''True Spirit'' is the debut solo album by American singer and musician

Carleen Anderson Carleen Cassandra Anderson (born May 10, 1957) is an American singer and musician. She is known for her work with the Young Disciples and numerous collaborations. Her distinguished solo career began in 1992. She is the acclaimed composer, writer ...

, released in 1994. The album includes four

UK Top 40 The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

singles: "Nervous Breakdown" (No. 27), "Mama Said" (No. 26), "True Spirit" (No. 24) and "Let It Last" (No. 16).

Critical reception

In a retrospective review for

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 databa ...

, Tom Demalon describes Anderson's voice as "warm" and "soulful" and that the album "succeeds in drawing on older R&B vibes and making them sound fresh." He went on to say that the lyrics are "literate and sophisticated", adding that "''True Spirit'' is a gorgeous album that constantly draws in the listener, both musically and spiritually."

Track listing

All tracks written by

, except where noted.

Personnel

Adapted from

. *

– arranger, primary artist, vocals *Amanda Drummond – strings *Ian Green – arranger, instrumentation, mixing, producer *Martin "Max" Heyes – mixing *

Nigel Hitchcock Nigel Hitchcock (born 4 January 1971) is an English jazz saxophonist. Biography Hitchcock began to play alto sax at the age of eight. In 1982 he and his elder brother Clive joined the National Youth Jazz Orchestra. After one year Nigel took the ...

– alto and tenor sax *Stephen Hussey – strings *

Norman Jay Norman Jay MBE (born Norman Bernard Joseph on 6 November 1957) is a British club, radio and sound system DJ. He first came to prominence playing unlicensed "warehouse" parties in the early 1980s, and through his involvement with the then-pira ...

– handclapping * Brendan Lynch – glockenspiel, handclapping, producer, synthesizer *Marco Nelson – bass *Mark E. Nevin – arranger, guitar, handclapping, mellotron *Jake Rea – strings *Timothy Russell – engineer * Steve Sidwell – trumpet *Michael Talbot – keyboards *Crispin Taylor – drums

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Certifications

References

External links

''True Spirit''
at

Discogs Discogs (short for discographies) is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. While the site was originally created with a goal of becoming the ...

{{Authority control 1994 debut albums Virgin Records albums Carleen Anderson albums Funk albums by American artists