan Lasley – art direction, design * Charles Allen Smith – photography * Karen Fuchs – photography

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Soul Sessions, The 2003 debut albums Albums produced by Questlove Covers albums Joss Stone albums S-Curve Records albums Virgin Records albums