The Soul Sessions is the debut studio album by English singer and songwriter Joss Stone, 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" (renamed "Fell in Love with a Boy"). 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 "[s]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." Note: Archived B+ rating is not reprinted on the original website. 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 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." Similarly, The Village Voice critic Robert Christgau 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 (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. 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 chart 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 (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. In June 2004, The Soul Sessions was awarded a Platinum Europe Award by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (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 (ARIA) and the Recording Industry Association of New Zealand (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 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

Joss Stone – vocals Willie "Little Beaver" Hale – guitar Timmy Thomas – organ Benny Latimore – piano Jack Daley – bass Cindy Blackman – drums Angelo Morris – acoustic guitar ; guitar ; organ ; keyboards Betty Wright – background vocals Jeanette Wright – background vocals Namphuyo Aisha McCray – background vocals Ignacio Nunez – percussion Mike Mangini – tambourine Angie Stone – background vocals Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson – drums Kirk Douglas – guitar Adam Blackstone – bass James Poyser – 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 – 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 Michael Mangini – production Steve Greenwell – engineering, mixing Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson – production Chris Gehringer – mastering at Sterling Sound (New York City)

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

Charts

Weekly charts + Weekly chart performance for The Soul Sessions Chart (2003–2004) Peakposition Canadian Albums (Nielsen SoundScan) 19Canadian R&B Albums (Nielsen SoundScan)5 European Albums (Billboard) 4 Greek International Albums (IFPI) 1 Japanese Albums (Oricon) 91

Year-end charts + 2004 year-end chart performance for The Soul Sessions Chart (2004) Position Australian Albums (ARIA) 48 Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria) 55 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders) 32 Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) 23 French Albums (SNEP) 106 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) 45 Italian Albums (FIMI) 70 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ) 20 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) 62 UK Albums (OCC) 16 US Billboard 200 156 Worldwide Albums (IFPI) 39

+ 2005 year-end chart performance for The Soul Sessions Chart (2005) Position UK Albums (OCC) 95

Certifications and sales

Release history + Release dates and formats for The Soul Sessions Region Date Format Edition Label United States 16 September 2003 CD Standard S-Curve Canada 28 October 2003 EMI United Kingdom 24 November 2003 Japan 16 January 2004 EMI Netherlands 23 January 2004 France 6 February 2004 Australia 13 February 2004 Austria 20 February 2004 Germany Switzerland Brazil 12 March 2004 France 8 June 2004 CD + DVD Limited

Notes

References